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‘Arafat and the Descent of Mercy - Shaykh Ashraf Salah
‘Arafat
and the Descent of Mercy
Shaykh Ashraf Salah
Dear
Muslims:
All praise is due
to Allah (SWT) Who has created time and has made some periods of time superior
to others. He (SWT) has made some days, nights and months to be of greater
value than others; when rewards are multiplied many times, as a mercy towards
His slaves. This encourages them to do more righteous deeds and makes them more
eager to worship Him (SWT), so that the Muslim renews his efforts to gain a
greater share of reward and so that he can prepare himself for death and the
Day of Judgement.
These seasons of
worship bring many benefits, such as the opportunity to correct one’s faults
and make up for any shortcomings. Every one of these special occasions involves
some kind of worship through which the slaves can draw closer to Allah (SWT),
and some kind of unique blessings through which Allah (SWT) bestows His favour
and mercy upon whomsoever He wishes. The successful and exultant person is the
one who makes the most of these special hours, days and months and draws nearer
to his Lord during these times through acts of worship; he will most likely be
moved by the blessings of Allah and feel the joy of knowing that he is safe
from the flames of Hell.
Among these
special seasons of worship are the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah, which Allah
(SWT) has preferred over all other days of the year. Ibn ‘Abbas (RAA) reported
that the Prophet (PBUH) said: "There are no days in which righteous deeds
are more beloved to Allah than these ten days." The people asked:
"Not even jihad for the sake of Allah?" He replied: "Not even
jihad for the sake of Allah, except for the case of a man who went out to fight
giving himself and his wealth up for the cause - and returned with
nothing." (Bukhaari).
The text mentioned
above indicates that these ten days are better than all the other days of the
year, without exception, not even the last ten days of Ramadan. But the last
ten nights of Ramadaan are better than the first ten nights of Dhu’l Hijjah,
because they include Laylat al-Qadr ("the Night of Power"), which is
better than a thousand months. Thus the various reports may be reconciled.
Dear Muslims:
You should know
that the virtue of these ten days is confirmed by many proofs:
Allah (SWT) swears
an oath by them, and swearing an oath by something is indicative of its
importance and great benefit. Allah (SWT) says: "By the dawn; and by the
ten nights" (89: 1-2). Ibn ‘Abbas, Ibn az-Zubayr, Mujahid and others of
the earlier and later generations of Mufassireen said that this refers to the
first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah.
The Prophet (PBUH)
commanded us to abundantly pronounce Tasbeeh (Subhan-Allah), Tahmeed (‘Al-hamdu
Lillaah) and Takbeer (Allahu akbar) during this time. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar,
(RAA) reported that the Prophet (PBUH) said: "There are no days greater in
the sight of Allah and in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Him than
these ten days, so during this time recite a great deal of Tahleel ("La
ilaha illa-Allah"), Takbeer and Tahmeed." (Ahmad).
Deare Brothers And Sisters In Islam:
These blessed ten
days of Dhu’l Hijjah include Yawm ‘Arafah (the Day of ‘Arafah), on which Allah
(SWT) perfected His Religion. Al-‘Abbaas Ibn Al-Midraas said, “The Prophet
(PBUH) supplicated abundantly for the forgiveness and mercy of his Ummah on the
night of ‘Arafat … then he did the same in Muzdalifah. The Prophet (PBUH)
smiled when he finished. Some of the Sahabah asked: “I sacrifice my father and
mother for your sake, you smiled at a time which you never smiled previously,
may Allah always make you happy, what made you smile?” he said, “I smiled
because of the predicament of Satan, the enemy of Allah. After Allah accepted
my supplications for my Ummah and forgave those who transgressed against
themselves. Satan started pouring soil upon his head and crying out for his own destruction, so I smiled at his
grief” (Ahmad).
Iblees, The enemy
of Allah, was never seen more humiliated and enraged than on the day of the
battle of Badr - except on the day of ‘Arafah. On that day he sees the mercy
that Allah (SWT) sends down and His forgiveness of sins.
