The Day of Arafah: The World Day of Repentance

It is common practice for the international society to fix a world day for problems of great importance to humanity in order to be an annual station through which they review and reconsider the efforts made into these problems. To this end, they undertake to study the obstacles therein, specify the treatments and draw peoples’ attention to their significance. Hence, they have fixed a world day for fighting against the AIDS, a day for the workers, another for woman, and so forth.

There is no doubt that this practice plays a great role in getting rid of many problems which threaten mankind. However, as the world is narrow-sighted to the effect that it only considers the material aspect of life and the external world, it has failed to view the spiritual aspect of life, so it has not fixed a day for the pursuit of spiritualities and eradication of moral diseases. And today, on the world day for fighting against the AIDS, they have acknowledged that they have not only failed to eradicate it, but also they have failed to prevent its expansion and spread, such that more than 20 millions have fallen victim to it. They have, therefore, come to the conclusion that the treatment lies in man’s education, commitment to spiritual values, strengthening of religious deterrents and faith in Almighty God.

Why do they not then fix a day wherein they lay stress on these values and introduce men to their importance and key role in uprooting the underlying causes of vice and degeneracy? These are desires and preoccupation with instincts without control, check and regulation. Muslim leaders have emphatically recommended man to bring his soul to account. Our Infallible Imams (upon whom be peace and blessing) are reported to have said:

ليس منّا من لم يحاسب نفسه كلّ يوم

He who does not take account of himself every single day is not one of us.

Should people abide thereby, they will definitely be able to eliminate their deviation and wrong. Anyhow, if they fail to comply, let us then reconsider, criticize and bring our souls to account once a year at least. And let it be the Day of ‘Arafah, the ninth of Dhu al-Hijjah. For it is the day on which millions of people come together on a common platform from different countries, no matter whether they are rich or poor, black or white, eastern or western, etc. All are equal and all turn to their Lord the One, imploring Him with various tongues and different languages, turning to Him in repentance and asking Him to forgive what they have committed and to open for them a new white page so that they may fill it with good deeds and righteous acts.

Imam Husayn (upon whom be peace and blessing) refers to the ‘internationality’ of this day in his holy supplication on the Day of ‘Arafah thus:

فإليك عجّت الأصوات بصنوف اللغات

So to You alone did the voices cry out for help with different languages.

It is not a day specific to the Muslims, or rather, it is a day on which the entirety of humanity turns to God in repentance, so they may free themselves from misery, misfortune and wretched life which they undergo owing to their disregard for God the Blessed. As the Holy Qur’an says:

وَمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَن ذِكْرِي فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنكًا وَنَحْشُرُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَعْمَى، قَالَ رَبِّ لِمَ حَشَرْتَنِي أَعْمَى وَقَدْ كُنتُ بَصِيرًا، قَالَ كَذَلِكَ أَتَتْكَ آيَاتُنَا فَنَسِيتَهَا وَكَذَلِكَ الْيَوْمَ تُنسَى

But he who turns away from my remembrance, his shall be a wretched life, and on the Day for Resurrection We shall raise him blind. He will say: ‘My Lord! Why have you raised me blind, though I used to see? He will say: So it is. Our signs came to you, but you forgot them, and thus you will be forgotten today (20: 124-126).

Should all humans seek good and welfare for themselves, they will have to unite their voices with millions of voices by the Mountain of Mercy in ‘Arafat. It is reported that God shall answer the prayers of whomever stands and stays at ‘Arafat, undertaking the hajj. Imam al-Baqir (upon whom be peace and blessing) is reported to have said:<

ما يقف على تلك الجبال برّ ولا فاجر إلاّ استجاب الله له. فأمّا البرّ فيستجاب له في أخرته ودنياه، وأمّا الفاجر فيستجاب له في دنياه.

No one stands on those mountains, the virtuous one and the vicious one, except that God shall answer his prayer. As for the virtuous one, his prayers will be answered in the Hereafter and in this world. As for the vicious one, however, his prayers will be answered in this world.

