Hajj & The Day of Arafah
𝑯𝒂𝒋𝒋 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔.
For anyone who ever stands on the wide plains of Arafat in the month of Hajj, it is an awesome sight to behold. As far as the eyes can see, all around you worshippers stand seeking Allah’s forgiveness and mercy. There’s something spiritual in those hours spent there through the day till the sun goes down over its golden plains. In those moments it’s perhaps easy to think of the covenant; one we took before this world, elsewhere in another gathering.
Allah(swt) said that He brought the descendants of Adam out of the their fathers’ loins, and they testified against themselves that Allah is their Lord and King and that there is no deity worthy of worship except him. Allah created them on this fitrah, or way, just as he said;
‘So set you (Oh Muhammed) your face truly towards the religion, Hanifan. Allah’s fitrah with which He has created humankind.’ [TMQ 30:30]
[Ibn Kathir]
So it was that all people were gathered together and each one of us was asked;
‘Am I not your Lord?’ And we replied ‘Yes!’ [Al-Araaf 7:172]
And so we entered this world upon this fitrah, you could say, hard wired into our genes; an innate impulse deep inside of us to seek out the higher power that can be sensed within our very being. So inevitably and instinctively at some point in peoples’ lives we turn to Allah, whether it’s in times of danger, calamity or during an intense experience that triggers a natural response; to turn in prayer, seeking out and surrendering to a higher power; that is Allah (swt).
We uphold the covenant by worshipping Allah(swt) and Arafah was the day on which Allah perfected His religion, completed His favour upon His beloved Prophet (saw) and approved Islam as a way of life.
The Prophet (saw) said:
“The most excellent dua is the dua on the Day of Arafah. And the best of what I and the prophets before me have said is; ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, alone without partner. To Him belongs all that exists, and to Him is the praise, and He is powerful over all things,’” [Muwatta]🌙
𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 of 𝗦.𝗡.𝗝𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗹𝗶 ✍🏼 (𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓 of 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗯𝗻 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, Islamic chapter books for kids📚)
