no saowt
01-22-2005, 04:28 AM
Today is Yaum al-Arafat (The Day Of Arafat), the day when the Muslim Hajjis stand on the mount of Arafat and beg Allah for His mercy and forgiveness. This corresponds to the 9th day of Dhul Hijjah of the Islamic Calendar and is the culminating event of the Hajj. The number of pilgrims who arrived from abroad in Saudi Arabia to perform this year's Hajj stands at 1,452,732 as of Saturday January 16th. This does not include those locals who will be performing Hajj, so the number could be well over 2 million. All of the Hajjis must stand on Arafat today before sunset in order for their Hajj to be accepted. Without Arafat there is no Hajj.
Yaum al Arafat is a day of forgiveness from sin and salvation from the fire. A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated the Messenger of Allâh (pbuh) saying:
“There is no day on which Allâh frees more people from the Fire than the day of Arafat. He comes close and expresses His pride to the angels saying, 'What do these people (the Hajis) want?'” [Sahih Muslim]
Those Muslims who are not performing the Hajj are encouraged to fast on this day if they are able. Fasting on this day expiates the sins of two years. It is reported in that when the Messenger of Allâh (pbuh) was asked about the fasting on the day of Arafat, he said: “It expiates the sins of the previous year and that of the following year.” [Sahih Muslim]
In addition, Yaum al Arafat holds great importance in Islam since this is the day when Allah completed his revelation on His Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him). It is reported from Umar Ibn al-Khattab that a Jewish man said to him: “O Amir al-Muminîn (O head of the Muslims)! There is a verse in the Qur'ân, which if was revealed on us, the Jews, we would have taken that day as an Eid (festival). Umar asked: ‘Which verse?’ He said:
“This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.” [Quran 5:3]
Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: ‘We know on which day and in which place was this verse revealed to Allâh's Messenger (pbuh). It was when he was standing in Arafat on a Friday.’ (Bukhari and Muslim)
Also, Arafat is the day on which Allah took the covenant from the progeny of Adam (peace be upon him), it was reported that Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: The Messenger of Allâh (pbuh) related:
“When Allâh created Adam (pbuh) Allâh took covenant from him in a place Na'mân on the day of Arafat, then He extracted from him all the descendants who would be born until the end of the world, generation after generation, and spread them out in front of Him in order to take a covenant from them also. He spoke to them face to face saying:
“Am I not your Lord?”
and they all replied: ‘Yes, we testify to it’. Allâh then explained why He had all of mankind bear witness that He was their Creator and only true God worthy of worship. He said:
“That was in case you (mankind) should say on the Day of Resurrection, 'Surely, we were unaware of this. We had no idea that You, Allâh, were our Lord. No one told us that we were only supposed to worship You.” (Narrated by Ahmad)
So today is indeed a blessed day for the Muslims and there can be no greater bounty than to be forgiven by Allah. I ask Allah to accept the sincere repentance of all of the believers and I ask Allah to accept the efforts of all the Hajjis and grant them paradise and accept their Hajj. I also ask that Allah will make it easy for you to stand on Arafat next year, inshallah.
[email protected]
Yaum al Arafat is a day of forgiveness from sin and salvation from the fire. A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated the Messenger of Allâh (pbuh) saying:
“There is no day on which Allâh frees more people from the Fire than the day of Arafat. He comes close and expresses His pride to the angels saying, 'What do these people (the Hajis) want?'” [Sahih Muslim]
Those Muslims who are not performing the Hajj are encouraged to fast on this day if they are able. Fasting on this day expiates the sins of two years. It is reported in that when the Messenger of Allâh (pbuh) was asked about the fasting on the day of Arafat, he said: “It expiates the sins of the previous year and that of the following year.” [Sahih Muslim]
In addition, Yaum al Arafat holds great importance in Islam since this is the day when Allah completed his revelation on His Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him). It is reported from Umar Ibn al-Khattab that a Jewish man said to him: “O Amir al-Muminîn (O head of the Muslims)! There is a verse in the Qur'ân, which if was revealed on us, the Jews, we would have taken that day as an Eid (festival). Umar asked: ‘Which verse?’ He said:
“This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.” [Quran 5:3]
Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: ‘We know on which day and in which place was this verse revealed to Allâh's Messenger (pbuh). It was when he was standing in Arafat on a Friday.’ (Bukhari and Muslim)
Also, Arafat is the day on which Allah took the covenant from the progeny of Adam (peace be upon him), it was reported that Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: The Messenger of Allâh (pbuh) related:
“When Allâh created Adam (pbuh) Allâh took covenant from him in a place Na'mân on the day of Arafat, then He extracted from him all the descendants who would be born until the end of the world, generation after generation, and spread them out in front of Him in order to take a covenant from them also. He spoke to them face to face saying:
“Am I not your Lord?”
and they all replied: ‘Yes, we testify to it’. Allâh then explained why He had all of mankind bear witness that He was their Creator and only true God worthy of worship. He said:
“That was in case you (mankind) should say on the Day of Resurrection, 'Surely, we were unaware of this. We had no idea that You, Allâh, were our Lord. No one told us that we were only supposed to worship You.” (Narrated by Ahmad)
So today is indeed a blessed day for the Muslims and there can be no greater bounty than to be forgiven by Allah. I ask Allah to accept the sincere repentance of all of the believers and I ask Allah to accept the efforts of all the Hajjis and grant them paradise and accept their Hajj. I also ask that Allah will make it easy for you to stand on Arafat next year, inshallah.
[email protected]