بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم G L I M P S E S F R O M H A J J A G L I M P S E O F I D E N T I T Y 14 OCTOBER 2013 9 TH DHUL HIJJAH 1434 DAY OF ARAFAH THE BLESSINGS OF ALLAH CANNOT BE COUNTED Surah Ibrahim 34: ( ت ع د وا ن ع م ت ٱ لل ل ت ح ص وه ا (و إ ن (and if you count the Blessings of Allâh, never will you be able to count them) We praise and thank Allah to have this great lecture from Arafah itself on the Day of Arafah. Alahamd Allah. It is not possible to count the blessings of Allah. The most precious blessings are the guidance and faith. Surah Luqman 20: ( و أ س ب غ ع ل ي ك م ن ع م ه ۥ ظ ه ر ة و ب اط ن ة ) (and has completed and perfected His Graces upon you, (both) apparent (i.e Islâmic Monotheism, and the lawful pleasures of this world, including health, good looks, etc.) and hidden [i.e. One's Faith in Allâh (of Islâmic Monotheism) knowledge, wisdom, guidance for doing righteous deeds, and also the pleasures and delights of the Hereafter in Paradise]?) Allah showered upon different types of blessings, both hidden and apparent. 1
بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم DAY OF ARAFAH DAY OF IDENTITY Arafah comes from identify or recognize to know. WHAT IS ITS HISTORY? FIRST INCIDENT Today is a very great day, whether you are in hajj or not, we need to ask Allah to accept from us and to help us to worship Him on this day. What are the incidents that took place on this day? First incident: First and last hajj for the Prophet and an important ayah was revealed on this day. Fourteen centuries ago, on the Day of Arafah in the ninth year of the hijri calendar, it was the first and last hajj for the Prophet (pbuh). One of the most important ayat was revealed on this day. Omar bin Khattab (ra) was told by a Jew that if such an ayah was revealed on Moses (pbuh) we would have made it a day of eid. WHAT IS THIS GREAT AYAH? س ل م د ينا ( 3: Al Maeda (This day, I have perfected your ) ٱل ي و م أ ك م ل ت ل ك م د ين ك م و أ ت م م ت ع ل ي ك م ن ع م ت ى و ر ض ي ت ل ك م ٱ ل religion for you, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islâm as your religion) 2
This is the day when Allah completed His favor and He gave the victory to this religion. Our religion is the perfect and complete religion and this a favor from Allah. And we need to thank Him that He made us muslimeen. Alhamd Allah. THE DAY OF ARAFAH IS A DAY OF EID CELEBRATION It is a day of celebration for the Muslims. The Prophet (pbuh) said the day of Arafah, the day of sacrifice (1st day of eid), and the following days are days of celebration. So the day of Arafah is a day of celebration because we are celebrating that it is a day of mercy and forgiveness from Allah. Allah also swears by this day due to its greatness and magnitude. SECOND INCIDENT This took place before our creation, when Allah took the progeny of Adam and He take an oath from them. We were in atom form, in the world of atoms and spread all over. And no one can tell us about this except Allah. Imagine the billions, trillions of people that Allah brought forth from the offspring of Adam, and this is the ability of Allah. We were all there, but in atom form. And Allah is addressing all of humanity. 3
Allah spoke to us and we need to believe in it. What was said? Surah Al Araf 172: (And (remember) when your Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed (or from Adam's loin his offspring) and made them testify as to themselves (saying): "Am I not your Lord?" They said: "Yes! We testify," lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection: "Verily, we have been unaware of this.") Allah took a covenant from all of us and said Am I not Your Lord? so Allah identified Himself to us, so we need to identify ourselves. Our reply was Yes, We bear witness that you are our Lord. No one can have an excuse to not know that Allah is our Lord. This way we will appreciate the guidance from Allah. This is the story of humanity which took place on the Day of Arafah. THE COVENANT THAT WE BEAR WITNESS TO That s why we need to renew this oath every year, and we need to believe that My Rabb, My Creator, My Nurturer is Allah. Allah has subjected so many things for the human so that we many know the truth. Allah gave us instincts to know that Allah is the Creator. Allah gave us the heart to feel the truth, the eyes to see the truth, and the ears to hear the truth. Oh mankind, you have a big responsibility! Islam is the only religion that tells you your identity and purpose, and when Allah gave you this trust, you are responsible to fulfill His commands. Allah wants you to be believer, so that you can continue on your path to Allah. Do not worry with how to fulfill this trust, because Allah gave you the means to fulfill it. Alhamd Allah, Allah created us as human beings. Allah never forsakes us and He gave us the guidance to carry this trust. 4