In light of this, if we join our prayers, supplications and beseeches, Almighty God will answer them all at once, and far be it from God that He answer in part, such that He answers some of them and refuses some others. All peoples stand in need of this element, that is God the Blessed, for He is the Creator and the possessor of mercy, highness and pardon, in which case they will keep away form their selfishness and narrow-mindedness that have given rise to much wretchedness and misery. As the Holy Qur’an remarks:

قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَعِظُكُم بِوَاحِدَةٍ أَن تَقُومُوا لِلَّهِ مَثْنَى وَفُرَادَى ثُمَّ تَتَفَكَّرُوا

Say, ‘I give you just a single advice: that you rise up for Allah’s sake, in twos, or individually, and then reflect (34:46).

فَلَوْلاَ كَانَتْ قَرْيَةٌ آمَنَتْ فَنَفَعَهَا إِيمَانُهَا إِلاَّ قَوْمَ يُونُسَ لَمَّآ آمَنُواْ كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمْ عَذَابَ الخِزْيِ فِي الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا وَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَى حِينٍ

Why has there not been any town that might believe, so that its belief might benefit it, except the people of Jonah? When they believed, We removed from them the punishment of disgrace in the life of this world, and We gave them comfort for a while (10:98).

As for us, the followers of the Prophet’s.

Household (upon whom be peace and blessing), we have sufficient recommendations and guidelines. We have, for example, the supplication of Imam Husayn (upon whom be peace and blessing) on the Day of ‘Arafah, and the supplication of Imam al-Sajjad (upon whom be peace and blessing) on the Day of ‘Arafah, on repentance, on noble traits of character, etc. The eminent gnostics owe their knowledge to Imam Husayn’s supplication (upon whom be peace and blessing) on the Day of ‘Arafah. And why shouldn’t it be so since it has been uttered by the master of the gnostics and the son of the master of the gnostics.

One of the companions of Imam Husayn (upon whom be peace and blessing) described his holy state when he set out for prayer thus: We were with Imam Husayn (upon whom be peace and blessing) in the evening of ‘Arafah (the ninth of Dhu al-Hijjah), when he came out of his tent, humbly and submissively. He started to walk slowly until he stood with a number of his family members, children and servants at the left side of the Mountain, facing the qiblah. Thereafter, he raised his hands opposite to his face, and started to praise and glorify God the Blessed until he said:

اللهم اجعلني أخشاك كأنّي أراك، وأسعدني بتقواك، ولا تشقني بمعصيتك، وخر لي في قضائك، وبارك لي في قدرك، حتّى لا أحبّ تعجيل ما أخرت، ولا تأخير ما عجّل... اللهم أجعلنا في هذا الوقت ممن سألك فأعطيته، وشكرك فزدته، وتاب إليك فقبلته، وتنصّل إليك من ذنوبه كلّها فغفرتها له يا ذا الجلال والإكرام... كيف يستدل عليك بما هو في وجوده مفتقر إليك؟ أيكون لغيرك من الظهور ما ليس لك حتى يكون هو المظهر لك؟ متى غبت حتى تحتاج إلى دليل يدلّ عليك؟ ومتى بعدت حتى تكون الآثار هي التي توصل إليك؟ عميت عين لا تراك عليها رقيباً، وخسرت صفقة عبر لم تجعل له من حبّك نصيباً.

O God, cause me to fear You as if I were seeing You, give me felicity through piety toward You, make me not wretched by disobedience toward You, choose the best for me by Your determination, that I may not love the hastening of what You have delayed, nor the delaying of what You have hastened. O God, place us in this hour among those who ask of You and to whom You give, who thank You and whom You increase, who turn to You in repentance and whom You accept, and who renounce all of their sins before You and whom You forgive, O Lord of majesty and splendour.

Let  us then turn to Almighty God with reflection, individually and collectively, in the mosques and at home, that God the Blessed may look at all the areas of the world and see how the voices of need for His mercy and kindness have risen, so that He may deliver mankind from their ignorance, egoism, misguidance, confusion and transgression, Based on this, man must ask God’s forgiveness from what he has committed, make up his mind not to do it again, endeavour to make up for all the sins and crime perpetrated against the others, and undertake to perform more righteous acts to make amends for his bad behaviour and evil intentions. This is the real purport of repentance as recommended by the Commander of the Faithful ‘Ali b. Abi Talib (upon whom be peace and blessing).

