All sacrifices are required of us because we have to shoulder the immense responsibility of fulfilling the mission that Allah’s Messengers were charged with: ‘That you be witnesses unto mankind.’ We must be true slaves of our Lord, and be selfless servants of mankind. It is to serve mankind that we have been constituted into a Ummah. That calling requires that we prepare ourselves for one of the most difficult tasks in life.
Without making sacrifices the revival of Islam will always remain a matter of speeches or a matter of dreams. To actualize it, we will have to give up our time and wealth, our life and resources, our personal likes and dislikes.
Even our best efforts, however, may not be perfect. We may waver and falter, we may fail and despair. But this is only human. What Allah looks at is our intention and effort. So let us turn to Him to help us lest our human frailties overwhelm us when sacrifices are demanded of us, and to seek His forgiveness for all our shortcomings and failures.
Our Lord! Take us not to task if we forget, or make mistakes.
Our Lord! Lay not upon us a burden such as Thou didst lay upon those before us.
Our Lord! Do Thou not burden us beyond what we have strength to bear.
And pardon us, and forgive us, and have mercy on us.
Thou art our Master; help us, then, against people who deny the truth.
(al-Baqarah 2: 286)