Ali Albarghouthi – The day of Arafah
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AI: Transcript ©
We ask Allah
to purify our intention and grant us
sincerity in deeds
and accuracy
that he is pleased with. We ask him
to make us among those who are accepted
and dedicated.
So the topic, insha'Allah, of
today's lecture is about the day of Arafah.
And I'm gonna try insha'Allah
to keep it short because I do want
you to go back to what you were
doing, which is
the essential thing on the day of Arafah,
which is the worship of Allah Azza wa
Jal in particular du'a.
So this, In Sha'a'la, you can consider it
kind of a motivation,
a break,
an informative
lecture that helps you
refocus and rededicate
and to understand
that day a little bit better
and maybe to get more from it, Wallahu
'alam.
So,
Arafah
is the 9th day of Dhul Hijjaan. We
all know this very well.
And
it falls into
a sacred month.
So the month of Dhul Hijjah itself is
special.
And the days of Dhul Hijjah,
the first ten
with the 3 that follow,
are the most special of the days of
Dhul Hijjah
because what takes place in them
is beloved to Allah Azza wa Jal.
In addition to all the variety of good
deeds that take place,
you have the hajj.
And so this is a very special day
where Allah azza wa Jal, meaning those days
are special very special days where Allah azza
wa Jal blesses
and invites
and accepts and forgives.
So anyone
who believes in Him subhanahu wa ta'ala whether
they are
in Mecca
or they are
where they are,
they want to take advantage of those times
because they are irreplaceable.
And so in Arafah, I really want to
talk about
2 main things:
a beginning and an end.
And that helps us insha'Allah
kind of further understand
the importance of that day, a beginning and
an end.
So if someone were to ask, Why is
Arafah called Arafah?
Right?
The simple answer is, We don't know.
Why is it called Arafah?
We don't know.
Azadeh or Arafat,
the location. Why is it called that? We
don't know.
Scholars speculate or some people speculate:
is it perhaps
when Adam and Hawa
descended and they got to know each other
on earth?
Possible but no evidence.
Is it perhaps because people meet
in that place
on that day and so they get to
know each other.
Is it possible? But we have no evidence.
But maybe also
it can be related
to something that the prophet alaihi sallahu alaihi
wa sallam said that we're not saying here
it does we're saying it may.
So commenting on the ayah
in Surat Al Aharaf
where Allah says,
So the ayah said
that Allah azza wa jal is saying
there remember when
or mention when Allah azza wa jal extracted
from
the children of Adam, from their backs their
progeny
and made them witnesses
against themselves
when he said and asked them, Alasdubirubbikum,
am I not your Rab?
They said, Balah shahidna, it's a indeed you
are we testify to it.
Allah continues in the ayat,
ayat This we tell you and we did
so that you do not say on the
day of judgment we were not aware of
this.
Or that you might say
it is the fault of our parents
who were misguided and they disbelieved and we
were simply a progeny that followed them. Are
you gonna hold us responsible
or punish us because of what the falsetowers
have done?
Allah continued
and He said,
And so we make these verses or ayaat
plain and we explain them so that they
may come back.
So commenting on this ayah, Allah subhanahu wa
sallam said
that Allah Azzawal
extracted
from Adam his progeny.
So he took from the back of Adam
and by extension from the back of every
male
who will have a progeny.
He extracted all of their children
to madnatharahum
binnaaman.
Then he spread them
in Annaman. Annaman is an area in Mecca
or around Mecca
on the day of Arafah.
That's the relevant part.
And then he asked them, Alles to be
rabbikum. Then he asked everybody, meaning every living
human being,
you and
I, in that state,
the believers with the disbelievers, everybody was asked,
Am I not your Rabb? Everybody said yes.
Shahidna, yes, you
are. And Allah in the ayah says why
are we doing this so that you do
not say on the day of judgment we
did not know about this? No, you know
about it and you know about it in
2 ways.
The first is because Allah told you
in the ayah, right. Now you know about
it, right.
The other one is that you have that
deposited in your fitra,
in your nature.
You have a belief in Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala and you have to suppress that fitra
and kill it in order to disbelieve.
So Allah said we have told you this
so that you do not say on the
day of judgment we did not know about
it or you take the excuse of it
is the fault of our parents and we
simply were imitating them. In essence Allah is
saying you're not excused if you imitate somebody
else in rejecting the truth.
So Allah, He said, We made this plain
to all of you so that you may
come back. Now when did this take place?
On what day?
The day is Arafat.
So it is
very interesting
that when you are required to go and
make Hajj,
where do you go
to Arafat in that general vicinity
where this took place
on the same day when this took place
to testify to the oneness of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala and that duhay. So it's a
return to that original location.
