2014-10-03 - Friday Prayer - Hafiz Asil Khan

The Significance of Yawm al-Arafah and Yawm al-Nahar

The ninth of Dhul-Hijjah is called Yawm al-Arafah, and the tenth of Dhul-Hijjah is called Yawm al-Nahar. The word Arafah means "to know" — to recognize. Scholars have mentioned different reasons for why this name was given to this day, but two of them are very famous.

The first statement is that when Sayyidina Adam عليه السلام lived in Jannah, and when he was taken out from Jannah — as we all know the story — both he and Sayyidina Hawwa were not together when they were brought to this earth. They were in different spots, different areas. For a certain period of time, they were strangers to each other; they did not see each other. After a certain period of time, their reunion took place and they met again in their life on this earth, and that was the ninth of Dhul-Hijjah. The place where they met, where they were reunited, was Arafat. So because of the "knowing" of each other on this earth, the day is called Yawm al-Arafah, and the place where they met on this earth is called Arafat.

The second statement is that Sayyidina Jibreel عليه السلام was giving training to Sayyidina Ibrahim عليه السلام about Hajj. Each time whenever he would train him, he would ask him, "Did you know this? Did you understand?" And Sayyidina Ibrahim عليه السلام would reply, "Yes, I do understand." Because the word Arafah was mentioned in this conversation, and because of this training that took place, the ninth of Dhul-Hijjah is called Yawm al-Arafah and the place where it happened is called Arafat. These are the two main statements, just for our information.

The Virtues of Yawm al-Arafah

The significance of Yawm al-Arafah — in the hadith of Rasul ﷺ — maybe you have heard from the scholars or you have read in the books. Hazrat Aisha Siddiqa رضي الله تعالى عنها narrates that the Rasul ﷺ said: on Yawm al-Arafah, Allah forgives His servants and delivers them from the fire of Jahannam — innumerable. Compared to any other day, Allah forgives His servants more on this day than any other day.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 15, Hadith 3126)

And especially on this day, Shaitaan is humiliated, Shaitaan is disgraced. There is another statement mentioned that on the Battle of Badr, Shaitaan was humiliated and disgraced — and other than that day, Shaitaan is disgraced and humiliated only on the day of Arafah.

The Hujjaj from all over the world — from our community — they perform Wuquf-e-Arafah, one of the main Rukn of Hajj. May Allah make dua for all of them, may Allah accept their Hajj, and may Allah accept their duas and their Ibadaat. And we make dua for all of us — may Allah bless us all in our life to perform Hajj and the Ziyarat of the Haramayn Sharifayn.

On this particular day, when the Hujjaj stay in Arafah and sincerely ask Allah's forgiveness, they cry out — and Allah says to the angels: "Look at my servants! Look at their love!" SubhanAllah. And Allah says to the angels: "Those who have gathered here, those who are asking forgiveness, those who are sincerely asking for repentance — be witness, I forgive them all. They are forgiven." Allah purifies them. And the angels may say, "There are certain people who used to commit sins, who used to indulge in some kind of evils." And Allah will say: "Be witness — because they are here, and they are asking Allah's forgiveness, they are expressing their love to me — be witness, I forgive them too."

That is the reason the Rasul ﷺ said: the person who performs Hajj and does not indulge in any kind of evil, does not use any indecent language — he returns as a newborn baby. Therefore, Arafah is very important.

And for all those who are not performing Hajj — wherever they live in the world — Allah has given them great opportunities to make Ibadat, to make Tasbeehat:

They will earn a great reward. And also, if they fast on this day, as the Rasul ﷺ said, Allah will forgive their previous year and their coming year.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 2603)

So Yawm al-Arafah is a very important day. The time that has passed — if we could not do a lot, we ask Allah's forgiveness. Whatever remaining time is left, we should take it seriously and ask Allah's forgiveness. May Allah forgive us all.

Yawm al-Nahar — The Day of Sacrifice

The next day is called Yawm al-Nahar — the Day of Sacrifice. Nahar, basically, means that when you slaughter the camel and you hold his neck back and strike him in the neck with a spear — this is called Nahar. Because the camel is slaughtered in this manner, the day of sacrifice is called Yawm al-Nahar.

