Mufti Menk – The Day Of Arafah – Dhul Hijjah 2024
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The day of Arafah is the greatest day
in the whole year in many aspects. In
fact,
if you look at the month of Ramadan,
I've said it in the past, the nights
are of greatest value.
Especially the last 10 nights of of Ramadan,
you have Laylatul Qadr and so on. When
it comes to the days, the days are
these 10 days of Dhul Hijjah
with the day of Arafah being the peak.
And the day following it being a day
of rejoicing,
a day of celebration,
food and drink.
Such that it is haram and prohibited
to fast on the day of Eid.
Why would Allah give us a day of
rejoicing?
Only because
only because
it is preceded
by
days of great value within which his slaves
have worshiped him in the greatest way. Look
at Ramadan.
You worship Allah for 1 month in amazing
ways.
Fasting,
taraweeh,
charity, so much more. At the end of
that, Allah says you deserve to celebrate.
In fact, lisa imi farhatani.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam tells us that
the one who is fasting
has 2 celebrations, not just 1. 2 rejoicings,
not just 1.
1 is when he opens his fast.
Meaning at the end of the month there
is a day of Eid.
And one is
when he meets his Lord, he will be
even happier.
When Allah
shows him the reward of the great acts
of worship.
And there is an explanation that also states
that every evening when you are opening your
fast, it is a time of rejoicing.
Not only because you are putting your favorite
food in your mouth, but because Allah gives
you a spirituality
and a connection that was not there for
the one who did not fast.
Similarly, these 10 days that we are in
right now are powerful.
We are supposed to have fasted or tried
to fast. It's not compulsory.
It is nafil. It is actually voluntary. Some
might say sunnah. Yes. Indeed. It is a
teaching of the prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam. You
fast
not necessarily
all the days, some of the days. Some
can fast all of the 9 days, but
the day of Arafah is something that
is amazing. It's so powerful. Again,
the fasting of the day of Arafa is
not compulsory.
But the reward of it, do you know
what the minimum states?
Say for example, this is the day of
Arafa. We are fasting.
The sins of that year before that day,
forgiven.
The sins of the year after that day
forgiven. You fast the following year,
you're getting double forgiveness for that particular year.
You follow what we're saying? May Allah Almighty
grant us a good reward.
So when is the day of Arafah? Because
there is a big question about the sighting
of the moon and whether we should be
with the Hujjaj in Makkah or in Arafah
or whether we should do it on the
9th of Dhul Hijjah wherever we are. I
can tell you,
it all boils down to the difference of
opinion in jurisprudence.
And before I go into it, let me
tell you. Learn to respect opinions.
Especially when they are within legitimate
schools of thought and jurisprudence
backed by evidence.
So So when it comes to the moon,
there are 2 opinions. 1 is
either we should all be on a global
sighting
or we should be on a regional sighting.
In order to achieve a global sighting, we
would need the cooperation of the whole world.
The reason is
if someone sees it before us
and we are prepared to accept it from
them, what if we see it before them?
Are they prepared to accept it from us?
Simple logic. For example,
if Saudi Arabia sees the moon
and everyone else says, okay. We agree with
it. What if a year comes and they
have come when we have seen the moon
before Saudi Arabia? Are they prepared to follow
what we have sighted? If the answer is
yes, then perhaps we can look into something
known as a global sighting where everyone can
follow the first person who sights the moon.
But if there's no cooperation, and for your
information, there is no cooperation.
In that particular instance, what can we do?
If we are to follow them
and we are to have the day of
Arafa when the Pujaj are in Arafa.
What if we have seen the moon before
them one of the years, and for us
it's the day of Eid and the Hujjaj
are in Arafah? Now what do you do?
You are stuck. Why are you stuck? Because
you didn't understand your misprudence.
So for example, if our Eid is tomorrow,
because had we for example, had we sighted
the moon prior to Saudi Arabia
and our Eid was tomorrow,
Yet it's Arafa for the people of Arafa.
What do you do? You're stuck between should
I fast yet I saw the moon with
my own eyes or should I not fast?
So because of that long discrepancy, we it
boils down to something interesting and that is
please respect the opinions of the scholars and
those who are legitimate in terms of schools
of thought and in terms of backed by
evidence.
Don't worry. Don't get too emotional about it.
Someone does it now. Someone does it the
other time. It's okay. So
there are some scholars who say, you should
fast when the Hujjaj are in Arafah.
Okay? They will get stuck the day we
see the moon before the people of Saudi
Arabia. They will be stuck. Then they will
have to come back to this opinion. But
no problem. Let it be. Don't fight about
it. Because as it is, for now, we
have, for example, the day of Arafa
where the Hujjaj are going to be in
Arafa that is tomorrow. May Allah make it
easy for them. Today they are in Mina.
