Sikander Hashmi – Day of Arafah & This Years Hajj KMA Friday Message
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AI: Transcript ©
Respected elders,
your brothers and sisters,
my young friends,
Assalamu Alaikum
We begin by praising Allah
the Lord
and creator
and the designer and the sustainer
of the universe
and
of everything
that it contains.
And we begin by sending peace
and salutations
upon
his beloved
messenger,
final messenger, Mohammed,
the son of
Abdullah. I hope, I pray
that you're all doing well by the mercy
and the grace of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala.
We are,
in a very important time,
almost in the middle of summer.
The heat,
can be high,
and, of course, there are still concerns with
regards
to the pandemic,
the number of cases going up, and so
on. So ask Allah
to envelope you and your loved ones in
his mercy, in his protection,
and ask Allah
to continue to bless you and your family
members
now, tomorrow,
and your future generations till the day of
judgment.
Ameen My brothers and sisters,
usually at this time of year,
there are 100
of 1000
of pilgrims
to judge
arriving daily in Mecca and Medina for the
journey
of a lifetime with which is the journey
of the Hajj,
a very unique, a very special journey,
one that
millions of people around the world
can only dream of
and who save
money for their entire lives sometimes
so that they can have this opportunity
to spend
10, 15, 20, 30, 40 days
in the holy lands, in the most sacred
places on earth.
At this time of year, there would be
hundreds of flights
arriving daily
in Jeddah, in Medina.
Buses full with people filled with people. Of
course, there are trains now as well
as there were in the past.
There was a train line that would run
from Damascus
to Medina to Manawara during the Ottoman times.
Of course, unfortunately, it was destroyed.
So buses,
trains,
trucks even. I remember going for Hajj and
seeing trucks that had driven from Russia, from
Chechnya.
People coming for Hajj
in
trucks. People go on bikes. There's always a
story almost every year of someone who has
biked
for Hajj,
thousands of kilometers.
And some stories even of people walking, you
know, someone who really wanted to perform the
Hajj was not able to afford the trip.
The person actually walked, you know, through many
countries
coming from a different continent,
you know. And, of course, in the past,
people will also go on ships,
and they would ride on camels.
And this was a manifestation
of the command of Allah
to say Ibrahim
alayhis salam
when he told him
call all people to the pilgrimage.
They will come to you on foot and
on every lean camel from every distant path.
And, subhanAllah, if you read the commentary, the
the the tafsir of this ayah,
essentially, prophet Ibrahim alayhi wasalam
was essentially alone
when he was given this command.
And some reports say that, you know, he
asked how will my voice reach them and
how will people find out? And Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala told him or it was said
to him,
you go ahead and make the call. Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala will take
your voice,
your invitation
to every distant part of the world.
And
Sayid Ibrahim alaihis salam did his part,
and there's different reports of where he was
standing, most likely on a high spot in
the mountain, Abu Qubais, which is right beside,
the Kaaba,
or on some other high spot, and he
made this call to call people.
And people continue to come,
and they continue to come every single year.
But this year, of course,
is very unique. The Hajj will be going
ahead, but
in a very limited capacity. For the first
time
and I was doing some reading, oh, one
knows best, but it appears for the for
the first time in over 700 years.
First time in over 700 years that people
will not be traveling from around the world
to perform perform the Hajj
from outside the land of the Haramain.
So the Hajj will go ahead, but it
will be limited
due to the pandemic.
Due to the pandemic,
it will be limited to people who live
in the vicinity, who live close by, who
do not need to cross international borders to
perform the hajj.
Now earlier in the year, the umrah was
stopped
and that came as a shock
to many people.
Many had plans.
Maybe you did as well to perform the
umrah during March break.
The saddest story for me was a flight
that was or 2, actually, incidents. 1 flight
that had already departed,
and the pilgrims,
people going to perform the Umrah, were going
to transfer
in Cairo, the Cairo airport,
to switch over to a flight to Madinah.