You do not remember it but since Allah
tells you about it it's as if you
have actually witnessed it, right?
Because you trust Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala more
than you trust your own memory.
Your memory could betray you.
You may misremember
things but Allah
when He tells you the truth it is
as He said.
So that is a return
to the place where you have affirmed that
tawheed of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
You go back to it to affirm that
tawheed again. And so when we spoke yesterday
and we said that the best dua
on the day of Arafah is what?
Is a statement of tawheed.
It is that affirmation of Tawhid which is
the affirmation of the first Tawhid
that you had given to Allah Azza wa
Jal and that is the essence of Arafah
and that is the essence of Hajj and
that is the essence of all our ibadah.
When you have that tawhid then you have
everything and if you don't have it you
have nothing.
And that is why
Allah
Azzawjal forgives with tawhid every other sin.
Allah Azzawajal said
through His prophet alaihis salatu wasalam,
He said, if you were to come to
me associating no one with me and come
at the same time with the earth filled
of sin I would forgive all of that
and I do not care.
So it is this tawhid
that burns all sins away and that tawhid
is not simply saying
what? I believe Allah Azzawajal is 1.
Is that enough?
Is that the tawhid,
the intensity of that tawhid that's gonna burn
all sin away? What is the tawhid that
we are talking about? Yes, it is based
on a belief that Allah
is 1 and He should be worshipped alone
without anybody else. Okay, this is knowledge
but acting on it is the true fulfillment
of that tawheed so that you don't love
anyone more than Allah
and you don't fear anyone more than Allah.
So you understand what it means? You don't
love anyone more than Allah?
You have such intense love for him, subhanahu
wa ta'ala,
and you don't trust anyone more than Allah.
So if you have a problem you trust
that Allah will solve it. If you are
a sickness you trust that Allah will take
care of it and you trust that Allah
had given you an adversity in life because
He wants the best for you
and you don't wish for something else other
than what Allah had sent your way.
And when you ask, you ask Allah.
And when you need protection, you seek Allah's
protection.
And on the day of Arafah which is
the essence of the Ibadah on the day
of Arafah
it is
dua and it is zikr with absolute humility
and submission to Him subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Meaning with the
belief
that you need Allah and you need no
one else
and what you need from Allah no one
else can give you.
And if Allah were to give that to
you, do you need any nothing from anybody
else?
And so when you are making dua
the more submissive,
the more helpless
you are,
the more that you plead,
the more that you
declare yourself free of power,
free of might
and that Allah has all of it
and throw yourself at the mercy of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, the more likely that your
dua will be accepted and you'll be included
among the blessed.
So when you are making dua you wanna
plead and you wanna submit and you wanna
humble yourself
and you wanna see yourself as possessing nothing
and Allah is having everything
and then you beseech him and you plead
with him, give me you Allah and protect
me you Allah and I'm nothing without You
You Rabbal Alameen.
I have and you remember all of your
sins.
How am I gonna come to Allah with
all of that?
With what face?
With what excuse? And He knows
my excuses and He knows why I did
what I did.
So you plead that Allah would forgive it
before you reach that stage.
You understand that your heart is not under
your control but is under His control so
you ask Allah to save it
from temptations,
from straying away.
You know that you need protection
so you ask Allah for it.
You know that you need Jannah more than
anything else and no one has it but
Allah azza wa Jal.
No one can guarantee that you die the
right way except Allah.
No one can guarantee that you will be
protected in the grave except Allah. That when
you rise from
your grave you'll be resurrected
among the righteous except Allah Azzawjal.
So you don't possess this no matter what
you try to do but Allah possesses
it. So you then you know that you
need Allah for everything.
So when you ask like that and the
more by the way the more that you
ask like this and the more time you
spend asking like this the more that you
will feel that your iman will increase and
you get closer and closer to Him subhanahu
wa ta'ala and you feel that your heart
is changing So the dua should not be
simply mere repetition of things that you say
on the tongue
but you want the heart to join in
and you want the heart to be asking
Allah
reacting to the words
where you say you Allah give me and
you feel that you need it and you
Allah protect me and you are apprehensive that
this may actually not be given to you
or what would become of you if you
are not protected.
So this is the thing.
Affirm on the day of Arafah
that Allah azza wa Jal is the one
and only in your life.
Believe in His wisdom.
Thank Him for His gifts.
Ask Him for patience during His tests
and favor His choice over your choice.
That's the beginning
that I wanted to talk about.
