M

yth and custom compels us to simplify Idul Adha as an Islamic holiday. Even The Jakarta Post'€™s 2013 calendar pronounces Oct. 15 as the Islamic Day of Sacrifice. Apart from the grand prayers and animal sacrifice, it also marks the haj pilgrimage.

Yet denoting the significance of Idul Adha as Islamic is a misnomer since the core narrative transcends the 205 million Muslims in Indonesia, or even the 1.6 billion Muslims around the world.

Be you Muslim, Christian or Jew; be it in the articles of the Koran, Old Testament or Torah; whether you call him Ibrahim, Abraham or Abram. The message focuses on the selflessness of one man'€™s sacrifice to God, and the subsequent mercy shown to him.

At its core, it is a familiar lore taught in all those major religions. The subsequent variations are '€œtechnical interpretations'€ that do little to diminish the story'€™s essence.

Even George Lucas the almighty creator of the Star Wars ecosphere, frequently tinkered with the original versions. But it does not change the fact that Anakin Skywalker tried to slay his own son before ultimately turning back from the dark side.

In the case of Ibrahim, some claim it was Ismail who was to be sacrificed, others say Ishaq. There are versions that insist it took place in Palestine, some contend it was Hijaz (the western coast of the Arabian Peninsula).

This is a debate for historians, theologians and zealots. It takes nothing away from the fact that Ibrahim, in his devotion to Allah, God or Yahwe, pioneered the modern day concept of monotheism.

Christians may not pray for Muhammad, or Jews for Jesus. But all revere Ibrahim. Hence the term '€œAbrahamic faiths'€ during inter-religious dialogues and united religions initiatives.

If anything, this Day of Sacrifice should remind us of our religious ancestry to unite, not divide in the way religious rivalry continues to wreak havoc in this nation daily.

It amplifies the absurdity of rejecting a subdistrict head in South Jakarta on religious grounds, and makes it depressing when church-goers in Bogor are persecuted or Shiites in East Java are forced out of their homes.

As with everything, religious divisions are instigated by the politics and power that inflict after the prophet patriarch has passed. Few are to do with the theological aspect of faith itself.

The way Sunni and Shiites were split over rule of the caliphate after Prophet Muhammad'€™s passing. Or essentially how Catholics, Protestants and Anglicans are divided on the jurisdiction of Papal authority.

Agnostics would say the divine has a bizarre sense of humor.

In the same way monotheism was convinced by Ibrahim as he prepared to sacrifice his son, his own domestic life led to the riven that would burden humanity for several millennia.

Ibrahim'€™s three wives '€” Sarah, Hagar and Keturah '€” and their offspring represent the bloodlines that split and alienate the world today: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Babism and Baha'€™i.

It is neither meant to be blasphemous nor disrespectful to analyze the motives and consequence of the life of Ibrahim if it leads us to understand that no religion is in isolation of the other, and that these men '€” prophets though they were '€” also found it difficult to reconcile the ultimate divisions and contradictions they created.

For the laymen, two conclusions can be drawn. First, the commemoration of Ibrahim'€™s act of submission is a celebration of unity and monotheism for all religions, not just Islam.

And second, a simple corollary of polygamy. More wives, creates more problems.