Under the open sky of Arafat, Muzdalifah

******************* In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate, blessings and peace be upon Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. *********************** REFLECTION ************************ Abdullah ibn Al-Mubaarak narrates, "I went to Sufyaan ibn al-Uyaynah as the Day of Arafat was setting. He sat on his knees, his hands raised to the Heavens, and tears moistened his cheeks and beard. He turned and looked at me, so I asked him, ‘Amongst the people who have gathered here for Hajj, who is in the worst state?’ "Sufyaan ibn al-Uyaynah said, ‘He who thinks that Allah will not forgive him.’" ************************ "Labbayk, Allahumma Labbayk - Labbayk, La shareeka laka labbayk". Innal Hamda wan-nimata laka wal-mulk. La shareeka lak". (I am at Your service, O Allah! I am at Your service; You have no associate, I am at Your service. Yours is the praise and Yours the favour, and Yours the kingdom, You have no associate." ************************** It is the time for hajj again. The highest 'rukun' (component) of hajj is to be rendered; without which hajj does not take place i.e stoppage at Arafat or Arafah (wukuf) on 9th Dhulhijja. The requirement is the presence in Arafat, regardless of whether the pilgrim is riding, walking, sitting or moving. In Arafat one is to spend the afternoon from dhuhr to maghrib prayer times making du’aa and repenting to leave Arafat with all of our sins forgiven. Only after sunset, pilgrims move to Muzdalifah. ********************************* A few years ago, before departing for hajj, an 'ustaz' (religious teacher) told me if one is to get the feeling of nearness to Allah SWT during Arafat Day one should be alone; go outside your tent after the mass ‘fardhu’ (compulsory) prayers, seek a suitable place for yourself and then face towards the Qiblah, raise your hands and pray to Allah with all your heart. ******************************** In short pour out your heart to Allah SWT the Greatest because it is said that it is a grievous sin to stand in Arafat and to imagine that Allah, Exalted is He, does not forgive one. The message of Arafat is simple: turn, repent and submit to Allah. This is the key to understanding ourselves Arafat is true knowledge. Submit. *********************************** During my hajj in 2005, I did just what the ‘ustaz’ had told me; I went outside my tent, kept walking on a main road until I came upon an Arab saying his prayers under the shadow of his truck. Even though it was after Asr (late afternoon prayers), the sun’s ray were still strong; one could felt the stinging effect on the skin. ************************************* After exchanging greetings, I asked the Arab if I could use a small section of the shadowed area next to his vehicle for prayers. He smiled and I quickly laid out my praying mat. The Arab was on the opposite side, so I was left alone. I sat down, said my prayers. ***************************************** In a few seconds I could feel the loneliness in me; there was only me in the vast desert. I could feel I was only a dot in a mighty ocean. Perhaps not a dot at all; it was too small for that. I could feel how freakish and weak I was, only to You God I submitted myself. You know everything about me; I was not that good as what I think about myself or what others think about me. I was hopeless; I was full of sins not only to You but to every human beings especially my beloved ones; my father, my mother, wife, children, teacher, friends and so on. ******************************************* I was sobbing, lost for words. I reached for my small du’aa book and read the supplications: "O Allah! I ask of Your integrity and soundness in my religion, my life, my family, and my possessions. ****************************************** O Allah! Cover my shame, pacify my fears, guard me from what is in front of me and behind me, from what is on my right and on my left, over my head and under my feet. ********************************************** O Allah! Grant health to my body. O Allah grants health to my hearing. O Allah! Grant heath to my sight. There is no deity except You. *************************************** O Allah! You are my Lord. There is no deity except You. You are my Creator and I am Your creature. I try to keep my covenant with You and to live in the hope of Your promise as well as I can. I seek refuge in You from my own evil deeds. I acknowledge Your favors to me, and I acknowledge my sins. Forgive me my sins, for there is no one who can forgive sins except You. ***************************************** O Allah! I seek refuge in You from worry and sorrow. I seek refuge in You from impotence and sloth, from stinginess and cowardice, and I seek refuge in You from the burden of debt and from being humbled by men. ***************************************** O Allah! Make the beginning of this day good, the middle prosperous, and the end successful. I ask You to grant me the good of this world and of the Hereafter. O Most Merciful of all Who show us mercy!........” *************************************** Wukuf in Arafat provides a foretaste of Judgment Day when mankind will assemble in the same place in the Devine Court of Justice. While pilgrims can plead for forgiveness on Arafat Day, there will be no such opportunity on Judgment Day. – Hajj of the Heat, Orina Consultancy ************************************* Ali Shariati in his book ‘The Hajj’ has this to say about wukuf: “Wukuf is not to remain or to reside, but it is a short stop on your way travelling with the caravan…Where is the caravan’s destination? Never! And nowhere! So, where are you going? The answer is to eternity, toward God! God is the Absolute; He is the Eternal. Therefore, your journey is a movement toward the Absolute Beauty, the Absolute Knowledge, the Absolute Power, Eternity and Perfection!” ***************************************** After spending the day in Arafat, pilgrims move to the plains of Muzdalifah; whose perimeters are a mountain named Mash’ar al-Haram. During the night pilgrims have the open sky at Muzdalifah as their roof. Pass the whole night in 'ibadat' (divine worship) but do not forget to fetch some pebbles which are to be thrown at the’ jamrah’ on the 10th, 11, 12 and 13 Dhulhijja. ******************************************** It is not prohibited to sleep but the space is limited for you to lie down. When I was here, I put my back to my wife's, and while reciting some silent du'aa, I managed to doze off for a few minutes before the bus came to fetch us just after midnight for the journey to Mina. ****************************************** In the plains of Muzdalifah, pilgrims have a rest; if they choose to lie down; their backs would be on their mats while 'their roof' would be the open sky and stars. While lying down, once a while they could smell the strong stench of animals’ dung, perhaps during the day that place was a stopover for groups of camels. ************************************* It is good to keep one's 'wuduk' (ablution) as to make another one or to go the toilets; pilgrims have to walk a long distance, passing thousands of people and to enter a long queue. Be patience and be patience throughout the night. ********************************* Regarding the night stay in Muzdalifah (Mash’ar al-Haram), Shariati wrote: “Night has come to Mash’ar and there is no light yet; there is the moonlight and shower of luminous stars- shinning and illuminating the desert. The night of Mash’ar and its beautifully heavenly sky is unknown to those who have lived a city life, spoiling their time by searching for worldly needs and greed. Their nights are quite different! ********************************* “The night of Mash’ar is a shadow of imagination and paradise – moonlight; cool, clear and kind with the tender smile of God. This is where your heart will witness God’s swearing. “In the name of the moon and moonlight…” ******************************** Oh, how could I forget the night that I had spent in Muzdalifah during my 2005 hajj. I was in my ‘ihram’ robe, my small frame figure shivering from the robust desert wind in a very crowded atmosphere, waiting for the bus to Mina. ********************************* Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina give the pilgrims true knowledge. They will no longer be returning to their ‘homes’ after hajj. Their homes will now be temporary shelters – their base to fight the greater jihad, which is to honour the pledge they reaffirmed to Allah the Merciful. ************************************* After his return, the pilgrim should adopt the mental frame of a wayfarer, more conscious in his daily routines of the permitted and prohibited in Islam and in constant preparation for the more important journey to the Hereafter (Hajj of the Heat, Orina Consultancy). ************************************ Labbayk, Allahumma Labbayk - Labbayk, La shareeka laka labbayk". Innal Hamda wan-nimata laka wal-mulk. La shareeka lak