IT IS UP TO US TO CHOOSE TO FULFILL THIS TRUST The one who purifies himself, then he is the winner. And the one who corrupts himself with sin, then he is the loser. We need to renew this oath and remember that Allah is my Lord and I am His servant. Do I want the way of paradise or the way of hellfire, do I want to be among the winners or losers? And this is my choice. Allah never neglects us in order to save ourselves. TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE Whomever wills may believe and whomever wills may disbelieve. There are two types of people: there are those who are following the guidance and straight path and they will deserve the eternal life in paradise because they fulfilled the covenant entrusted upon them. If you believe, then you will have a life of happiness in this life and the next. And there are those who negligent and heedless and they will be destroyed both in the duniya and akhira. DOOR OF REPENTANCE Oh mankind, you were entrusted to carry this trust, and whenever you want to return to Allah, the door of repentance is open. That is why Allah sets free most of His servants from the hellfire on this day, more than Ramadan. But your heart has to flee to the repentance to Allah. If you are alive, then this is the greatest blessing that you can still repent. The people of the grace envy us. The gates of repentance are never closed unless the person closes that door on himself. If Allah is with you then no one can be against you. 5
SO LET US RENEW OUR COVENANT Allah wants you to renew the covenant you have made with Him. And during this time, you will see people from different countries and backgrounds heading towards one place, to Arafah, coming from all over the world, and this is truly the ability of Allah. This reminds you of the world of the atoms when we first took our oath. When you open the tv, do the people not look like atoms? So what makes people from all over the word to come to one place? And just as Allah is able to unite people in one place in this life, He is able to bring together everyone on the Day of Judgement. Allah is able to do all things. That is why the Arafah is considered a semi Day of Judgement. Allah knows where you are, maybe some people don t know where you are, but Allah knows. Some don t hear you, but Allah hears you, some cannot see you, but Allah is watching you, and He knows your feelings while others don t. Subhan Allah - All Glory to be to Allah! - Subhan Allah - All Glory to be to Allah! - Subhan Allah - All Glory to be to Allah! MAGNIFYING ALLAH BEST OF DUA A There is no god but Allah alone, no partner, to Him belongs the dominion and the praise, and He is able to do all things. You need to constantly say this dua a because you are praising Allah. You are saying that no one deserves to be worshiped except Allah. No one is like Allah, Allah is Unique. All the dominion and praises belong to Him, and He is able to do all things. 6
After the dhuhr prayer, Allah will comes closer to His servants in a manner that suits His majesty, you will feel the closeness of Allah and that feeling is from your heart. Withthat love and support, Allah will surround you with His love. You are saying I am your servant, I am ready to sacrifice for you, because there is none like you. After dhuhr, there is an hour when the dua a is answered. And Allah will expiate and forgive your sins from the last year and current year. MAKE YOUR CONCERN THE PLEASURE OF ALLAH Make your concern the pleasure of Allah and hasten towards the worship of Allah, be an obedient slave of Allah. We are hoping that Allah will forgive us our sins, and we cannot hope from anybody but from Allah. And we ask Allah to give us a good end and to ask Allah all that our hearts desire. We long to meet Allah in the hereafter and to meet the Prophet (pbuh) and to be his companion in the hereafter. We hope that Allah will make us to pass the sirat and to enter Paradise. Amen May Allah bring us together in paradise and make us worthy to have the greatest delight - to see the face of Allah. Ameen Imagine the King is asking the servant if you are happy, if you are content. And they will say that what more can they ask for, they have paradise. Allah then says, I will give you something better than paradise, I will be forever happy with you, content with you, and Allah will lift the veil and we will see the face of Allah. So noble reader, we need to renew our faith and covenant with Allah, so that we fulfill this covenant in our lifetime, be granted paradise in the hereafter. We ask Allah for the best in this life and the next and we ask Allah to grant us Firadous, we ask Allah to grant us Firdaous, we ask Allah to grant us Firdaous. Ameen. 7