The Hujjaj and I know of quite a
few. They've also sent me messages and I'm
sure many of us, we have a large
contingent that went from our country here as
well.
Large meaning basic for for for the world
but large for us. Right? Masha Allah. When
you talk of Indonesia sending 200,000
and Zimbabwe has 150. I mean, you know,
it makes a big difference as to what
large means. But nonetheless, we make dua for
them and we ask Allah to bless them,
to make it easy for them. It's very
hot. It's really, really
boiling at the moment. But may Allah calm
them and cool them and grant them good
health and may they make the correct duas.
The ummah is in need of crying to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So they are in
Mina today. They will be in Arafah tomorrow.
We can fast today, tomorrow, and the next
day is a
Sunday. On that Sunday is our 9th of
Dhul Hijjah in this region because the entire
region did not see the moon at all.
The entire region did not see the moon.
Now from amongst us, there are some who
might say, no. No. No. No. We will
celebrate Eid when it is done in in
Makkah. No problem. You can follow that opinion.
We are not going to fight with you.
We love you. You are our brothers. Masha'Allah.
Enjoy the Eid. Eid Mubarak to you and
please have a blessed time but don't fight
with us.
Don't fight with us. Why? We are following
legitimate
opinions of schools of thought
that have been that have registered these opinions
backed with evidence
going back to the time of the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
And like I said,
we don't mind a global sighting on condition
that there is a good consensus and understanding.
If you don't have an understanding, it won't
work. Because when I see it before you,
we are stuck. Everybody's stuck. Right? May Allah
Almighty grant us ease. And there is no
there is nothing in jurisprudence
that forces you to accept the moon that
is sighted by another place. Nothing in jurisprudence
forces you. If there was an evidence in
Quran or sunnah to say you are compelled,
we we wouldn't be having this discussion today.
But there is no there is nothing concrete
to say you have to do it this
way or that there are 2 major opinions.
1 this way, one that well, alhamdulillah.
And those of us who will be having
Eid on the Monday, may Allah make it
easy for us. The 9th of Dhul Hijjah
would be the Sunday. That would be the
fast. So now I've discussed with you the
difference of opinion regarding when exactly you should
fast. Is it when dahujajah
and Arafa? Some people are following that opinion?
We love you. We love you even more
actually.
And some people are following the other opinion
to say, you know what? 9th of Dhul
Hijjah, wherever you are, that's the opinion we
follow and that is what the bulk and
the majority of the world actually follow.
In terms of the schools of thought. May
Allah Almighty
grant us ease. But that fast is very
important and not only the fast. Like I
said, it's not a compulsory fast. You seek
forgiveness.
You ask Allah your dua. You increase the
dhikr of Allah. No matter where you are
from the morning of the day of Arafah,
after every farad prayer, you repeat the takbir.
What is the takbir?
You are declaring the greatness of Allah. There
is none worthy of worship besides Allah. Allah
is the greatest and all praise belongs to
Allah. Why do you have to say these
beautiful words of praise of Allah?
Because you have engaged in acts of worship
through these 10 days.
Ramadan
was 30 days. On that day of Eid,
we also said the takbir, but in a
slightly lower tone. This one,
we are saying it in a loud tone.
Now look at it. Laylatul Qadr is a
night of decree, the most powerful night in
the whole year. The day of Arafa is
the most powerful day in the whole year.
The difference is,
we don't know when it is. We have
a rough idea. But Arafa, we know when
it is. Why? Because you saw the moon,
right? May Allah Almighty accept it from us.
So take the day seriously.
Like I've said before, number 1, don't sin.
Imagine Allah gives you a day to seek
forgiveness. That's the same day you're sinning on.
It doesn't it's not befitting a believer. Secondly,
your duties unto Allah, your prayer and so
on. Take it more seriously.
Take your time when you pray.
This is it could be your last prayer.
The prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, tells
us
a powerful phrase which is so deep in
meaning. He says,
how should you pray? Meaning the question that
is posed by us is how should you
pray? How should my prayer be? Someone can
say pray like this, pray like that, pray
this way, that way and give you a
big explanation. He says,
Pray
as though it's your farewell prayer.
Pray as though it's the last prayer you
will ever be able to to make. That's
how you should pray. If you take that
seriously, wallahi, you will calm down. You will
take it easy. I have a habit. We
all have a habit. We are working on
that habit. It's a negative habit.
And sometimes we don't realize. We say that.
I say it sometimes. What is it? I
say, brother, let me quickly do my prayer
and I'm going to I'll be with you
in 5 minutes. That term quickly in the
middle is an insult to prayer.