And during their stopover, they were told that
the Umrah has been closed and that they
will no longer be able to continue their
journey.
And the second incident, and there may be
more like this, were pilgrims
in Pakistan
who had boarded on their planes, who were
ready to take off,
and right then
the news came that the Umrah had been
closed, and therefore they would not be able
to proceed,
you know, how sad those people must have
been. Allah
reward them for their good
intentions and bring them back when it is
safe for them to come. We
saw the shocking and saddening images
of the empty magawaf around the Kaaba. We're
so used to seeing thousands of people performing
performing circumambulation
around the Ka'a.
And,
suddenly to see it empty, it's very sad,
very shocking.
And at that time, my brothers and sisters,
we wondered how long it will last.
And, alas, it appears that Allah has
willed
that almost no one will be invited
to visit his house from abroad for this
great act of worship.
The hadith, of course, is one of the
pillars of Islam, obligatory upon all of those
who are able to perform it, who have
the health and the means Allah says.
So the pilgrimage to the house of Allah
is described as a duty to Allah
for those who have the means.
Now many of our brothers and sisters
were looking forward to performing Hajj this year.
And much,
you know, thought,
resolve,
savings,
arrangements
had been made.
So there had been a great anxiety and
concern
this year about their Hajj,
which of course, as we now know, is
not going to happen. May Allah,
reward you,
for your good intentions.
Ask Allah
to reward each of you for a completed
accepted Hajj and to grant you a safe
and accepted Hajj once again. Ameen.
Remember my brothers and sisters
that
6 years
6 years after the Hijra,
6 years after the migration
from Makkah al Mukarrama
to Madinah al Manawara,
it was 6 years after that
that
1400 companions
joined the Prophet
to visit Makkah finally.
They were eagerly awaiting the opportunity
to finally visit the Ka'bah
and perform
tawaf,
circumambulation
around the Kaaba.
But after traveling close to 400 kilometers from
Madinah,
approximately the distance from
Madinah to Makkah. So after traveling close to
400 kilometers,
they were
stopped just
20 kilometers, approximately
20 kilometers, 22, 24 kilometers
from the Kaaba.
They were stopped. They have their ifram on.
They were ready to go, but they were
stopped and they were not allowed to proceed
as they should have been
by the people of Mecca.
They were extremely disappointed. Can you imagine? Right?
After 6 years, people who were in Mecca
before, people who had traveled for Hajj,
who had traveled
to perform Umrah to perform,
a a tawaf around the Kaaba,
they had to patiently wait for 6 years,
and then finally, the prophet,
you know, sees a dream and they think
that it is a good sign that they
will be allowed in,
and they're prepared and they have, you know,
such a large group of people.
So much anticipation,
so much love,
you know, so much excitement,
And just 20, 24 kilometers
away from the Kaaba, from where they want
to be, where their heart desires to be,
at the house of the first house of
worship for Allah
they are turned back.
They are stopped and they're not allowed to
proceed. Of course, it's a long story, the
treaty of Arabia.
But nonetheless, this is something that the prophet
and his companions
went through. They were extremely disappointed
and had to take off their ihram without
entering Makkah.
But Allah
had willed that they would come back the
next year in a much better state.
So may Allah
make it the same for us as well.
May Allah
to grant a reward,
grant the reward of an accepted Hajj for
a complete accepted Hajj for every single brother
and sister who is
intending to go this year. Ask Allah
to grant you a much better Hajj
in future years when it is safe.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam likely performed
one Hajj.
Some scholars believe he may have done 2
before the Hijra, before the migration.
The final Hajj, the Hajjatulwada'
was in the 10th year after Hijra
with approximately 114,000
companions.
How many? 114,000
companions. So it was big
compared to
this year's Hajj, which is gonna be approximately
a 1000 people. The Hajjatul Wada was quite
large in terms of number, and, of course,
in terms of importance as well.
And the prophet
gave the famous hootba, the farewell sermon.