There is no other
day on which the extent of forgiveness and mercy reaches such a level like the
day of ‘Arafah. On ‘Arafat Allah (SWT) frees people from the Hellfire, as
‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, narrated in the book of Muslim, that
the Prophet (PBUH) said: “There is no day greater than ‘Arafat in which Allah
frees His slaves from The Hellfire. Allah ‘Yadnoo’ (which indicates coming
close) to His slaves and boasts about them to the angels, then asks (a
rhetorical question): “What do these slaves seek?”. In another narration Allah
(SWT) says that which translates as: “I make you witnesses that I forgave them”
the angels would then say, “O Allah! So and so is overburdened with sins” Allah
(SWT) replies, “I forgave them all” (Ibn Khuzaymah).
Al-Mannaawi said:
“The fact that Allah boasted to the angels denotes His forgiveness, because
Allah would not have boasted in front of the pure and sin-free angels, unless
the pilgrim had become clear of all sins”.
Bilaal (RAA) narrated that the Prophet
(PBUH) said to him in the morning when people gathered (in Muzdalifah): “O
Bilaal! Tell the people to be silent!” then he said to them: “Allah blessed you
in this gathering and forgave the sinful among you due to the fact that you
were amid the pious - and He (SWT) granted the pious what they asked for” (Ibn
Maajah).
Haakim Ibn Hizaam
(RAA) used to stand in ‘Arafat bringing one hundred camels and one hundred
slaves (he was only obliged to slaughter one seventh of a camel). He would then
start freeing the slaves for the sake of Allah. The people would then start
crying loudly with Du’aa` saying: “O Allah! Your slave freed his slaves, and we
are Your slaves, so free us (from the Hellfire)”.
Al-Fudhayl saw the
supplications of people and their weeping on the night of ‘Arafat and asked the
crowds: “If these people went to a man and asked him for a Daaniq (a very small
amount of money), would he refuse?” The people said: ‘No’ he said, “Allah’s
forgiveness is even easier to obtain than that”.
Ibn Al-Mubarak said: “I went to Sufyaan
Ath-Thawri on the night of ‘Arafat and he was kneeling down and crying”, I
asked him, “Who is the worst person in this gathering?” he said: “He who thinks
Allah will not forgive him”.
Dear Muslims:
The foregoing are
just a few of the many wonderful stories that you hear from this blessed and
pure land. Here you will see people supplicate with humbleness, repentance and
regret; they will cry over their sins and shortcomings. Many are those who
asked forgiveness and were forgiven; who cried and pledged to refrain from
sinning and had their sins wiped out. Many come out of ‘Arafaat sinless with
joyful hearts and happy faces.
However, it
is enough of an honour for ‘Arafah that Allah (SWT) swore by it in His Book, as
‘Arafah is the odd which is mentioned in Surat Al-Fajr: “By the dawn. And (by)
ten nights. And (by) the even and the odd” (89: 1-3). It is the day on which
Allah took the covenant from the children of Aadam and they testified to the
oneness of Allah. Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the
Prophet (PBUH) said: “Allah took the covenant from children of Adam on the day
of ‘Arafah, and He brought forth from their loins their descendants and then
scattered them and spoke to them asking? “Am I not your Lord?”” (7: 172).
(Ahmad).
Moreover, the day of ‘Arafah is so
blessed that fasting on it will expiate for the sins of two years. Abu Qatadah
narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) said: “Fasting it (‘Arafaat) expiates the sins
of the previous and the current year” (Muslim).
Dear
Muslims:
As for those who were unable to perform
Hajj: Let he who missed standing in ‘Arafaat fulfil all the other rights of
Allah; he who could not spend the night in Muzdalifah, let him pledge to obey
Allah in all other matters; he who could not slaughter his sacrifice, let him
give up his whims and desires and he who could not reach the house of Allah
(Ka’bah), let him supplicate to Allah - The One Who is nearer when asked, than
ones jugular vein. For those who could not make it to ‘Arafat, follow the
advice of your Prophet (PBUH) and fast that day.
May Allah (SWT) forgive
our sins, increase our Iman, and accept us in these blessed days. (Ameen).
