Early Eid al-Adha Pardons

Eid al-Adha will be celebrated in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 11 August 2019 as per Gregorian date (Islamic Year 1440),

Our Muslim brothers and sisters will celebrate Eid al-Adha or 'Feast/Festival of the Sacrifice' to honor the intervention of God when Ibrahim (Abraham) was to willingly sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, to show his obedience to Him. God provided him with a lamb to sacrifice instead of his child.

To commemorate this, an animal is sacrificed and divided into three (3) parts for the

1. poor and needy
2. family/home
3. relatives

Many families of different nationalities will celebrate freedom this Eid al-Adha. Freedom is priceless and we only realize this when we cannot do what we want to do with the loved ones because of some bondages.

Truly God hears our prayers and sees our silent pains down here on earth.

The leading newspaper, Gulf News, reported the humanitarian gestures of the UAE leaders on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, relative to the consideration of good conduct of prisoners in their territories  --

• UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has ordered the release of 669 prisoners -- serving various sentences. He has also pledged to settle the financial obligations of the released prisoners.
• His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, has ordered the pardon of 430 prisoners in Dubai.
• His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, has ordered the release of 400 inmates of different nationalities from the punitive and reformative institutions in the Emirate of Sharjah.
• His Highness Sheikh Humaid Bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ajman, ordered the release of 70 prisoners.
• His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Fujairah, has ordered the release of 73 prisoners from penal and correctional facilities in the emirate.

Each time I read news like this, I get emotional. Nobody is born bad. People make mistakes but they deserve a second chance in life. If you are in a foreign country, sometimes you are not aware of all laws, but ignorance of the law is not an excuse when you commit an offense punishable by it. Maybe others are forced by circumstances to do something which they regret later. (Look at the cases of those incarcerated because of debts for which they got trapped as something went wrong -- loss of gainful employment, divorce, illness, hospitalization and/or death of a loved one, business collapse, etc.) The rest are innocent and by reason of attachment to wrong people, they are dragged to such a miserable situation.

Each has a story to tell, and hopefully, there will be lessons learned from each of them. (How I wish I could interview them, write some moving inspirational stories with some avatars to protect their identities.)

It is not only the prisoners who suffered for the offenses they committed but also their families and friends close to them. The country and citizens as well carry the burden of keeping them in the punitive and reformative institutions. Just do the mathematics on estimated related fixed and variable expenses/costs.

The UAE leaders' humanitarian gestures will give the inmates a life reboot. Definitely, they will enjoy freedom with their beloved families. I hope they will apply what they have learned inside and face the world with new confidence, vigor, and hope. May the society welcome them back with open arms, and let them return to the community as active and productive members with their brand new lives. This way they can alleviate their families' hardships and responsibly play their roles for all of them to survive and thrive.

Silently I pray for them and their families for the fresh life restart, as well as the UAE leaders who freed them, and also all the people in the punitive and reformative facilities who took care of them and were instrumental in their positive transformation and freedom.

From womb to tomb, there are many, many sacrifices we do for our loved ones, and those who love us and care for us do the same. Most often than not, most of us see our own sacrifices, but blind to what other people have given up for us.

Let us celebrate with our Muslim brothers and sisters on the occasion of the coming Eid al-Adha. As early as now, let us passionately mark some boxes or envelopes, and commit to do something for or give or donate some items to --

          Box/Envelope 1   🐑     The Poor and Needy
          Box/Envelope 2   🐑    My Family
          Box/Envelope 3   🐑    My Relatives

On a different perspective, we have a universal something that we can sacrifice -- what we are -- whether individually as a free man or a prisoner of whatever.

Charles Dickens said,

The important thing is this:  to be ready at any moment to sacrifice what you are for what you could become.

This is true, for always, in many ways (no matter how difficult those ways are, how long and whatever it takes), each of us can be a better version of himself/herself tomorrow than ever. There is always hope. Just believe. And remember the word 'sacrifice'. 

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Photo credits: Pixabay