Dear and Honorable Muslims!

The Almighty Allah states in the Surah al-Kawthar, “Indeed, We have granted you, [O Muhammad], al-Kawthar. So pray to your Allah and sacrifice [to Him alone]. Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off.”

In the hadith I have just recited Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam said on the first day of Eid al-Adha, “On this day of ours, our first act of worship is to establish prayer and then we will return and slaughter the sacrifice, and whoever does these concords with our Sunnah.”

Dear Muslims!

Today is the Eid al-Adha, which reinforces our iman, brings our hearts together, and increases our gratitude to Allah. Today is the day when the worship of sacrifice is performed and the duas and efforts are strengthened with piety and submission. Endless praises to the Almighty Allah (s.w.t.), Who enjoined us with this exceptional day. Salat and salam to our beloved Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) who declared the eids as days of peace and joy.

My brothers and sisters!

We are experiencing the happiness and excitement of rejoining with Eid al-Adha which carries the emotions of peace, brotherhood, and sharing to the hearts of the believers and becomes the symbol of iman, obedience, and submission.

Sacrifice is the pursuit of being closer to the Almighty Allah and reaching to the good, the beautiful, and the truth. Sacrifice is the symbol of love, loyalty, and self-devotion. Sacrifice is a great worship which strengthens the conscious of bounty that comes from the Creator and the moral of altruism that is shown to the created beings and which gives us the determination of sacrificing the properties we have for the sake of the values we believe in.

Eids are the exceptional periods of time in which our bonds with our family, relatives, the members of the same religion, and all humans are strengthened and our feelings of unity, solidarity, and cooperation dominate over our lives as the manifestation of our determination to be an ummah and a nation.

In addition to these, Eid al-Adha is a sacred time in which hajj that is one of the fundamental worships of Islam is performed and millions of believers come together in Mecca in submission to the Almighty Allah. However; al-Masjid al-Haram, Mount Arafat, Muzdalifah and the other places that are included in the hajj worship has been deserted this year due to the global epidemic which has affected the entire world today. The fact that we cannot perform this sacred worship which unites Muslims from all parts of the world around a common value with a great love and excitement has deeply saddened the hearts which are burning with the longing of the sacred towns. For this reason, we need the unifying, calming and soothing characteristics of eids more than ever. Within this difficult process through which we are passing along with the entire humanity, the values that are reminded to us by the eids and the beauties they add to our lives should be seen as great blessings and opportunities.

I would like to express one point proudly that our nation has overcome several hardships with patience, determination, and resolution from past to today. So, the re-opening of the Great Hagia Sophia Mosque, which is the symbol of the great conquest of Istanbul, for worship again after 86 years of longing is the indicator of the unshakable iman, endless hope, and determined standing of our nation. With the help of the Almighty Allah and with the resolution and determination of our nation, I have no doubt that we are going to overcome the global hardships, which we are facing today, and we are going to rejoin with the eids which we are going to celebrate with greater peace and excitement.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, we should exert effort to celebrate Eid al-Adha with all its beauties despite all these negativities. We should strengthen our conscious of solidarity and cooperation even more by acting with the understanding of taking precautions, trusting in Allah, and submission when we face with hardships and calamities. For peace and safety of our household, we should never forget to be careful, smile to people, give salam to everyone, and have friendly conversations with people. We should exert efforts to solve problems of the orphan, the poor, the sick, the old, and the lonely people who need attention and to turn their troubles into happiness by being their relatives in this Eid al-Adha. We should feel the sufferings of our brothers and sisters in Islamic terms who have this Eid al-Adha under oppression, pressure, terror, disease, hunger, and related threats in several parts of the world and we should strive more for healing their wounds with our material and immaterial aids and our duas.

My brothers and sisters!

As it is in all our worships, the most important objective of the worship of sacrifice is to offer our servitude, our honor, and our love to Allah (s.w.t.). It is the act of joining the servants, with whom the Almighty Allah is pleased, by reaching the consciousness of taqwa. If Allah permits, we are going to slaughter our sacrifices with this awareness. We are going to take the Prophet Abraham’s (a.s.) remaining true to his word and the Prophet Ismail’s (a.s.) submission to Allah as examples.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters, Honorable Believers!

In this eid, we need to be sensitive about cleanliness more than ever. We need to remember the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad, “Cleanliness is the half of the iman,” and act with a sensitivity which should be expected from a Muslim. In these days when we are struggling with the coronavirus epidemic, we have to comply with the health measures and protect ourselves while worshipping sincerely.

My brothers and sisters!

The animals to be sacrificed has been entrusted to us. Do not hurt them. Behave them with compassion and care.

Eids are times of happiness. Let us share this happiness with our neighbors, our relatives, and the sick, the old, and the lonely people.

Let us end offences and resentments in blessed days. Let us contemplate the peace of the eid altogether. However, let us not turn these precious days into sad ones by causing the disease to be spread. Let us abide by the mask and safe social distance rules. Let us avoid handshaking and hugging in the days of eid and during the coronavirus epidemic.

Moreover, let us not forget about the tashriq takbirs which we have started with the fajr prayer on the eve of the Eid al-Adha and we are going to complete with the asr prayer on the fourth day of the eid.

Honorable Believers!

As I end my khutbah, I would like to invite you to be patient and wise while you are slaughtering your sacrifices, visiting each other, and especially driving vehicle during the eid. May the Almighty Allah protect us from all kinds of accidents and calamities. May the Almighty Allah save us from epidemics, wars, and pains. May the Almighty Allah let us come together in several fruitful eids. May the salam, mercy, gift, and grace of the Almighty Allah be upon us! My dear brothers and sisters, I wish a happy Eid al-Adha for all of us.