So we try to take that word out.
Right?
I know what you mean. You know what
I mean. When I say give me 2
minutes, I'm gonna be with you. Let me
quickly. But that word quickly is not befitting
Allah's majesty.
Say, I'm going to pray, brother. When I'm
done, I'll see you.
And take your time. Relax. Because I tell
you what, if you rush that prayer, may
Allah forgive you and I. We are in
a rush at the airport. We're in a
rush, a rush when we are traveling. We
are in a rush even when there's nothing
happening.
May Allah forgive us. We want to eat
and eating is normal. 1 o'clock. The food
is out or it's about to come. Let
me quickly
that word quickly. InshaAllah, we deal with it.
Even if we take that alone
home today,
we are winners.
And I I still have sometimes subconsciously you
still say it. Right? It happens. We're human.
But all I'm saying is try and work
that word out of that particular sentence, Insha'Allah.
Just say, look, let me pray and I'll
be back with you. So why we say
this is when the prophet, peace be upon
him, says,
pray
as though as you are the person who
is
saying farewell to the prayer. In other words,
it's your last prayer.
That means you need to take your time.
So bahaana rabbiallaa
Allah. It's registered next to your name. You
die after that,
Insha Allah, you're a successful person.
Successful. I took my time between me and
my Lord.
Another thing, read Quran.
Do your adkar. The day of Arafa is
a powerful day. And every time Allah gives
you these mega days and nights and seasons,
the whole idea is to
improve you in your relationship with Him holistically.
He always says that. I've prescribed this for
you as a gift so you can become
a better person closer to us in the
correct way.
That's taqwa. Your relationship with Allah developing it.
So when Allah gives you Ramadan, you come
out of it. You better in your prayer.
You better in your connection with Quran. You
now read the translation every day. You now
spend time with dhikr, algar,
all of them said, we are guilty. What
was the question?
Do you make
alkar
everyday?
And they just smile at you and say,
well,
it depends. The astaghfirullah after prayer, you know,
we say it thrice and so on. But
as for dhikr, Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah, Allahu Akbar. No,
we don't.
Now,
why am I saying this? Because it's interesting
to note. I'm a believer. I believe in
my 5 daily prayers. I should read my
Quran and try to understand it. I should
actually also go beyond that and do what?
I should praise Allah, remember Him. Has He
not given you everything that you have?
Allah. That is Allah araburiza. So this is
why we say, my beloved brothers and sisters,
this day of Arafah is coming. Seek the
forgiveness of Allah and forgive people. Forgive people.
As for the Hujaj and Arafa, Allah Almighty
looks at them and he knows what's going
on. But he asks his angels and he
literally
is so happy
regarding what they're doing that he is
boasting to the angels
according to his majesty.
He's telling his angels, you see my worship
is here. What are they asking for? And
he knows better than them what they're asking
for. And so the angels are saying, they're
all crying to you, seeking forgiveness
and asking their needs. He says,
I want you to bear witness, oh my
angels
that I have forgiven them.
All of them have come from all over
the world. They have converged to Arafa and
they are coming here. What are they doing?
They are dressed in a very humble way.
No one is arrogant and proud. You don't
know king from, you know, a slave. You
know nobody.
As in terms of the difference between the
people, nothing. They are all standing together doing
what? Crying, weeping.
Imagine your Lord and mine has kept life
such that no matter who you are,
you have needs.
No matter who you are, you have needs
to the degree
that
nobody can solve it for you besides the
Lord of the worlds. Allahu Akbar. Cry to
Allah. Ask him. And Allah is happy. He
hears you. He knows it.
You shed a tear. You feel the pain.
Allah knows it before it even happened.
He knows it genuinely.
What else?
Don't lose hope. Keep on asking because Allah
loves repetition.
And Allah loves it when he keeps you
in a certain condition by his power and
his mercy.
Allah loves it when he does not give
you what you want if that is going
to make you a person closer to him.
He loves keeping you in that condition.
My worshipper,
you have 5 years to live. For the
next 5 years, I want you to go
through so much of sabr
that that sabr alone for 5 years. Whatever
you did for the last 60 years, we're
going to wipe it out because of 5
years. Ayub
alaihis salaam, when he was unwell, his wife
tells him, don't you cry to Allah to
ask him to heal you. He said, oh
my wife, so many years I enjoyed. I
feel ashamed. Now that I'm sick, I must
call out to Allah. Meaning to cure me.
Although there was nothing wrong, but what he
meant is,
not that he didn't want to call out
to Allah, but he felt that Allah's given
me so much. Let me be thankful. One
of the ways of calling out to Allah
is to thank him for what you have.
