Take 5 – 21st September 2015 by Ms Syarifah Hafizah

Hari Raya Haji & Graduation Day

A very good morning to Mdm Tan, Mr Lee, Mr Tan, colleagues and Gessians. For this morning’s Take 5, I will be focusing on the upcoming Hari Raya Haji and the much anticipated Graduation Day.

Hari Raya Haji, also known as festival of Sacrifice, is the second most important festival in the Muslim calendar. The festival remembers Prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son when God ordered him to. Hari Raya Haji celebrates the occasion when God appeared to Abraham in a dream and asked him to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God.

The devil tempted Abraham by saying he should disobey God and spare his son. As Abraham was about to kill his son, God stopped him and gave him a lamb to sacrifice instead.
The hallmark of Abraham’s character is his absolute obedience to God, despite his tremendous love for his son.
Today, Muslims all over the world who can afford it, sacrifice a sheep as a reminder of Abraham’s obedience to God. They share out the meat among family, friends and the poor, who each get a third share.

Another notable figure who sacrificed her safety to champion education for girls is Malala. She won the Noble Peace Prize in 2014. On her 18th birthday this year, she was noted for saying, “Today on my first day as an adult, on behalf of the world’s children, I demand of leaders we must invest in books instead of bullets,” Her sacrifice bore fruitation as she managed to open a school for Syrian girl refugees in Lebanon that day.

Speaking of sacrifice, I believe our very own graduating classes have done their own fair share of sacrifice in terms of their social life and sleep.

As you forge through the battleground that is you ‘N’ or ‘O’ levels, and embark on your tertiary education afterwhich, I’d like to you bear these two things in mind;

1. “Do not let what you cannot do, interfere with what you can do”- John Wooden. So, do not be let down by setbacks but work on polishing your craft.

2. You owe your success to the community. So, keep giving back for only in giving, do we receive.
With that, all the best for your examinations and beyond and Happy Graduation!

Reference:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/religion/islam/eid_haj.shtml