On the eve of the Eid al-Adha, it is a must to mention the importance of the worship of the “sacrifice”, which expresses becoming closer to and surrendering to God, for the Hizmet movement. Like all other social structures, “Hizmet” has seen important dates/days such as the Eid al-Adha as an important opportunity to achieve huge gains in line with their own ideals and has developed a number of practices that surround the ideal of “Hizmet”.
Many things took place days before and during Eid al-Adha: collection of sacrificial animal shares from trustees, tradesmen and students’ parents, making people promise to donate the pelt of the sacrificial animal, going to neighborhood to neighborhood with trustees, shopkeepers and students for the collection of sacrificial skin, the holiday prayer in the dormitory/mosque in your vicinity, the mass breakfast with a large crowd, helping people to slaughter the sacrificial animal in the designated slaughter area… Taking all of this into consideration, Eid al-Adha has always been a time when the Hizmet strengthened its bonds with those who sympathized and resolved the urgent needs of regions with the collected sacrificial animal shares and pelt.
Eid al-Adha is a very important agenda during the Himmet (means help, usually of the monetary kind) meetings, conservation groups, trustees, unit chats, even in secret (mahram) services. “Sarıyer – Eid al-Adha Conversation” is certainly watched and the notions of belonging/monetary help are reinforced. As always, our well-intentioned and magnanimous people have done their best thinking that “we must support Hizmet dorms and poor students to help raise a faithful generation.” Moreover, they also drive around neighborhoods in their luxurious cars to collect sacrificial animals’ pelts. Even during the darkest days, Eid al-Adha is an essential element for Hizmet.
While our fellow nationals have sacrificed so much with these sincere feelings, Eid al-Adha also has an invisible facet, private to the congregation. As exposed to the public in recent years, the collected sacrificial animal shares from regions/large regions/provinces have been misused for the congregation’s expenditure/needs/funds. Most of the money collected as abroad sacrifice fees has been spent on such needs. Only small a part of the promised sacrificial animals was slaughtered and for a cheaper price. Moreover, sentiments of credibility/belonging were reinforced by organizing trips for shopkeepers and trustees from Turkey to African countries and Eastern provinces of Turkey on Eid al-Adha. In fact, in many places, meats of bovines, that were slaughtered two days before the Eid al-Adha, were prepared for anyone who might demand it (slaughtering the sacrificial animal before Eid al-Adha invalidates the worship of sacrifice and is not allowed in Islam). In summary, the worship of “sacrifice” that should take place right after the Eid al-Adha prayer did not take place.
The ever-expanding business-like and dealer-like approach of the high-level managers of the Hizmet has tarnished both the congregation’s base’s and sympathizers’ trust towards the Hizmet and led these people to question the movement’s actions. The Hizmet’s sensitive approach towards Eid al-Adha degenerated over time, strayed away from the main purpose, and the material issues that should have been a legitimate tool for the idea of “Hizmet” were transformed into an end. This familiar “pragmatic” mindset which doesn’t accept failure as an option and doesn’t have a dichotomy between right and wrong that is adopted by the secret services has set the stage for the disasters and the victimization of the congregation’s base. What a move from the understanding “Allah does not change you unless you change yourself.”
We should ask the question with the loudest voice on the eve of the Eid al-Adha: How many more “Ishmaels” will be sacrificed to this mindset?