The prophet (pbuh) said that the best supplication is
the supplication on that day of Arafah, the best of what I and the prophets before me
Have said, it was a remarkable day, a special day to the prophet (pbuh)
and the Muslims every single year without Hajj.
That is not just for the people standing
in the place of Arafah. The forgiveness from Allah that comes
on that day covers everyone.
Who is the worst person or who is in the worst
state among all of those that are among us today, the worst person in this gathering
on this day as the mercy of Allah is descending.....
But what do we do on that day?
This Monday is literally the best day of the year, a time that if Allah gives us
the ability to see it, may Allah (swt) allow us to live to see it
and allow us to be accepted on that day, may never come back to us.
And it's a day that the prophet (pbuh)
described as the best day that the sun has risen upon is the day of Arafah.
The day that you come to know your Lord, every single year.
The prophet (pbuh) that the best supplication is
the supplication on that day of Arafah,
The best of what I and the prophets before me have said,
meaning all of the prophets were guided to this day.
They said on that day,
There is only one God, alone with no partners,
to Him belongs All praise, to Him belongs all blessings.
and to Him belongs power over all things.
This is what all of the prophets would say on this day.
The day that marks. The day that marks
The moment that we all stood in front of Allah
And just as you look around and you see all of these people spread out today,
all of us stood before Allah on that day, and it was upon us that an oath was taken,
Allah asked each and every single one of us, am I not your Lord?
And all of us say, yes, we bear witness.
We bear witness, the dua or that oath that the prophe (pbuh)
mentions that Allah refers to in the Quran;
When he says the prophet (pbuh) said, in an authentic narration that
The promise day is the day of judgment.
....the witness is ...
the best of all days of the week, which is the day of Friday,
the day of the witness is the day of Arafat,
where Allah calls the angels and says, look at all of these people around
the world calling upon Me, invoking me in their languages,
coming to the place of Arafah, which we'll talk about in a moment,
covered in dust, exhausted their sleep schedules of each one of them with their
own unique duas, each one of them with their own hopes, calling upon one God.
The day that the angels witness that Allah has forgiven all of us.
May Allah (swt) make us among those that are forgiven, Allahumma Ameen.
The day that represents one of the five pillars of Islam;
This is very interesting,
that of the five pillars of Islam, the first pillar is when someone testifies
to the oneness of God for the very first time,
Ashhadu Alla Ilaha Illa Allah Wa Ashhadu Anna Muhammad Rasulu Allah.
one pillar of Islam fulfilled by one
statements, one testimony in which you turn the page with your Lord.
Everything that has been done before is forgotten.
You come back to your origin and enter into that fitrah /original disposition.
That's the first pillar of Islam
and the last pillar of Islam is Hajj, where you go back to your Lord
and an enactment of death wearing the clothes of death, once again testifying
La Ilaha Illa Allah, Labbaik, Allahumma labbaik,
Here I am Oh Allah! responding to Your call, affirming Your oneness,
uncorrupted and undistracted by everything that the world has thrown at me.
Recognizing my purpose in life is to worship You.
And Hajj is Arafah that moment where once
again you stand in front of Allah (swt), saying throughout the day;
La Ilaha Illa Allah,
You are only one
and I'm coming to you fully acknowledging that on my terms, responding to You
and the prophet (pbuh) is teaching us
that throughout the day of Arafah, the best thing that you can do is renew
that covenant over and over and over again,
Before you think about dua, your wish list,
before you think about all the things you want to ask your Lord throughout the day,
La Ilaha Illa Allah...
You are, my Lord,
... continuously renewing your covenant with Allah (swt) with throughout the day
and the word Arafah means to come to know.
To come to know who? To come To know your Lord.
And if you know your Lord then you know yourself.
And if you know yourself then once you
know your Lord and then you know yourself, then you will naturally know your own
shortcomings in regards to your Lord,
the blessings that He has bestowed upon you are prerequisite
to understanding the deficiency with which you have responded,
which then leads you to the most sincere version of your supplication,
realize that the dua that we say throughout that day
does not just have an acknowledgment of Allah's oneness,
but a praise for all of the blessings that He showers upon us throughout
the year and the prophet (pbuh) taught us Sayyidul Istighfar,
the chief of seeking forgiveness,
Oh Allah, you are my Lord.
You created me and I am your slave.
And I am upon the promise, the oath, the covenant that I have taken with You.
I will perform to the best of my ability.