There's an end
that I wanted also to talk about
and that is related to the day of
Arafah as well
when one of the rabbis came to Umar
when
Umar
was a Khalifa
and he
said He says if there's this ayah that
it was if it were to be revealed
upon us,
the Jewish population,
we would
dedicate that as aid.
Today I have completed my Ni'mah upon you.
No, today I have completed your religion for
you
and fulfilled my Ni'mah upon you and I'm
satisfied and happy with Islam as a religion
for you, as a deen for you. He
said if this was given to us we
would consider that to be a Eid, and
Umar
said I know exactly when this was revealed.
It was revealed on the day of Arafah
and it is a Eid for us. So
the day of Arafah is also considered the
Eid.
Day of Arafah is also considered to be
a Eid.
Now what is the beauty of this aya?
And the significance of it taking place on
the day of Arafah is a memory that
should kinda keep returning every single year.
It's that Allah azza wa Jal finally in
that year on that day when
completed.
And when something is complete, what does it
mean?
That it needs nothing else,
right?
If a religion previous revelation was incomplete, it
means it can only exist till a specific
time. It could answer
most questions but not all of them, satisfies
some or most needs but not all of
them. It comes a time where it cannot
really fulfill
what is supposed to fulfill. The truth is
the basic truth, it does not change
but the actions, the sharia,
the amount of guidance that had been revealed
that is limited
but not with the religion of Islam.
In terms of practice,
you have the complete practice. In terms of
guidance that answers all your questions, you have
the complete guidance.
So a person on the day of Arafah,
first you have to express gratitude to Allah
Azza wa Jal that You Allah, You've given
me everything that I need.
I don't need to go and ask a
philosopher or a wise man, east or west.
I need no need to I don't need
to ask anyone
of every different or of any different faith,
of any different path in life,
how to live,
How to worship?
What path should I take? How do I
raise my children? How do I deal with
my spouse?
You provided all the answers that I need
and most importantly
the answers for the next life more than
the ones in the dunya.
What will happen to me when I die?
How should I guarantee that I die the
right place?
How and when will I be resurrected?
Where will I go when I'm resurrected?
So you have all that information available. So
you have to feel and express that gratitude
Alhamdulillah
I have all that information
and act accordingly.
Thank Allah for it but also feel satisfied
with it.
Someone who has Islam and understands it
does not need to borrow any other lifestyle,
any other guidance from anywhere else.
If something is missing from their life, they
say, What is that? What does the Quran
say about it? What does the sunnah say
about it?
You ask yourself how should I dress?
I don't need to look to an entertainer
and copy how they dress
and think that this is fashionable, this is
trending, this is cool, this will make me
acceptable.
This I will be admired because of it.
You'll understand that any such copying is a
denigration
because Allah gave you the full guidance and
you're turning away from it.
If it's an issue of how you comb
your hair, whether you put hijab or not,
whom you marry and how you marry them,
how you make that choice, how you raise
your children, what job do you take from
the small to the big,
from how you scratch your head,
to where you will be buried and how
you will be buried. Do you understand that
if this religion is complete,
then you have everything in it that you
need to satisfy your soul and satisfy your
body.
If there is something missing from your and
my life, it is missing because we are
ignorant of it not because it is missing
because we are less dedicated
not because it is absent.
So a person who really wants to live
as Muhammad alaihis salatu wasallam lived as the
Sahaba lived and it's not an out outdated
mode of living.
It is the type of living,
the type of lifestyle that will rescue us
today from ourselves. So if you want to
live like that,
delve into the sharia and extract from it
how to live.
And when you see a difficulty,
ask Allah Azza wa Jal for guidance and
for patience and for a solution,
right?
Is it easy today to hold on to
your faith?
No.
But you also know that Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam said,
Islam
started as a stranger
and it will return to be a stranger.
So good news to the strangers.
It was difficult in the beginning
and he said alaihis salatu wasalam it will
also experience periods of feeling as if you
are a stranger,
as if you are holding on to a
piece of hot coal in your hand.
But He said good tidings are good news
to those who
are patient
with that.
So yes, it is not easy
but what makes the difficult easy?
Allah Azza wa Jal
and Taqwa.
So if you ask Allah Azza wa Jal,
You Allah,
I'm having challenges
with this and that. Help me.
Allah Azadul will help me.
You Allah, I'm confused about this and that.
Illuminate my path. You Allah illuminates
it. You Allah, this is missing from my
life.
Guide
me to how I could fulfill it. How
can I find that missing peace?
How I can be comfortable on the inside?
Allah Azzawajal gives it.
You Allah,
help me on my path so I could
reach you. Save me from myself, from my
own self.
