There's a price you're willing to pay, for the things that matters, people you care about, religion and everything you deeply believe in. The currency is not limited to only money. Anything can be the price, as long as it begets a certain goal. You can theorize yourself your own price, but actually paying it, is sacrifice.
Sacrifice.
When Nabi Ibrahim was ordered to slaughter his own son. The son that was so hard to bear. The first child he can proudly call his son, he obliged. It wouldn't have been easy. A father had to give up his love towards a child, and ruthlessly kill it. That was the price he had to pay for his religion. It was a holy order, and he as a muslim, a prophet, a messenger, obliged.
I can't imagine the internal struggle he went through, but I do imagine that it was not easy. Nevertheless the day came, and he almost went through the ceremony, until another order came, to substitute his child with a lamb (was it a lamb? I'm not sure, correct me if I'm wrong, or look up a more reliable source on the seerah. I'm reaching out for the profound meaning here). Can you imagine if that order did not come, we'd probably be slaughtering children as an annual ritual. I mean, who knows? It's a possibility. But thankfully, a day tense with agony turned into a joyful day of celebrating life.
When someone leaves for hajj, money is not the only thing that he has to think about. Of course, even if you have enough money, there still are lots of aspects to consider before going for a pilgrimage. There's time. Pilgrimage takes months, back then even years, which could've benefit a lot for work. Then there's your family. If you go away for months, they need to be taken care of, they need to settle in, they need to have a proper management for the months they have no parent(s), and the overall aspect of survival. People die. And people can die there. Because pilgrimage is some serious business, and if you stop to pick up your fallen ihram, you're done. You've got billions of people in all corners of the world assembled at a small hot place, it will not be comfortable, but that's the price.
Pilgrimage is a high price itself, but it's a price for religion. When they say 'mampu', it means in all aspects. You leave your job, you leave your hometown, you leave your house, you leave your children, you leave your normal responsibilities to chase this one responsibility, and you leave your comfort zone at home. It's definitely a battle, and whoever goes through it, has sacrificed a lot indeed.
And that's what Aidiladha is all about.
It's a once a year sigh of relief that we're slaying cows rather than slaying children. Rather than a blood shower, we're celebrating this survival. And it's not just about hajj and slaughtering animals, you look back throughout the year, the sacrifices you've done, and how worthy they are to what you've paid for.
happy aidiladha!