I seek refuge in you from what I have done.
And I admit to you all of the blessings that you have descended upon me,
and how I have responded
in a way in which shortcoming is inevitable due to the magnificence of You
and the blessings that You have descended upon me and subhanAllah, throughout the day,
On the day of Arafah,
you are acknowledging that as well because you can't know your own deficiency unless
you acknowledge His blessings upon you, the same way that you can't know that you
are His slave if you don't acknowledge Him as your Master,
the same way that you can't negate all of the other gods unless you acknowledge
and affirm the oneness of God, the God of Abraham, the God of Moses,
the God of Jesus, the God of Mohammed (pbuh),
His peace and blessings be upon all of his prophets.
You cannot do one without the other.
And look at the similarity of those dua as they come together.
Now, here's the thing.
A lot of times when you think of Arafah, you think of a place.
You think of the place of Arafah,
Arafah is so much more spectacular when you're actually there in the place,
and you see the pilgrims covered in dust, you can envision what
the Hadith is telling you about the humility of the people that are coming
before their Lord, leaving everything behind,
acknowledging His oneness, sleep deprived but hopeful in His mercy.
You can see it when you're there in Arafah.
But Ibn Rajab (Rah) said, it's a place and a time,
for a person is blessed to stand in the place of Arafah,
May Allah (Swt) allow us all another opportunity, to stand in Arafah
Then he combines or she combines the blessing of the time and the place.
But you have to remember that the worship of Arafah for the prophet (pbuh),
for seven years before Hajj was fasting.
It was fasting the day of Arafah in Medina.
Longing for the opportunity
to stand on the Arafah just like we longed for it, it was a remarkable day,
a special day to the prophet (pbuh) and the Muslims every single year without Hajj.
And we have to renew that in our hearts that this is the best day of the year.
You know, you think about what you would do.
Sometimes it just takes our own drive
to then dictate the way that we achieve our goals.
You think about what you would do if you had the most important day of your life.
Right?
Which will just say for the sake of it, your wedding, the day that you have
a child or your spouse gives birth to a child, the day of your child's
graduation, that day is a momentous day on that year's calendar.
You're looking forward to it.
You are longing for it.
And as Ibn Rajab (rah) points out,
How amazing is it that like
Allah (swt) in Ramadan, we don't know which of the last 10 nights
is the last 10-night, so the best night of the year is concealed.
So we strive for all 10 nights, right?
But we know exactly when Arafah is.
We know exactly when Arafah is.
We know the day, we know the time. We can plan for it.
We have no doubt that this is the best day of the year.
We have no doubt that everything
the prophet (pbuh) said is happening, is happening in those moments
where Allah is boasting to the angels and forgiving His creation
As Ibn Rajab (Rah) said the prize of being forgiven on that day,
that is for everyone that is observing the time of that day.
That is not just for the people standing in the place of Arafah,
the forgiveness from Allah that comes on that day, covers everyone that is
renewing that covenant with Allah on that day.
So what do we do on that day?
Well, first and foremost, the intention, comes back to the intention, from now,
Ya Allah, I'm going to worship You on that day.
Ya Allah, I'm going to fast that day
And you know what, if you can't fast for any reason
the prophet (pbuh) assured you that the reward is there any way because you had
the intention and if you were prohibited by means or by circumstances that are out
of your hands, then Allah has written down for you the full reward.
So I'm going to fast that day.
I'm going to observe that day.
I'm going to look forward to that day.
Everything before that day, as I planned for that day,
is an act of worship, you know,
Muadh ibn Jabal (ra) says that I seek the reward for my sleep
the same way I seek the reward for being awake.
Why? Because I sleep so that I can be more
energetic in the worship of Allah and in the performance of charity and all
good deeds in the service of Allah and His creation.
The sleep is with the intention of energizing myself.
So you know what?
You're sleeping early on Sunday nights is a form of Ebadah,
It's an act of worship.
Go to sleep early on Sunday night.
Get yourself ready on Sunday night.
The Suhoor that you wake up for, the Prophet (pbuh) said,
the angels send their prayers upon the people as they're doing the Suhoor,
Start off your day with the Suhoor on that day.
And subhanAllah if you think about Hajj, because there is a parallel;
the day before Arafah the Prophet (pbuh) would take the Sahaba to Mina.
And what would they do? Nothing.
Rest, rest.
I'm going to rest.
I'm going to nourish myself.
That in and of itself is part of the worship of the day.