And if you look at the lessons from
the sermon, my brothers and sisters,
you know, they're very relevant,
especially when we consider the state of the
Ummah today,
which is quite sad. The prophet
reminded us about the sacredness of
life and property,
protecting the life and property of others, especially
our brothers and sisters.
A reminder
that everyone is fully accountable for their deeds,
And Allah
will take each person to account in this
life.
Sometimes we forget and we behave as if
there is no accountability that we can get
away with things. And the reality is, my
brothers and sisters, we can't get away with
anything because Allah
will bring each person to account no matter
who they are. Even the prophet
will be afraid on the day of judgement
due to the judgement and accountability that they
will have to face from Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. And these are the best
of people, the best people.
So this is something that we should always
be aware of and afraid of as well.
The The prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam also said
return the goods
entrusted to you to the rightful owners,
hurt no one so that no one may
hurt you.
Hurt no one so that no one may
hurt
you. So return the goods that were entrusted
to you, so be careful about the Amana,
about the trust
that has been put in you, and hurt
no one so that no one may hurt
you. Right? A very important principle.
The prophet
reemphasized,
reminded us about the prohibition of dealing with
rida, of dealing with
most forms of interest.
The prophet
also said that beware of Shaikhan for the
safety of your religion.
He has lost all hope that he will
ever be able to lead you astray in
big things.
This is also very important.
Shaikan has lost all hopes that he will
be able to lead you ever be able
to lead you astray in the big things.
So beware of following him in the small
things, in the seemingly
little things, because he knows he won't succeed
you with the big things,
but he will try to lead you astray,
most likely slowly slowly slowly
through seemingly little things.
The prophet
emphasized the rights of woman over men and
the rights of men over women. There's a
lot of discussion about this area, of course,
nowadays.
So the prophet
has already emphasized this and addressed this, the
rights of women over men. So, yes, women
have rights over men and also the rights
of men over women. So both husband and
wife
have rights over each other.
And
also in a family relationship,
right, the the the the the male and
females all have rights over each other.
Treatment of women with kindness, and this is
also something that the prophet
emphasized.
Modesty and chastity,
right, in women.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
emphasized equality amongst all. Right? In terms of
race and ethnicity.
Black, white, Arabs, non Arabs, etcetera. So the
prophet talked about racism as well. And in
the end, he said,
all those who listen to me shall pass
on my words to others and
those to others again and may may and
may the last ones understand my words better
than those who listen to me directly. Be
my witness,
my witness, oh, Allah, that I have conveyed
your message to your people. So all the
things the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam has emphasized,
especially in this final sermon,
are things that we need to be reminded
about and we should always remember because, of
course, they carry great importance
considering the fact he had mentioned them in
this important,
at this important moment in this important sermon.
Now this quote, of course, was given on
the day of Arafa, which is the 9th
day of Dhul Hijjah. And the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam has said
that that Arafa is
Hajj. Right? Hajj is Arafa. Basically,
that,
if if you are not,
if a if a person performing Hajj
is not there on the day of
to spend time in worshiping Allah
then their Hajj is going to be incomplete.
Right? So it's not the only part of
the Hajj, but it's the most important part
of the Hajj. And it is not just
a special day for the people performing Hajj
who, of course, the CR are going to
be very limited, but it is a special
day for all.
And this climax
of the Hajj, this day of Arafah will
be taking place on Thursday,
Insha'Allah. Coming Thursday, Insha'Allah, will be the 9th
of Bilhijah.
Now the prophet
has told us
or we have learned that it is the
day on which
the religion was perfected. The 9th of, of
Dhul Khidja, the day of Arafah is the
day in which the religion was perfected and
Allah
favor was completed.
It is
reported
in,
Sahibukari and Sahih Muslim Sahihayin
from Umar ibn Khattab
that a Jewish man said to him
that, oh, Amirul Mumineen,
there is an ayah in your book. There
is an ayah, there's a verse in your
book, meaning the Quran which you recite.
