Sacrifice?

"Hurmmmm... Am I suppose to buy this Quran mushaf? But the mosque already got lots of em..."

"Errr.. Oh no.. I thought this tazkirah won't take this long. I have tons of homework to do..."

"Ha? Walk to that faraway mosque? You gotta be kidding me. Perform prayer at the block's musolla is enough what..."

Hmmm.. What can you conclude from the dialogue (also can be a monologue) above? Yes, a lot can be concluded. Most of us might already able to guess the topic that will be discussed today.

Sacrifice. How do you define sacrifice? Do you really know what's the meaning of a sacrifice? Have you ever done any? Yeah, most of you would answer yes. What did you sacrifice? Mostly time, energy, ideas etc. But even if you'd be sacrificing your own life right now, what would it for? For what purpose? Is it worth it? How do you define worth? How do we know we're sacrificing for the right thing? All of these questions can be easily answered but don't tell me any of yours. Instead, ask yourself. HONTOU NI? (Am I really sure??)

"And of mankind is he who selleth his life even, seeking the pleasure of Allah; and Allah is Tender unto His bond men." Al-Baqarah [2:207]

Whoah, whoah. Wait a sec. Hontou ni? Even his own life? For what purpose? The pleasure of Allah. Again, hontou ni? Well, let's go deeper.

"Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allah , so they kill and are killed. [It is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah ? So rejoice in your transaction which you have contracted. And it is that which is the great attainment." [At-Taubah 9:111]

Whoah. You see that? Not only their lives, but also their properties! In exchange of? Yes. Eternal happiness in His jannah. Isn't that worth way more than the world and its content? Of course! But wait a minute, isn't that sounds too easy? Heck yeah it's "easy". Now let's go much deeper.

"Shaitân (Satan) threatens you with poverty and orders you to commit Fahshâ (evil deeds, illegal sexual intercourse, sins etc.); whereas Allâh promises you Forgiveness from Himself and Bounty, and Allâh is All-Sufficient for His creatures' needs, All-Knower.." [Al-Baqarah 2:268]

Wait what? Satan will threaten us? With poverty? What kind? Does it include poverty in terms of time, energy, ideas, properties etc? Then how? Wouldn't that be hard for us? Well, let's go much more deeper!

"And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient, Who, when disaster strikes them, say, "Indeed we belong to Allah , and indeed to Him we will return." [Al-Baqarah 2:155-156]

Deeper!

"Do the people think that they will be left to say, "We believe" and they will not be tried? But We have certainly tried those before them, and Allah will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars." [Al-Ankabut 29:2-3]

Now I see. No wonder. Once we admitted to the fact that Allah is our only, the Almighty God and Prophet Muhammad is His 

messenger, we'll surely be tested. For what? To see whether you're a faithful servant of His or just a big liar.

Conclusion? Easy. It is normal to be feared of losing a bit of our property, time, energy etc but let's think about the reward in the hereafter. Isn't it worth more than you could've ever sacrifice?