Say you have a problem today
and you want Allah to solve the problem.
One of the ways
is
Allah knows your problem. Right? Is to go
back and look at what Allah gave you
and thank him for it. Oh, I thank
you for this, this, this. And when you
start thanking Allah for what he gave you,
you'll realize that he gave you a 1,000,000
things and he took away 2 things.
And that's the way Allah says,
Announcement. Allah says,
when you are thankful, I'll give you increase.
Increase. You want more? Well, go back and
look at what I've given you and say,
Alhamdulillah.
Oh Allah, I thank you for what you
gave me. Like alhamdulillah.
Oh Allah. I'm giving a charity. I'm doing
this. I'm doing that. That's why they say
the hadith says, the best charity that you
can ever give is the one that you
are giving
when you yourself are poor.
You yourself are worried about what's going to
happen. You yourself don't know where the next
penny is going to come from.
But you have hope in Allah.
You have hope.
That means you are worried about poverty,
but at the same time, you are hopeful
in that Allah will provide, Allah will give
you, man. So that is why Allah says
in the lips of Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa
sallam, hadith.
Charity has never decreased anybody's wealth. You give.
Allah will give you. Because at that moment
of hardship of yours, you end up looking
at someone who has greater hardship. What does
it do for you? It makes life easy
for me, man. I am chilled. I'm okay,
man. We've eaten once every 2 days. You
know, there are people who haven't eaten in
the last week and seriously so. Our brothers
and sisters in Gaza, in Palestine, we talk
about them. We mention them every week and
every time we can because wallahi, they are
struggling right now. It feels so so unimportant
to ask Allah for my issues when they
have real issues.
We are sitting here. We are so happy
complaining about how cold it is, but we
have jackets and everything for them.
Right now, it's boiling hot. What do they
have? They don't even have cover above their
heads in most cases. People are dying. Hunger,
thirst, bombardment,
and so much more of aggression and oppression
like mankind has never
ever seen
in its existence. From the beginning of Adam
to this day, I am telling you they
haven't seen this type of disaster.
And why do I say this? Because of
the sophistication
of weaponry that there is. It wasn't there
before. Because of how the people are using
the latest technology
to murder rather than to grow and to
bolster people and to help them. Imagine life,
you and I are human beings. We look
at anyone black and white and green and
yellow and we are taught that these people
are humans. Look after life. Life is sacred.
But do you know there are people who
look at everybody else and think to themselves,
we can take them out.
They play too many computer games. Wallahi. But
you take them out. And they look at
anyone, take these guys out. Those guys are,
wallahi, this is life. Are you okay?
You have to die anyway. You might have
killed someone today, a few years later even
if nobody kills you, you're gonna die. What
about that day? Who are you going to
face? You don't get trigger happy.
May Allah Almighty strengthen us
and guide humanity at large. We're living on
earth. We're here for a few years.
So this is why I say when we
think about what they are going through, wallahi,
what you and I are going through, we
are not going through anything. There's no challenge.
Your challenge is actually so small and mine
is minute. It's almost non existent
compared to those who have real problems.
May Allah Almighty forgive us. May Allah strengthen
the ummah. May Allah unite the ummah. Today,
I mentioned the difference of opinion. And as
I close, I want to just quickly recap
to say,
when there is difference of opinion in the
Ummah
regarding certain matters that there have been difference
of opinion
up on for years and centuries
and there is legitimate difference in terms of
there is evidence to prove. Either way, it
might not be the strongest of hadith according
to you, and it might not be the
most valid of this of of the opinions
according to you, but it's okay. Let them
follow the opinions. Is there no evidence to
back it up? Are there no proper legitimate
schools of thought that have said this? Then
let it be. Respect the people. You enter
the Masjid on a Friday.
Some schools of thought say there's no Sunnah,
no nothing. You come in and you you
you listen to the khutba and the first
prayer that you're gonna pray is the jumuah
with the imam. It's a legitimate schools of
thought. Some say you come in, you can
only do tahiyatul masjid and nothing else. And
others say no, you come in and you
read
some sunnah
and so on. They are okay. That's okay.
Don't fight each other for it. Look at
someone. This guy, is he a proper Muslim?
He just came in and he sat down.
It's okay.
It doesn't take you to that level. You
want to discuss it? You may. You learn
about it. We are never going to bring
the ummah together.
If we fight over nitty gritties
nitty gritties, small matters. And we make it
the most
important
factor of split between you and I? No,
my brothers. No, my sisters. We love each
other for the sake of Allah. Keep repeating
that and keep reminding each other. We love
each other for the sake of Allah. I
might differ with you on a few things.
I love you even more because Allah has
tested you with me and me with you.