If it had come to us,
Jewish people, we would have taken that day
as an ayah. We would have taken that
day as an ayah, as a festival. So
say, now, Omar said, which aya is that?
So he responded and said that the aya
is,
this day I have perfected your religion for
you.
I
have completed I have perfected your religion for
you, completed my favor upon you,
and have chosen for you Islam
as
your religion.
And Umar
said, we know on which day and in
which place that was revealed to the prophet
It was when he was standing in Arafah
on a Friday. So this was,
this occurred on the day of Arafah,
which
is a special,
special day, but especially because of this reason
also also that Allah
completed and perfected the religion for us on
that day.
Fasting on this day, on 9th of Bilhijja,
on the day of Arafah, is an expiation
for 2 years of
misdeeds of sins.
It is reported from Abu Qadha
that the messenger of Allah
was asked about fasting on the day of
Arafah, and the prophet
said
that that expiates
for the sins of the previous year and
of the coming year or it could be
translated as the remaining year. But essentially, the
the the year that is coming ahead or
that the year we are in.
This fasting is
mustahab.
Right? It is virtuous
for those who are not on Hajj. In
the case for the one who is in
Hajj, it is not sunnah for them to
fast on the day of Arafah because the
prophet
did not pass on the day of Arafah
while performing Hajj.
And it is also narrated that he forbade
fasting on the day of Arafah,
in Arafah, meaning for the person who is
making Hajj.
It is a day also of forgiveness of
sins
and freedom from the fire.
The prophet
said
that,
That there is no day, there is no
day on which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
frees more people
from the fire
than the day of Arafah.
He comes close
and expresses his pride to the angels
saying,
what do these people want?
Allah
takes pride in the fact that his servants
are seeking
his forgiveness.
His servants are
seeking freedom from the fire, that his servants
are seeking acceptance from Allah
It is also a day of du'a, my
brothers and sisters. Regardless of whether we are
in Arafa or not, and of course, most
of us
well, all of us pretty much are not
going to be in Arafa this year. So
the prophet
has said
that the best dua
the best of dua is the dua on
the day of Arafah.
Right? So this is a time
on Thursday,
during the day, especially to make as much
dua as we can. And as I mentioned
last week, we are not able to be,
in Hajj.
Most people are not able to be in
Hajj. There's a great,
net,
loss, I guess, of spirituality
due to the fewer numbers.
So So let us try our best, insha'Allah,
to try to increase
our
response, our returning to Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala,
our increase our spirituality
more so this year than other years, insha'Allah.
No matter what we do from outside
of the blessed land,
outside of Haramain Yasharifayn,
you can never make
up. It can never be the same.
You can you can never make up for
that loss of of not being there or
or you can't make up, you know, the
the the blessings of actually being there and
actually performing the Hajj. You can never get
it from anywhere else.
There's a silly article that's being circulated about
doing a virtual Hajj.
And sometimes I think people just do these
things to get some coverage and some free
publicity. You know? Love on it.
But doing a virtual Hajj, you know, virtual
reality experience, maybe very, very interesting experience, maybe
very educational.
Right? But in terms of
trying to replicate
the blessings
and the virtues
of of actually performing the Hajj physically, that
can never be replicated by any form of
virtual reality or or anything else that you
can think of. Okay? You have to be
there and you have to do it in
order
to receive
those blessings,
Unless, of course, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala chooses
to give it to someone and that is
in Allah's hands, not in our hands. So
brothers and sisters,
let us,
first of all,
recognize that this is a very unique circumstance
that we are in just like Ramadan
passed in a very different way.
This moment that we are in right now,
this day these days of Hajj that we're
living through with Hajj being curtailed in this
way. As I mentioned earlier, a lot was
best for perhaps the first time in 700
years
that people are not able to travel for
Hajj from around the world.
This is,
a historic time and, of course, not one
to be celebrated,
but that one but one that should be
concerning to us as believers.
Should be concerning to us as believers,
and we should be turning to Allah
seeking his forgiveness,
seeking his guidance, and seeking his mercy, and
especially especially his forgiveness for our sins and
our our our shortcomings,
that may have led us to this point
when Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, forgives all.