I'm going to think about my duas on that day.
I'm going to prepare with Allah (Swt),
You know, you're renewing your covenant with Allah.
So here's a challenge for you.
One major change that you're going to make in life on the best day of the year.
It's worth it.
What are you signing the contract with this Monday?
What's the change you're making this Monday?
And if you can't think of a change, we have a bigger problem.
What's the change you're making on Monday?
What are you signing that contract
with Allah (swt) that covenant that you are renewing on Monday?
It's a day of covenant,
not just the day of supplication, a day that brings us back to Ya Allah,
I am going to live my life the way that You have commanded me to live my life
and hopes for what you have promised me in the next.
What's the covenant? What's the contract that you're signing
on Monday as you come to Allah (Swt). Starting off the day with fajr in congregation
and to make it easy for you, will have halakhah (religious studies) after fajr,
taking about the virtues of ...
that when you repeat it
throughout the day, you'll remember it and you stay till sunrise.
You have Hajj written down for you on the day of Arafah,
Start off your day with fajr in Jammah.
start off your day with the remembrance of Allah (swt),
Start off your day with the two units of Sunrise with Allah (swt)
and then spend the day in duas and be certain in Allah (swt).
call upon your Lord while you are certain in the answer, don't say
as the prophet (pbuh) says, oh, Allah, forgive me if you want to or if you will.
No, call upon Allah with complete certainty in His answer on that day,
The prophet (pbuh) spent that whole day in dua.
If you can't think of what you're
going to say for the hours of that day, start getting your list together.
But let the top of that list be what? The Dhikr that the prophet (pbuh) taught us
and then forgiveness from Allah (swt).
The greatest thing that you could ask from Him on that day.
And then what's your contract?
SubanAllah, I want you to think about this.
Allah the duas, all the hadiths about dua being accepted from Allah, all the verses,
In the Quran, your Lord said,
call upon Me and I will answer you, when my servant asks about Me that I am close.
All of that,
How much is multiplied by on the best day of the year when the dua is more
accepted on that day than any other time of the year?
How close are you to Allah on that day when you make your Dua?
And yes, certainty in Allah's mercy is not complacency with your own sinfulness.
What are you signing the contract with?
What's the change you're making on Monday? subhanAllah,
I want you to put yourself on the scene in the place of Arafah.
May Allah take us back to the place of Arafat,
Abdullah ibn Mubarak (Rah), the great scholar, great aesthetic, great sage.
He saw Sufyan al-Thawri (Rah) who he gave several sermons
about this scholar and sage and teacher of sincerity.
He said, I came up to Sufyan al-Thawri on the day of Arafah, the scene by the way,
he was on his knees and it was towards the end of the day of Arafah,
and he was on his knees crying in front of Allah (swt).
His eyes were flowing with tears.
His hands were raised, his knees were on the ground.
This is Sufyan al-Thawri (rah), the school of sincerity,
the teacher of how to be an esthetic, and Abdullah ib Mubarak (Rah),
He sees him...
Abdullah ib Mubarak (Rah) used to alternate one year on Hajj,
one year he'd go out for battles,
subhanAllah, always be fisabilillah/ in the cause of Allah.
He said I walked up to him on the day of Arafah,
and I said to him, oh sufyan, as the sun was about to set on the day
of Arafat, who is the worst person or who is
in the worst state among all of those that are among us today,
the worst person in this gathering on this day as the mercy of Allah is descending.
And he responds, the person who thinks that Allah will not forgive him.
that's the worst person on the day of Arafah,
is the person that thinks that Allah will not forgive them.
SubhanAllah, the mercy of Allah is that the place of Arafah,
the person showed up right before the tenth day.
Then they are counted among those that observed the Arafah.
What then of the person who spends their entire day on the time period of Arafah
making dua, schedule it from now,
place your duas there from now.
Start the day right.
And the day right. And the day right.
Because the best part of Arafah
by the way, is the time between Asr and Magrib,
The last hour of Arafah, just like if you were there in Arafah and the sun is setting
and you're trying to catch the last dua, that you suddenly remembered as
the sun is setting, the day of Arafah's special, especially its last moments.
May Allah (swt) allow us to observe it and count as among the forgiven.
May Allah (Swt) allow us to be sincere in our dua and our
supplications and answered in everything that we come to Him with.
May Allah (swt) forgive us for our shortcomings on that day and always,
Allahuma Ameen.