Thoughts from ‘Arafah

23/09/2015| IslamWeb

O ‘Arafah! O symbol of the Muslim nation, many are the crowds that stood on your grounds; many are the tears that were shed on your sands; many are the people that got acquainted on your lands; many are the races that blended within your borders; many are the humble whose supplications were answered; and many are the tyrants who were rejected. How many hearts have embraced here, how many grievances were relieved here, and how many sins were forgiven? The tears of sinners mixed with your sand, and the voices seeking forgiveness embraced in your space. Wishes and intentions are sincere for the sake of Allah, and the dwellers of the earth surrendered to the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

O Muslims, your enemies’ hearts are boiling with hatred! They bite their fingertips at you in rage and envy! Allah Almighty Says (what means):{Neither those who disbelieve from the People of the Scripture nor the polytheists wish that any good should be sent down to you from your Lord. But Allah selects for His mercy whom He wills, and Allah is the possessor of great bounty.} [Quran 2:105] They wish to eliminate religion so that people would follow their passion, ruin would spread everywhere and no religion would be honored, no certitude would be strong and no succession in the land would be established.

How did our violence among ourselves become so severe, and our hope to return to the pure source of goodness become so weak?

Dear loved ones! The One who Has Commanded you to recite Talbiyah so you did, to perform Hajj so you did, and to stand here (on ‘Arafah) so you did, is the same One who Says (what means): {And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war…} [Quran 8:60], and arm yourselves with piety, for whoever wishes to attain wealth without money and honor without a high status and veneration without sovereignty, should fear Allah.

Allah Almighty inevitably humiliates those who disobey Him.

Remember well the advice of your Prophet one thousand four hundred years ago on the Day of Sacrifice in Mina, declaring, advising and warning:

Verily! Your blood, property and honor are sacred to one another (i.e. Muslims) like the sanctity of this day of yours, in this month of yours and in this city of yours. It is incumbent upon those who are present to inform those who are absent because those who are absent might comprehend (what I have said) better than the present audience. Do not return to disbelief after me, striking each other’s necks." [Al-Bukhari]

Remember this advice well, and note that the nation which indulges in disobedience and deviates from the path of Allah will surely collapse. Contemplate the advice of ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allah Be Pleased with him, to Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqaas – the champion of the Battle of Al-Qaadisiyyah and the one who received glad tidings of Paradise – when Sa‘d was going to the battle:

O Sa‘d! Do not deceive yourself into thinking that you hold a sublime position with Allah because it is said that you are the maternal uncle of the Messenger of Allah and his companion; for Allah Almighty Does not erase the bad deed with its parallel, but He Erases the bad deed with the good one. O Sa‘d! There is no lineage between Allah and His servants except obedience to Him. All the people, whether noble or humble, are equal in the sight of Allah. They are His slaves and He is their Lord. They take precedence according to piety, and they attain His favors through obedience to Him.

So, let your hearts be thoughtful in dealing with the believers, and be wild beasts in dealing with the enemies of your religion.

Dear loved ones! Have you forgotten the anger of your Prophet when he vowed that the Jews would not spend one more night in Al-Madeenah, and he fulfilled his vow? Have you forgotten the anger of the calm and gentle Abu Bakr, may Allah Be Pleased with him, when he roared, saying: “I swear by Allah, if they withhold from me a rope which they used to pay to the Messenger of Allah, I would surely fight them for it.”

Have you forgotten the anger of Noor Ad-Deen when Al-Aqsa fell into the hands of the Crusaders. He remained sad, and when he was asked: “Why do you not smile?” He replied: “I am ashamed in front of Allah to smile whilst Al-Aqsa is captured by the enemy!”

Now, O loved ones, when are we going to be moved by the burned copies of the Quran, the destroyed mosques, the violated honor, innocent children trampled on, and tears flowing in Jerusalem, Kashmir, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Eritrea, Somalia and other places?

We need a serious nation in word and deed; a nation which speaks, keeps peace, fights, and takes decisions according to sound knowledge; a nation which is neither frivolous nor heedless. Yahya ibn Mu‘aath, may the Mercy of Allah be upon him, said:

The hearts are like pots boiling with what exists in the chests, and the tongues are their scoops. Wait till a man speaks, then his tongue will inform you about what is in his heart, whether it is sweet, sour, fresh or salty, his tongue will tell you about the taste of his heart.

‘Adi ibn Haatim At-Taa’i, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

We came to ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allah Be Pleased with him, in a delegation (during his caliphate). He started calling the men one by one, calling each by his name. (As he did not call me early) I said to him. "Do you not know me, O Commander of the Believers?" He said, "Yes, you embraced Islam when they (i.e. your people) disbelieved; you have come (to the Truth) when they ran away; you fulfilled your promises when they broke theirs; and you recognized it (i.e. the Truth of Islam) when they denied it."

On that, ‘Adi said, "Then I do not care (meaning if Allah has blessed me with these virtues, then I do not care no matter what happens afterwards).” [Al-Bukhari] This is his source of pride, his capital and the basis of his personality.

Such perception is not perceivable to those who are heavily attached to the earth where all their ambitions exist, fearing only for their money, desires, comfort and interests.