I was Born Today

I seek refuge in Allah from Satan the outcast

Praise be to Allah, we thank Him, we seek His aid and we ask for His forgiveness.  We seek the protection of Allah from our bad souls and deeds.  Whom Allah guides, no one can astray and whom He astray, no one can guide.  I testify that there is No god but ALLAH, and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.  Oh Allah, have mercy on Muhammad and those related to Muhammad just that Thou had on Ibrahim and those related to Ibrahim; surly Thou art the Praiseworthy, the Great.  Oh Allah, bestow your blessing on Muhammad and those related to Muhammad as Thou had bestowed it on Ibrahim and those related to Ibrahim; surly Thou art the Praiseworthy, the Great.

Thus, I ask Allah, the Exalted to make this gathering a blessed one and protect our apart after it and doesn't make anyone of us or around us miserable or deprived.  Oh Allah, have mercy and forgiveness about what You know and guide us and be generous, Praise to the Pride and Generous. 

He said:  "I don't have a name, I was born today". 

This was the last word said by Mr. Harbi ....  Do you know his story?

He said: "I am a father of five kids, I used to work as a truck driver and as the truck drivers are used to, one would come and tell another to take something and claim that it will make him drive well and stay up all night." All of you all know this trend. 

A bad gang surrounded him and urged him to take some narcotic and don't be afraid of doing so, and they claimed that such a narcotic would make him more active and vital.   

He said:  "That was the beginning.  I stayed on drugs for twenty years.  It ruined my life.  I used to beat my wife in front of my kids.  I turned into a man without a soul and without any feelings whatsoever.  My wife did her best to help me to quit drugs but it was not possible." 

Then, he sat crying when he remembered this situation and said: " I can never forget that day when I was sitting with visiting neighbors and my son came in and told me that I forgot to take drugs this day and he got me a piece of drug and gave it to me"   

In this moment, I sat with myself for a little bit and felt the humiliation of the sin ..... After the guests left, a daughter and a son of mine came in and told me:  "for how long will you keep on living in this mess, Dad?  I was so much moved by their words but this had been the case for twenty years and it would be very difficult for me to change.  

I started to try..... I got to know good people who kept on telling me not to give up and who encouraged me to go for pilgrimage with them that year.  And it happened.... 

He was narrating that while he was standing on the Mercy Mountain on Arafah day , he felt that he went through a detoxification process that all the poisons in his body and heart were gone.  He felt he was purified. 

That's why he said: 

Oh by Allah, I am now a new person.  I really feel that I was born today, on the day of Arafah

 To be Continued ... Release from Hellfire

The First Virtue: The day where Allah perfected His religion and completed His favors upon us

It was Agreed upon on behalf of Omar Ibn Al Khattab, May Allah blesse him that a Jewish man said:  Oh prince of believer, there is a verse in your book if it descended on the Jews; we would have considered it as a celebration.  He said:  which verse?  The Jewish said: "This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion."Al-Maeda:3.  Omar said:  We knew that day as well as the place where it descended on the prophet peace upon him, The day was Friday in Arafa."  Narrated by At-Termethei on behalf of Ibn Abbas.   

He meant to tell him that if this Ayah descended on them, they would have a big celebration and feast. 

And it is our Eid, as narrated in the Hadith, that Arafat day is Eid. The Eid doesn't start on the day of slaughtering followed by the days of Tashriq. On the contrary,  the day of Arafat is one of the Eid's days. 

Narrated by Abu Dawud and Annesaei and classified as sahih (correct) by Al Albani that the prophet peace be upon him said:  "The day of , days of Attashriq and the day of Slaughtering, are our Eid.. people of Islam.. and these are days remarkable for  eating and drinking". Said by Sunnah people except Ibn Majah modified by Abu Dawud (241/9) and At-Termedhi (773) and Annesaei (252/5) and Ahmad (605/28).   

The Duty:

Since Eid was where Allah perfected our religion and blessings, we should have two worships:  Gratitude and happiness.

We should be happy by God's mercy and kindness and be happy that we reached that day.  Witness that this big day is the day of freedom from hellfire in your life. 

If you reach it, then this is one of the best blessings.  When you are happy, your heart will feel the love of the Most Merciful.  You are happy because of His mercy and kindness.

You will feel that the blessings are descending as well as that  you don't deserve them. When you thank your lord "Oh Allah, praise be to You", you will feel the happiness in your heart.  Praise be to Allah, Praise be to Allah.  These are the words that you will be saying and nothing else.  If you want to say something else, you will say Praise be to Allah for the blessing of Islam and suffice as a blessing. You will say Praise be to Allah for enabling us to say there is no God but Allah.  Praise be to Allah who had no son and no partner in His possession and Allah who is the Greatest. 

Say �Allah is the Greatest' and I will tell why we need to say that?

The day of Arafah is a great day. We should glorify Allah in it. It has great blessings that we need to thank Allah for.  If you instill these meanings in your heart, your heart will be purified from the inside out and will be completely clean.  Once the love of the Most Merciful is inside your heart, it will be fully occupied.   

So, your practical duty  is to dedicate a time in your day to praise, thank, glorify Allah the all Mighty and especially make lots of supplication at that day.   

Enumerating praise on Allah is one of the reasons for supplication to be raised and accepted by Him.  I cannot enumerate Your praise.  Oh Allah, I don't know what to say.  I see myself as a sinner and criminal.  I am the one who disobeyed Allah's commands. I am the one whom You ordered and I disobeyed. Here I am blessed  from the day of my creation till the end.  Your bounties never stopped despite my sins.  Oh Lord, Praisebe  all to You and to You all return.   

