I am feeling so emotional today subhanAllah. Remembering Arafah. That feeling of standing on the plains of Arafah, where it is scorching hot and there is no shade, to supplicate for those specified few hours, it is like no other feeling on earth. You are dusty and dishevelled and you cry and sweat and it feels like a minutia of what it might feel in Yawm ul Qiyamah. You strip yourself bare, down to your very core. You open your heart to Allah in a way you never knew it could be opened and explored. You realise your true self and essence, you understand the weakness of your being in a way you have never understood. All around you are the cries and pleas of people, all the same as you and nothing more or less. Your tears are like a shower that washes your heart and cleanses your soul. You are truly humbled and dwarfed by His Might, His Power and Mercy.
On this day, Allah descends to the sky and says to the angels, ‘My slaves have come to Me, looking rough, from every deep valley hoping for my mercy, so if their sins are equivalent to the amount of sand or the drops of rain or like the foam on the sea, I will forgive them.’ (Tabarani)
The hours roll into one and the time is over before you know it. As the sun starts to set and the time for Arafah passes, you wipe your eyes having cleansed your heart with your tears and you watch the mists rise up into the mountains as if (as my husband said whilst we watched together) your duas have been lifted to the skies and heavens on the wings of angels. Through this, your soul feels reborn. SubhanAllah.
I feel very very overwhelmed by it every time. The emotions inspired on this day are greater than me.
‘There is no day on which Allah frees more people from the Fire than the day of Arafah.’ (Muslim)
I never used to understand when people went on and on about their hajj experiences, particularly the profound experience of Arafah. I understand that it must feel like this for some of you too when I go on and on about it. I just hope it helps deepen the existing yearning in your hearts to go on your hajj as soon as Allah makes it possible for you.
It was the single most spiritual experience of my life, I have never felt as deep a connection as I did that day.
Today is the blessed day of Arafah where the pilgrims have journeyed on to the plains and will make their prayers to Our Lord in the sweltering heat where there is no shade. Arafah is the ninth day of Dhul-Hijjah and is the day before Eid Al-Adha. On this day, Allah sent this most significant ayah:
‘This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favour upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.’ (Quran: 5:3)
In honour of the memory and significance of this day, Muslims all around the world are encouraged to fast from sunrise to sunset. Prophet Muhammad (sws) said that fasting on this day ‘expiates the sins of the past year and the coming year.’ (Muslim)
Oh Allah, forgive us, forgive us, forgive us. Cleanse us of our sins and purify us before our time is due to return to you. Ya Allah, protect our children from the evil that surrounds them, guide them to You and strengthen them to remain with You. Ya Allah preserve our spouses and our parents, bless them and reward them for the hardships they endure for us. Ya Allah grant our siblings and our families happiness and success in this dunya and the next life, keep them safe. Oh Allah, ease the plight of those who are struggling, all those who are oppressed, all those suffering.
May Allah accept the duas of all the hajjis, the ones who are fasting and all the worshippers on this day. Ameen.
Prophet Mushammad (sws) said ‘Hajj is Arafah’. (Tirmidhi)
