WHERE IS ARAFAT?
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WHERE IS ARAFAT?
Arafat is a smooth and flat plain about twenty-four kilometers away from Northern Mecca in the lap of Jabal ur-Rahmah (literally meaning, Mount of Mercy). Arafat is a holy place God has appointed to receive
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His guests. The banquet is in Mount Mercy so that all guests can enjoy God's infinite blessings each according to his capacity.
MAN WILL NOT BECOME FAMILIAR WITH GOD AS LONG AS
HE IS ATTACHED TO THE WORLD
If man is left to himself, like children who have no power of distinction, he is attracted towards colorful toys. During Prophet Mohammad's Midnight Ascension, God said to him:
يَا أَحمَدُ، إحْذَر أنْ تَكونَ مِثلَ هذا الصَّبِيِّ إذا نَظَر إلى الأخضَرِ والأصفَرِ وإِذا أُعطِيَ شَيئاً مِن الحُلوِ والحامِضِ اِغتَرَّ بهِ.
O Ahmed, beware of being like a child who is deceived when looking at something green and yellow or tasting something sour and sweet.1
God's address is aimed to make man aware of his grave position. In the plain of Arafat, a pilgrim is like a dead man who has been detached from everything and wearing a shroud and waiting for God's mercy. It is in this state that man can have communion with God and say from the bottom of his heart:
عَمِيَتْ عَينٌ لا تَراكَ علَيها رَقِيباً وخَسِرَت صَفْقَةُ عَبدٍ لم تجعَلْ لهُ مِن حُبِّكَ نصِيباً
Let those eyes which do not see You as Watching be blind and let the asset (life) of a servant who has no share of Your love lead to loss.2
The rite of staying in Arafat begins at the noon of the ninth of Dhu'l-Hijja and ends at the sunset of the same day. The time of this religious act is short but its divine blessings are great. Hearing a beggar asking people for something, Imam Sajjad (a.s) said:
وَيحَكَ، أغَيرَ اللهِ تسأَلُ في هَذا المقامِ؟ إنّه ليُرجَى لمِا في بُطونِ الجِبالِ في هذا اليَومِ أن يَكونَ سَعِيداً
Woe to you! Are you asking people for help in this place while Allah's mercy today is so comprehensive that what is in mountains is hoped to receive His general mercy and become prosperous.3
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1 See Ad-Deilami's Irshad ul-Quloub; hadith: Mi'raj
2 This statement is part of Imam al-Hussein's Du'aa on the Day of Arafat; the ninth of Dhu'l-Hijja.
3 See al-Wafi; vol. 2 Section: Hajj p.42
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By 'what is in mountains' the Imam (a.s) perhaps meant plants growing on the mountains as a result of whose transformation a prosperous man would be born. A man in the Sacred Mosque asked Imam Sadiq (a.s): ?Whose sin is greater than others, The Imam (a.s) answered:
مَن يقِفْ بهَذَينِ المَوقِفَينِ؛ عَرَفَةَ والمُزدَلِفَةِ، وسَعى بَينَ هذَينِ الجَبَلَينِ ثمّ طَافَ بهذا البَيتِ وصَلّى خَلفَ مَقامِ إبْراهِيمَ ثُمّ قالَ في نَفْسِهِ أو ظَنَّ أنَّ الله لم يَغفِرْ لهُ فَهوَ مِن أعظَمِ الناسِ وِزراً
?He who stays in Arafat and al-Muzdelifa, performs the Sa'y between Mount Safa and Mount Marwa, circumambulates the Kaaba, performs prayer in the standing-place of Ibrahim, and after completing all these acts says to himself or has the impression that Allah has not forgiven him is the biggest sinner.?1
Imam Baqir (a.s) says:
مَا يَقِفُ أحَدٌ على تِلكَ الجِبالِ بَرٌّ ولا فاجِرٌ إلا استَجابَ اللهُ لهُ. فأَمّا البَرُّ فيُستَجابُ لهُ في آخِرتِهِ ودُنياهُ، وأَمّا الفاجِرُ فَيُستَجابُ له في دُنياهُ.
The duaas ?supplications- of every pious or impious man who stays in Arafat and al-Mash'ar will be absolutely answered. The duaas of a pious man will be fulfilled in matters regarding this world and the Hereafter but the duaas of an impious man will be fulfilled only in matters regarding this world.2
Imam Sadiq (a.s) says:
مَا مِن رَجُلٍ مِن أهْلِ كُورَةٍ وقفَ بِعَرَفَةَ مِن المُؤمِنينَ إلا غَفَرَ اللهُ لأَهلِ تِلكَ الكُورَةِ مِن المُؤمِنينَ. ومَا مِن رَجُلٍ وقفَ بَعَرَفَةَ مِن أهْلِ بيتٍ مِن المُؤمِنينَ إلا غَفَرَ اللهُ لأهلِ ذلكَ البَيتِ مِن المُؤمِنينَ
For a believing man of any village who stays in Arafat, Allah will forgive all the believing people of that village, and for a single man of a believing family who stays in
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1 See al-Wafi; vol. 2 Section: Hajj p.42
2 See al-Kafi; Vol. 4 p. 262 hadith 38
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Arafat, Allah will forgive all the believing members of that family.1