 To be Continued ... Thank Allah, You're a Muslim

Allah swore by the day of Arafah in the quran two times. This shows the greatness of the day.

1-      The first oath Allah made was in Surat Al-Burooj  (The Mansions of the stars ) and we will stop at the benefits of every point in the verses. 

2-      The Second oath was made in surat el Fajr

The First Oath.. (The Mansions of the stars  - Al-Burooj ) 

Allah the all Mighty said: "By the heavens holding the big stars and by the promised day (i.e. the day of resurrection), and by the witnessing day (i.e. Friday and by the witnessed day, the day of Arafat, (Hajj), and the ninth of Dhul Hijja) Cursed were the people of the ditch (the story of the boy and the king.) (Al Buruj: 1-4) 

Al-Burooj: Stars and Planets

Al Buruj means all the stars and planets. We find in the stars the meaning of glittering, light and height. Don't you think so? What meaning do the heavens have?  Allah swears by the heaven because it is a great thing but why the heavens? Why didn't He say the heaven only like when He said: "By the heaven and Atariq, (the night comer, i.e. the bright star.) No, He said here "By the heaven, holding the big stars" that have the bright stars. 

The promised day: The day of resurrection day   

The promised day means the day of resurrection according to Abu Hurairah, may Allah bless him, that the prophet, peace be upon him, said: "The promised day is the day of resurrection; the witnessing is the Friday." Narrated by Termethei and classified as correct by Al Albani. 

What is the connection between the four?

When Allah says: "By the heaven holding big stars" .The Night, The Illumination and the Altitude.  He all Mighty swears that this happened as if like you saying: "By Allah, By Allah, by Allah "cursed were the people of the ditch". 

He all Mighty swears by what He wants of His creations and universe. He swears by the heaven, by the day of resurrection, by Friday and by the day of Arafat that the people of the ditch were killed.

Can anyone see the connection between these meanings?  

Height, sublimity and light.  Aren't there people who will pass by the straight path like the bright planet (Who are those?). Those are people of high grades, people of heaven, people of sublimity on the day of resurrection. What did they do?  Allah swore by those two days because they're the best days of the week and year. The greatest day of the week is Friday and the greatest day of the year where sins are forgiven is the day of Arafat. Isn't it true?  

The witnessed is the day of Arafat which is the day of freedom from hellfire so how do you get there?  This needs diligence and sacrifice................ Did you get the equation? Or do you need me to repeat?  

Duty: Reaching Sublimity

Do you need to reach sublimity, want to be amongst the people with the complete light in the day of resurrection. This needs: 

Then we need to sacrifice...Wondering what are you willing to sacrifice? 

Would you sacrifice by your life?  Time? Or what?  What are you willing to sell ?  Yourself? Allah is buying, are you selling?  "Selling his soul so freeing it from hellfire".

Whoever is selling is the one who will be freed from the hellfire in the Day of Arafat.  You need to do something.  Give a big charity.  We need something practical today, do not sleep tonight till dawn.   

Hold up your Quran on that day and I swear to God that you can read it completely and finish it.  If you usually do not read , read half of it or even just ten parts.  Recite a lot of Quran so as to fill up your whole time on that day.  Don't turn around and say what am I doing tonight,  it is the Eid night and I need to do so and so.  No, leave that and focus it is the Day of Freedom from the hellfire.   

I wish that He only frees me from fire I wish that He forgive me.  Tell me what to do?  I need to do lots of good things during that day.  I am ready to do anything, sacrifice anything, and just free me O' Allah from hellfire.  You need to psychologically prepare yourself for that day. That's what you want on the greatest day of freedom from the hellfire.   

 Source: Born on the Day of Arafah, written by Sheikh Hany Hilmy

 To be Continued ... The Second Oath

Fasting the Day of Arafah expiates two years worth of wrong deeds: The year that passed and the year to come.

Narrated by Imam Muslim according to Abi Qutada, May Allah bless him, that the prophet peace be upon him was asked about fasting the Day of Arafat.  He said:  "It expiates two years, the past year and the coming year."   

Ibn Al Qayem mentioned in Al Zad  book a nice incident. A man told him that he fasted the Day of Arafat and Ashoura with the intention of expiating his sins for sure. He added, the main important thing is to fast the Day of Arafat and Ashoura's then do whatever you want.   

Ibn el Qayem replied:  this is the condition of the person who doesn't know anything about God.  You arranged the reward according to the deeds without looking for acceptance.

That man assumed all his mistakes and sins will be expiated.  But who said that his fasting was accepted?  

There was a man who stayed with us with the intention of E'tekaf  (a form of worship, in which a person remains in seclusion, generally, in a mosque, for sometime )  during the Day of Arafat's night. He was a company manager.  I told him that he should abstain from speech and business discussions. I asked him to turn off his mobile phone too.  He said that he would put it on silent mode for emergency calls only. Then, he received a call and it seemed that the one who called was insulting him. The manager replied that he wouldn't answer him until after Maghrib.  When it was Maghrib time he broke his fasting..  called that man and started insulting him back.  This is not acceptable at all. It contradicts the essence of worshiping Allah in seclusion.  

Yes Arafah is the day where sins will be expiated and we think and expect good from Allah but how would we know that we got accepted? 

The believer does a deed and his heart is worried about acceptance.  "And those who give that (their charity) which they give (and also do other good deeds) with their hearts full with fear (whether their alms and charities, etc. have been accepted or not), because they are sure to return to their Lord (for reckoning)".  Al Mu'minun, 60 

 To be Continued .. Winning the Day of Arafah