Adil Najam and Owais Mughal

From all of us at ATP we congratulate the nearly 3 million Muslims who performed Hajj this year, including 160,000 Pakistanis, and also wish fond Eid-u-Azha greetings to all of you.

This is the fourth such post we have written since ATP began (2006, 2007, 2008). Each year we have alluded to the ‘though times’ that we are living through, to the symbolism of unity and brotherhood that this day is meant to evoke, and to the reality of divisions and differences surrounding us that this symbolism serves to highlight. Each year we have wished that next year would be different. That next year the joy that Eid is meant to embody will be mirrored in peace and stability around us, that the unity and brotherhood that Hajj is meant to symbolize will be a reality in the communities we are part of.

This year is no different. This year we pray for the same.

temporal

spare the poor goat or lamb or cows life. The purpose of sacrifice is to understand the spirit of parting with what you hold dear (your wealth), it is not some muqabla against four-legged animals.

Please pause and think … That, after all, is what religion should make us do rather than blindly following ritual.

Owais Mughal