Learn about, you know, the the the
farewell sermon, the lessons from the sermon,
act upon them, recognize the value of the
day of Arafat in terms of fasting and
dua.
And, of course, the day after the day
of Arafat is the day of.
So,
you know, celebrate the with
the sacrifice.
It is either considered to be required
by some or an emphasized great sunnah, the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
I would say normally try to do it
yourself, but most people will not be able
to do it themselves this year, especially due
to the circumstances.
But nonetheless,
try to partake in it. People ask, okay,
should we send it, Orsi? Should we do
it here? I say that, you know, in
terms of virtues, it's actually better to do
it closer to you and to do it
yourself if possible.
But in terms of benefit, we know that
there are many people around the world who
will never get to eat meat, and it
will benefit them greatly if we send our
sacrifice overseas.
So if you're able to, in good practice,
if you can, just a personal recommendation,
is that you do one yourself here and
you send one overseas as well. So that
way, you get to both, you know, act
upon the sunnah and get the virtues of
that sacrifice
being close to you,
and for taking in its meat, and you'll
also get to benefit others as well.
Otherwise, if you do it here, of course,
you can still share the meat as well
with those who need. May Allah accept our
sacrifices.
May Allah,
grant us his closeness, Hamid.
There was,
some
sad news, this week.
Brother Sharif messaged
us and told us that his father-in-law,
Faruk,
passed away yesterday.
Brother Faruk Sheikh's mother-in-law, sister, Zena Tunnessa,
also passed away in India.
And the mother of our sister, Russia, the
mother-in-law of brother Muhammad Muhammad,
doctor Hamid Al Husseini passed away in Egypt.
So let's make the eye for them and
all of those who have passed away.
Oh, Allah, we ask you to shower your
mercy and forgiveness upon all of those who
are returned to
you. Oh, Allah, peace cure. All of our
brothers and sisters who are ill. Oh, Allah,
peace back to relief. Oh, love. His rule
everything harmful from their bodies. Oh, love. Our
brothers and sisters who are undergoing cancer treatment.
Oh, love. Our brothers and sisters suffering from
long term pain and injuries. Our brother who
is debilitated
and sisters who are debilitated by unknown illnesses.
Oh, love. All of those who are ill
with COVID 19 or other diseases are at
risk of becoming ill. Oh, Allah, you are
the protector. You are the healer. Oh, Allah,
please grant them speedy recovery. Oh, love. Please
protect them from all types of illnesses and
pain and suffering through your power and might
remove their hardships, You Rabbala. I mean, oh,
love. You are helpless in front of you.
Oh, love. There are children who are sick.
Oh, love. There are families who are worried.
Oh, love. Oh, love. There are elders who
are sick. Oh, love. Please grant your,
shower your mercy upon all of them. All
of these men and speedy recovery and relief
from their home.
All of these protect us, protect us and
all of our fellow human beings, especially the
frontline civil workers who are serving others, those
who are having to go out. All of
these protect them. Oh,
Allah, please grant relief to all of those
who are in pain. All of those who
are in grief, stress, anxiety. Oh, love. Please
replace all of those feelings with happiness and
peace and joy. Oh,
Allah, please open the doors of halal sustenance
for all of those who are in need
or in debt. Oh, love. Those in financial
difficulty.
Oh, love. Those who have needs that are
unmet. Oh, love. Please make it easy for
them and breathe.
Oh,
love. Please grant us to the return to
you during this life. At the end of
this life and on the day of judgment.
Oh, love. Please make us those who are
accepted on the day of.
Oh, love. He's grant us,
deliverance from the fire
of. Oh, love. Please accept
and grant all of our.
Oh, love. Please protect us from all evil.
Oh, love. Please accept all of our calls
to you on the day of.
Arrangements, by the way, for with regards to
rain prayer, are being, made right now. So
we will announce,
by Wednesday what those arrangements will