Arafah – Day of Divine Favours

Welcome to a special programme on the occasion of the 9th of Zi’l-Hijjah, the Blessed Day of Arafah when Hajj pilgrims assemble on the plain of the same name, southeast of the holy city of Mecca, to observe special rituals of this day on which we ought to increase in ourselves the proper cognizance of God Almighty, as the Prophets had done.

Unfortunately, the Saudi seditionists who are in occupation of the holy land of Hijaz have this year distorted the calendar and in violation of the Islamic laws forced the two-million plus Hajj pilgrims to assemble n the plain of Arafaat on Monday by declaring it as 9^th Zilhijja.

In Iran and all over the Muslim world, however, today Tuesday is the 9^th of Zi’l-Hijjah, and devotees are marking the Day of Arafah by reciting the special prayers and supplications to God Almighty. 

Let us first listen to a passage of a special supplication to God that is recited on this particular day by the faithful, wherever they might be in their respective towns and cities, as well as by pilgrims in the Land of Divine Revelation.

“I affirm, my God, with the veracity of my faith, my resolute conviction, my positive profession of Your Oneness, the inner depths of my consciousness, the connections of the conduits of light of my eyes, the lines on my forehead, the hollow passages of my breath, the pliable tissues of the ridge of my nose, the auditory meatuses of my ears, that upon which my lips come together and close, the vocal movements of my tongue, the joint of my mouth’s palate and jaw, the roots of my molar teeth, the organs that facilitate the swallowing of my food and drink, the stem of my brain, the hollow passages of my neck’s cords, that which is enclosed in my breast’s cavity, the vessels of the trunk of my aorta, the veins of my heart’s diaphragm, the lobes around my liver, that which is contained in my ribs’ cartilage, the sockets of my joints, the contraction of my legs, the tips of my fingers, my flesh, my blood, my hair, my skin, my nerves, my windpipe, my bones, my brain, my veins, and all of my members, and what was woven upon them in the days of my suckling, what the earth has taken away from me, my sleep, my waking, my pauses and the movements of my bowing and prostrating, that had I taken pains and striven for the duration of epochs and ages—were I to given to live that long—to deliver thanks for one of Your blessings, I would not be able to do so, except by Your favour, which would make it incumbent upon me to offer You never-ending thanks anew and to celebrate Your praise afresh.”

The passage which we recited to you, with its minute description of the functions of the human organs and anatomy is not by a modern day scientist, but was expressed over a millennium, three centuries and four score years ago on the 9^th of Zi’l-Hijjah on the plain of Arafaat near Mecca during the Hajj pilgrimage, by a person whose lifeblood and dismembered body, breathed fresh life into Islam and all humanitarian values.

To the followers of the Prophet’s blessed Household the Ahl al-Bayt the identity of this person is obvious. He was none other Imam Husain (AS), the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). Thus, the faithful wherever they might be around the globe, they recite on this day the remarkably moving supplication which he taught and of which the above is only a mere passage describing the wonders of creation, the Infinite Mercy of the Lord Most High and the humble but pivotal position of mankind in this vast universe.

Here is another passage from the same eloquently moving supplication:

“O Allah, I beseech You, bearing witness to Your Lordship, acknowledging that You are my Lord and to You is my return. You originated me with Your blessing before I was anything worthy of mention. You created me from dust, then lodged me in the spines (of my fathers), secure from the vicissitudes of fortune and the vagaries of ages and years. I remained in transience from spine to womb in a time immemorial of days past and centuries bygone. Out of Your tenderness, bounty and goodness toward me, You sent me not into the domains of the leaders of unfaith, who broke Your covenant and impugned Your prophets. Rather, You sent me out toward the guidance which had been foreordained for me, the way which You made easy for me and in which You nurtured me…

“So glory be to You, glory be to You, who are Originator and Restorer, Laudable, and Glorious. Holy are Your Names and tremendous Your bounties. So which of Your blessings, my God, can I enumerate or name? For which of Your gifts am I able to give thanks?

For your information, the term Arafat is derived from the Arabic word “Ma’refa” which means proper cognition. It means the cognizance of God Almighty. Thus the Day of Arafa is the best opportunity for a believer to humbly seek forgiveness in the Divine Court and to strive towards perfection of faith with new enthusiasm. To be brief, it was on the plain of Arafaat that Adam and Eve sought forgiveness for their error in eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree and being cast out from the Garden of Bliss. God accepted the prayers of the first pair of human beings, as they beseeched him for the sake of the Last and Greatest Messenger to come in their progeny, and his Immaculate Ahl al-Bayt

Arafah is the day, which Prophet Abraham, on God’s commandment, institutionalized it as part of the Hajj rituals, while achieving complete cognizance of the One and Only Creator to Whom he had been obedient since childhood by passing all divine tests, including his unscathed emergence from the huge fire into which he was flung by the tyrant Nimrod; his subsequent expulsion from his homeland Mesopotamia; his settling in Canaan or modern Palestine; his leaving of his second wife Hajar and his firstborn child, Ishmael, in the wilderness of Mecca; and last but not the least, his sacrifice of the youth Ishmael which was miraculously substituted with a ram sent from heaven by the Almighty.

Arafah is also the day on which Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), delivered the famous sermon from atop Jabal ar-Rahma or Mount Mercy during his Farewell Hajj in which he specified the rites and laws of pilgrimage. He emphasized the equality of all mankind, irrespective of the superficial differences of ethnicity, languages spoken, colour of skin, and place of birth.

The Prophet of Peace did not leave Muslims in the dark. Towards the end of his sermon on the plain of Arafaat, he expressed the famous statement, known ever since by Hadith Thaqalayn, as recorded in the books of both Sunni and Shi’a Muslims. He said in a clear tone:

“I am leaving behind among you the Two Weighty Things (Thaqalayn); the Book of God (holy Qur’an) and my progeny the Ahl al-Bayt. Hold fast to them and you will not go astray for the two never part with each other even when they return to me at the Fountain (of Kowthar on Judgement Day).”

He then specified by name his divinely-designated successors, of whom the first was his cousin and son-in-law, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS).

Alas, the greed of the transient world made many of the early Muslims to ignore the explicit instructions of the Messenger of Mercy by turning their backs on the Immaculate Ahl al-Bayt, as a result of which the Ummah became splintered in scores of sects.

In conclusion, we recite for our listeners a passage from another moving supplication for the Day of Arafa, which reads:

“O Allah! This is the Day of Arafah, a Day which You have made noble, bestowed honour and magnified. Within it You have spread Your mercy, showed kindness through Your pardon, made plentiful Your grants, and by it You have been bounteous towards your servants.”

These dynamic words and phrases were expressed by Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), the Prophet’s 4th Infallible Heir on the 9th of Zi’l-Hijjah as recorded in supplication no. 47 of the book “Sahifat-as-Sajjadiyyah”. These wording make us better aware of the significance of the Day of Arafah and the blessings God Almighty showers on this day for all those who turn towards Him with sincerity and humbleness.

AS/ME