This is the day of Arafah, it is the most blessed day of the year. It is the day in which Allah boasts to the angels of His servants gathered together, all covered in dust… But calling upon Him invoking Him for His Mercy, and people all over the world doing the same.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
Hajj is Arafah.
And what he meant by that is that the core of Hajj is Arafah; the core of Hajj is really contained in those blessed moments of Arafah.
The same way that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
Dua is worship.
Or he said:
Regret is repentance.
It’s not that it is only regret that is repentance, but the core of true repentance is sincere regret…
Likewise “Arafah is Hajj”, it is the core of Hajj and it has significance to all of us around the world. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
There is no date in which Allah sets free more souls from the fire than on the day of Arafah; and on that day, Allah draws near to the earth and by way of exhibiting His pride remarks to the Angels: What is it that these servants of Mine are asking Me for so that I may Grant it to them?
Make Dua
Imagine the scene of Arafah, of all of these four million people, all making dua at the same time, in their different languages with their sincere requests… And Allah honoring each and every single one of them at that moment, answering their supplications.
Each and every single one of them as they call out to Allah with their hearts and with their souls and in their own languages, and Allah not depriving a single one of them.
Imagine how blessed that is when the people all over the world on that day also try to be a part of that blessing and call upon Allah wherever they are on this best day of the year, begging Allah for forgiveness, seeking Allah’s pleasure, seeking Allah’s bounty for everything in their lives, and Allah answering each and every single one of them in the different languages in Arafah and in the different places all around the world.
The benefits of Hajj and Arafah reach the entire Ummah. So pray for yourself, pray for your Ummah, pray for the people around the world; and let the benefit flow insahllah because this is the most blessed day of the year.
Fast
Fasting this day is important; praying this day is important; making dua this day is important; not doing anything that removes the blessings of this day in terms of sin is important.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
There is no day in the year in which the Shaytan is more humiliated and in more despair than he is on this day – the day of Arafah.
Why?
Because he sees these people, he sees you and he’s been working for your entire life to take you away from your Creator. And then on this day, in these few hours you call upon Allah, and Allah forgives you for all of your sins; Allah puts you back in good ranking and good standing… And all of his efforts to delude you and to take you astray are in vain.
And he sees all of these people calling upon Allah, being forgiven, leaving his grasp into the Mercy of Allah and he feels completely humiliated.
He sees the descent of the angels coming upon these people, and Allah hearing the reports of the angels and forgiving these people. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
The only day that he was more humiliated was the day of Badr when he saw Jibreel and his army descend.
Satan thought that the end of Islam was going to be the battle of Badr, but when he saw Jibreel descend, he knew that he was going to lose this battle.
Likewise on the day of Arafah, when he sees all of these angels descending and he sees these people being forgiven, he knows that he’s lost the battle with you as an individual.
Make this the day in which you completely stamp Satan out of your life; and you are completely freed from any type of punishment; and you are amongst those that Allah boasts about and earn His pleasure.
(From Discovering Islam archive)