In Nahj al-Blaghah, it is reported that some said استغفر الله (I seed God’s forgiveness) before the Commander of the Faithful ‘Ali (upon whom be peace and blessing). So he said to him:

ثكلتك أمّك، أتدري ما الاستغفار؟ الاستغفار درجة العليين وهو اسم واقع على ستّة معان: أوّلها الندم على ما مضى. والثاني العزم على ترك العود إليه أبداً. والثالث أن تؤدي إلى المخلوقين حقوقهم حتى تلقى الله أملس ليس عليك تبعة. والرابع أن تعمد إلى كل فريضة عليك ضيّعتها فتؤدي حقّها. والخامس أن تعمد إلى اللحم الذي نبت على السحت فتذيبه بالأحزان حتّى تلصق الجلد بالعظم وينشأ بينهما لحم جديد. والسادس أن تذيق الجسم ألم الطاعة كما أذقته حلاوة المعصية، فعند ذلك تقول: أستغفر الله.

May your mother mourn for you! Do you know what is istighfar (asking forgiveness)? Verily, istighfar is a degree of six dimensions. First is remorse over the past. Second, the resolution not to return to it ever. Third, to return to the creatures their rights (usurped in the past) so that you meet Almighty God in such a state of purity that no one has a claim against you. Fourth, that you fulfill every duty that has been neglected by you in order to satisfy your obligation in respect of it. Fifth, that you attend to the flesh of your body that had grown on unlawful nourishment so that it melts away as  a result of grief and mourning and the skin adheres to the bones, after which new flesh grows there between. Six, that you make your body taste the pain of obedience in the same way as it tasted earlier the pleasure of sinfulness. When you have done these things, then say: I seek God’s forgiveness.

The Holy Lawgiver has strongly laid stress on the gathering of people from all over the world on the Day of ‘Arafah for the sake of prayer and repentance. Imam al-Sadiq (upon whom be peace and blessing) is reported to have said:

في يوم عرفة يجتمعون الناس بغير إمام في الأمصار يدعون الله عزّ وجلّ.

On the Day of ‘Arafah people come together from (different) countries without an Imam, praying to God, Glorified and Exalted be He.

Furthermore, we have to pray to God for other’s welfare and good, especially our needy, weak and oppressed brothers. It is narrated by one of the companions of the Imams (upon whom be peace and blessing) that he said thus: I saw ‘Abd Allah b. Jundub at ‘Arafat Mount... stretching his hands towards the sky, while his tears were flowing on his cheeks to the earth. When people left, I said: O Abu Muhammad! I have not seen a position better than yours. He said: By God, I prayed for my brothers and nothing else. For Abu Hasan Musa b.Ja’far (upon whom be peace and blessing) told me that he who prays (to God) for his brother behind his back, he will be called from under the Throne: And you shall have one hundred thousand times as much as his. So I disliked to cast aside one hundred thousand guaranteed prayers in return for one of which I do not know whether it will be answered or not.

Moreover, the Day of ‘Arafah precedes the Day of ‘Id (the Feast of Immolation), so we are required to prepare the prerequisites for the reception of divine good, mercy and bounty. To put it differently, we must purify our souls from vices and desires and declare forgiveness and repentance on the Day of ‘Arafah, so that they will be a place ready for receiving divine gifts on the Day of ‘Id.

يا أيّها الذين آمنوا استجيبوا لله وللرسول إذا دعاكم لما يحييكم واعلموا أن الله يحول بين المرء وقلبه وأنّه إليه تحشرون.

O you who have faith! Answer God and the Apostle when he summons you to that which will give you life. Know that God intervenes between a man and his heart and that toward Him you will be mustered (8: 24).

قال يا قوم أرأيتم إن كنت على بيّنة من ربّي ورزقني منه رزقاً حسناً وما أريد أن أخالفكم إلى ما أنهاكم عنه إن أريد إلا الإصلاح ما استطعت وما توفيقي إلاّ بالله عليك توكّلت وإليه أنيب.

He said, ‘O my people! Have you considered, should I stand on a manifest proof from my Lord, who has provided me a good provision from Himself? I do not wish to oppose you by what I forbid you. I only desire to put things in order, as far as I can, and my success lies only with God: in Him I have put my trust, and to Him I turn penitently (11:88).


Muhammad al-Yaqoobi

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