Allah will save you
and that is how dependent we are upon
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And this is how
much we need the sunnah and the lifestyle
of his prophet alaihis salatu was salam. So
the day of Arafah is supposed to revive
all of that in us in addition to
the fact that the best of dua is
the dua of the day of Arafah and
the prophet alaihis salatu was salam he would
dedicate his time to dua.
It is mentioned in some traditions.
He said that the Prophet alaihis salatu wasalam
would extend his hand like a poor man
begging,
like a poor man begging.
This is how much he would ask Allah
Azza wa Jal. So imagine yourself
destitute.
You have no food at home.
You have no shelter
and you're dependent on the generosity
of strangers so you are extending your head
to ask him for money and for food.
Otherwise, there's nothing for you to eat today
and there is no shelter for you tonight
except what they will give you.
How dependent will you feel?
This is how dependent you should feel when
you're asking Allah Azzawajal now.
More so
because if Allah does not give it, it's
not gonna be given. You're not gonna be
eating tonight unless Allah gives it to you.
It's not about the food that you have
at home or the food that you have
here.
If Allah wishes now between now and then
for you not to be able to eat,
you won't be eating.
If Allah wishes that you go home and
you don't find your home, you will not
find it.
You understand
that you have nothing?
We have nothing.
On our own we have nothing. All that
we have is standing
because of Allah azza wa Jal, is present
because of Allah azza wa Jal.
So when you're gonna be asking Allah you
ask him as if you have nothing, you
Allah I have nothing,
no power, no might, no intelligence,
no ability.
I'm holding on
by a piece of wood
in a violent sea.
Save me,
save me You Rabbi al Amin. This is
what you want and when Allah sees that
you have abdicated
all power
and you refer it all back to Him,
He saves you.
When He sees that you have resolved
and you have this tawba,
I regret what I have done. It doesn't
matter if what you've done was just yesterday,
but I really regret because I know it's
wrong, and I don't want to be that
person. So you regret it and you say,
Yeah, Allah,
help me with that sin.
Help me with that mistake.
Give me power over it.
And Allah sees that you are sincere,
you start to find ways
over it,
to conquer it. Not because of you but
because of Allah Azza wa Jal. But what
Allah wants from you
is to try and to push
to try and to push.
Just as when you ask Allah, You Allah,
I don't have money, give me money.
How does this money come to you?
Just gold and silver dumped into your lap?
Allah gives you a job,
but you still need to show up every
day,
right?
Otherwise, you lose it.
So there is no effort.
Don't expect that you're gonna get things from
Allah Azzaw did. So you say, You Allah,
protect me from that sin. And Allah will
say yes if you are serious.
But let me see you're trying to avoid
it.
Let me see you're trying to stay away
from it. Let me see you're trying to
ask me daily
to protect you from it. Let me say
you're lowering your eyes.
Let me say you
leaving those friends.
Let me say you're giving sadaqa
to protect you from sin and the whispers
of shaitan. Let me see you fight.
Let me see you fight.
If you strive in our sake we will
guide you to our way. So you need
2 things:
plead with Allah, You Allah, You Allah, You
Allah. So that the door could be open,
so that the heart could change.
Problem, of course, with the heart is what?
You hear so many lectures,
so many serpents, so many exhortations,
so many reminders and then we forget
because the heart has been what?
Engulfed.
The heart has been surrounded by layers and
it's so hard to penetrate it.
So you want Allah azza wa Jal to
open the heart so that the heart could
listen, can be moved
and prolonged ibada opens the heart.
A lot of dua opens the heart.
So you want to ask Allah Azzawajal
and then once you ask Allah and you
really decide that this is what you want
then jihad will follow.
Like the jihad of the prophet alaihis salatu
was salam.
The Battle of Badr, he makes dua
against the
hostilities of the disbelievers but then they fight.
So you're gonna make dua
and you're gonna declare your tawba and intention
to be better
and desire to go to Jannah
and fear of hellfire
but then what follows that is your jihad
to implement this to follow on what you
have asked Allah Azza wa Jal.
So this is the best du'a
and remember to say
Ask Allah Azdajal for the benefits of the
hereafter
and the benefits
of the dunya for yourselves and your family
and the rest of Muslims.
So let me, In Sha'a Allah, just quickly
ask if you have questions before I make
du'a, In Sha'a Allah. Anyone has
questions
about what we've said? Or
you think there is something important we need
to address before we stop
related to this day?
As a reminder to everybody.
And I'm gonna give you, insha'Allah, a few
seconds, insha'Allah, to decide.
Otherwise, we'll just make
We're good?
Here, Inshallah. We'll conclude inshallah with dua.