Idul Adha always has vertical and horizontal dimensions. However, during Idul Adha in 2019, we look more at the horizontal dimension because the weave of our national unity is starting to diminish.
Nearly two months after the Constitutional Court ruled that the candidate pair Joko Widodo and Ma\'ruf Amin won the presidential election we were faced again with the frenzy surrounding the appointment of Cabinet members. As easy as it is in the Idul Adha atmosphere, we want to remind ourselves that our common goal as a nation is to achieve prosperity and improve welfare.
The act of sacrifice as shown by the Prophet Ibrahim could become a reference in state affairs. Ibrahim gave up his son, the Prophet Ismail, to be sacrificed, simply with the hope of getting the blessing of Allah Almighty. Prophet Ibrahim and Prophet Ismail were equally sincere in carrying out His orders.
Prophet Ibrahim\'s love for Ismail was priceless; nothing compared to it. We humans today find it impossible to follow the sacrifice of the two prophets. Now, each of us who is financially capable is only asked to sacrifice one goat. In fact, each of us may still get a portion of the sacrificial meat.
However, ignorance, hedonism and lack of empathy make us reluctant to do that. We are trapped in our daily routines so we cannot see the purpose of this nation further ahead.
Right now, each of us is busier and only thinks about ourselves. Even if we want to think about other people, our thoughts are more limited to families and groups and only a small number think about this nation.
Most of us, the Indonesian people, have not yet practiced the spirit and sincerity of the Prophet Ibrahim. In fact, in living together as a nation, the sacrifice of every citizen is important to achieve prosperity and welfare for all citizens of the nation.
As a nation, Indonesia continues to develop, but some people did not get the attention and did not enjoy the government’s poverty eradication program. Religious awareness, such as the spirit of sacrifice, can plug this weaknesses and negligence of the government. This is the wisdom we expect to emerge from the Idul Adha ritual.
In term of percentage, poor people in Indonesia as of March 2019 accounted for 9.41 percent of total population. However, as the population continues to grow, the number of poor people is still large: 25.14 million out of 260 million Indonesians.
Muslim people in Indonesia are 85 percent of the total population. If they want to sacrifice to patch up the weaknesses and negligence of the government in eradicating poverty, the ideals of prosperity and welfare of the people will be more quickly achieved.
Moreover, Indonesia\'s economy only grows at about 5 percent per year. That growth is not enough to lift as many citizens as possible from poverty. Only the willingness to sacrifice can accelerate the effort to achieve the goals of bringing prosperity and welfare to the citizens.