a painful sacrifice

assalamulaikum.
while having a small picnic by the Pelican Beach at Goldcoast on a beautiful evening, Kak iman started our discussion by telling us about ukhuwah. the lowest level of an ukhuwah is to love our friends for who they are (ie berlapang dada). and the highest level of ukhuwah is to put others first before yourselves (ie ithar).

at first, i dont really feel its significance until i'd experienced it by myself. until i have to sacrifice something that i really wanted and worked hard for. something that could cost me perhaps a medical degree and time to be spent with my family. everytime i thought about it, i felt like a sharp blade stabbing my chest. painful. but i chose it that way. i want my friends to have it as i believe He has something better for me. and indeed He has.

and now, alhamdulillah, by sacrificing that something, i have gained loads of other things. He has given me the chance to have a road trip with my juniors. insyaAllah i'll give my best in my very first self-arranged jaulah.

يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ هَلْ أَدُلُّكمْ عَلَى تِجَـرَةٍ تُنجِيكُم مِّنْ عَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ - تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ
وَتُجَـهِدُونَ فِى سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ بِأَمْوَلِكُمْ وَأَنفُسِكُمْ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

"O you who believe! Shall I guide you to a trade that will save you from a painful torment. That you believe in Allah and His Messenger, and that you strive hard and fight in the cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives, that will be better for you, if you but know!" (61:10)

i'd realized that once you sacrifice something that you really wish to have, He'll open the doors to many other things. things that you cant possibly think of. things that could change your tears to a wide grin :-D

i felt the meaning of ithar as well as understood why it is the peak of an ukhuwwah. it's undeniably a painful sacrifice but with compliments of greater opportunities. insyaAllah.
let's ithar, my friends ^_^

إِنَّ اللَّهَ اشْتَرَى مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَأَمْوَلَهُمْ بِأَنَّ لَهُمُ الّجَنَّةَ يُقَـتِلُونَ فِى
سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَيَقْتُلُونَ وَيُقْتَلُونَ وَعْدًا عَلَيْهِ حَقًّا فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَالإِنجِيلِ وَالْقُرْءانِ وَمَنْ أَوْفَى بِعَهْدِهِ
مِنَ اللَّهِ فَاسْتَبْشِرُواْ بِبَيْعِكُمُ الَّذِى بَايَعْتُمْ بِهِ وَذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ
"Verily, Allah has purchased of the believers their lives and their properties for (the price) that theirs shall be the Paradise. They fight in Allah's cause, so they kill and are killed. It is a promise in truth which is binding on Him in the Tawrah and the Injil and the Qur'an. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah Then rejoice in the bargain which you have concluded. That is the supreme success" (9:111)