Sacrifice - Berkorban, Terkorban or Mangsa Korban?

Oxford dictionary defines "sacrifice" as:

The giving up of something of great value to oneself for a special purpose, to benefit somebody else.

In Malay, "sacrifice" means "korban". Either you are:

1. Terkorban - dead
2. Mangsa Korban - also dead, victim of an event
3. Berkorban - pretend to be dead to make someone else happy
4. Pengorbanan - doing things for someone whom normally would forget that you ever exist

Sounds cynical huh? I am in a cynical mood these days. Perhaps its that time of the month.

There is a song in Malay about "sacrifice" or "korban", with lyrics as below:

Berkorban apa saja
Harta atau pun nyawa
Itulah kasih mesra
Sejati dan mulia

Kepentingan sendiri
Tidak diingini
Bahagia kekasih
Saja yang diharapi

Berkorban apa saja
Harta atau pun nyawa
Itulah kasih mesra
Sejati dan mulia
hmm... hmm... hmm...

Untuk menjadi bukti
Kasih yang sejati
Itulah tandanya
Jika mahu diuji

Berkorban apa saja
Harta atau pun nyawa
Itulah kasih mesra
Sejati dan mulia

Berkorban for Kekasih huh? If that Kekasih is Allah, then it's OK. What about if the Kekasih is your partner? Your children? Do we have to show our sacrifices act first, before they realize that we actually love them? Is it necessary? Is there any way that I don't want to sacrifice anything, but yet declare that I love them? Will that be acceptable? Worst, after all the sacrifices, they still do not acknowledge the love we shower upon them. So, in the end, after all the pengorbanan, either you terkorban, jadik mangsa korban, atau dikorbankan. Kesian....

In Islam, korban is an ibadah, with ultimate objective to clean oneself from harta and kepentingan dunia and contribute some of that to the needy. This ibadah is a commemoration of an ultimate sacrificial act of Nabi Ibrahim for his son Nabi Ismail. You see, Nabi Ibrahim had been married for many years but did not have any child. Until after almost 30 years, he finally got Ismail, and then at about age 8, Allah commanded him to sacrifice Ismail (as a test of Iman). How far can he go to sacrifice his one and only, much awaited child? Because of Ibrahim's deepest commitment to Allah, he placed Ismail's neck on a rock, closed his eyes, ever ready to swing down the sabre, recite "bismillah" and swing down the sabre he did. But when he opened his eyes, it was a kibas. It was such a relief. Verdict - Ibrahim passed the test with flying colors.

This is the ultimate sacrificial act, and it is about LOVE (kasih sayang). If you realize, in our solat, the tahyat akhir would mention about religion of Ibrahim and Muhammad. Allah wants us to have the guts of Ibrahim. Whatever test that we are facing, remember what these 2 prophets had to go thru, and compare that against our test. Is it comparable? Only we know how we fared. How far can we go in Allah's every test?

All in all, sacrifice, let me give you a new definition:

Sacrifice - a noble act to forgo one's greatest interest for the happiness of another person, with no intention for payback, but in the hope that the other person would remember and appreciates the act.

But maybe for another species:

Sacrifice - a vocabulary which has never existed in life, an act which can be easily forgotten, what more to be acknowledged.