As we know, the rites of Hajj are related to Sayyidina Ibrahim عليه السلام, and Yawm al-Nahar — the day of Qurbani, the day of sacrifice — is related to Sayyidina Ibrahim عليه السلام as well. This is for us, for our reflection, that we have to learn a lesson from the life of Sayyidina Ibrahim عليه السلام.

And in the Quran, only two personalities are mentioned as the best examples to follow — the excellent models. Two personalities in the Quran:

"Indeed in the life of Rasul ﷺ you have the best example to follow." And the second personality:

"Indeed Ibrahim عليه السلام is the best example, the excellent example to follow." Uswatun Hasanah — Sayyidina Ibrahim عليه السلام and Rasul ﷺ.

Lessons from the Life of Sayyidina Ibrahim

When we look at the life of Sayyidina Ibrahim عليه السلام, it is full of challenges, full of tests and trials. And how he passed all these tests and trials — and he became Khalilullah, the very close friend of Allah. He became Khalilullah. Sayyidina Ibrahim عليه السلام was born in Ur, in Iraq, and migrated to Palestine. Right from the beginning, he had many challenges.

We cannot mention all the stories here, but just to learn the lessons and reflect in our life and implement things — the most important thing, the foundation of all things, is Tawhid — to believe in the unity of Allah. This is the foundation. If there is a lack of Tawhid, a lack of strong belief in the oneness of Allah, all our deeds will not be accepted, they will be defective.

Sayyidina Ibrahim عليه السلام, when he came out of the cave and he saw the star, he said: "Is it my God?" When it disappeared, when it set, he said: "No, no — it cannot be my God." Then the moon — when he observed the moon, brighter than the star, bigger than the star — "Is it my God?" When it set, he said: "No, no. Allah has guided me. My God has guided me. Otherwise I would have gone astray." Then when he saw the sun — brighter than the star and the moon — "Is it my God?" When it disappeared: "I have turned my face towards my Rabb, towards the One who created the heavens and the earth." One by one, he built up a very strong notion, a very strong concept of the oneness of Allah — that these are all creations, these are all Allah's creation, they cannot be worshipped. We all have to worship only One Allah.

Then, very next, he was with his own family. It is mentioned in the Quran — Ibrahim عليه السلام in the book, he was Siddiq al-Nabiy, he was truthful, he was a prophet.

He said to his father — both opinions are well preserved here: Ab means "little father" or "uncle who raised him as a father." Both opinions exist according to scholars, such as Hazrat Mujahid, Hazrat Qatadah, Imam al-Asqalani, and others. Anyhow, look at this: he addressed his own family first. They were worshipping idols. "Father, you are worshipping these idols — they cannot hear, they cannot listen, they cannot benefit you, they cannot harm you." Right from the beginning, it was a great challenge. So he started preaching right from his family first.

This is a lesson for all of us. If we would like to preach — each one of us has a responsibility to perform this duty, this obligation, especially when we live in this society, in this environment — let's start from our homes. Just like Sayyidina Ibrahim, he got up, took serious actions, and started preaching to his own family first.

Then in Surah al-Anbiya (the 17th Juz), the whole story is mentioned. When he went to the town and found the people all worshipping idols — one day when they were at a festival and had gone out, you know the story — he went to the temple and found all the statues, all the idols. He did not say anything to them at first. There was some food in front of them — "Why don't you eat?" When he found no reply, he had an instrument in his hand. He started breaking their necks, cutting their ears, cutting their noses, their arms — demolishing, striking. When they came back and found what had happened, some of them said: "We have seen a young man — his name is Ibrahim — he might have done this, because he is always talking about idols. He's the one. Bring him." And when they had decided, "You are the one," he said: "Ask maybe the bigger one" — he had left his axe on the shoulder of the biggest statue. "Ask him." But they replied: "They cannot talk!" He said: "So woe to you! You are worshipping them — they cannot talk, they cannot harm you, they cannot benefit you, they cannot eat, they cannot drink — and you are worshipping them?"

Ultimately, they decided — Shaitaan came and gave them a suggestion. The suggestion was: "You cannot do nothing to him. Burn him." They agreed. And look at Ibrahim — he trusts in Allah. Jibreel Ameen عليه السلام came when the huge fire was prepared. Jibreel Ameen came and asked: "I can extinguish it, I can make it cool down." Ibrahim عليه السلام said: "My Rabb knows about me. I don't need your help. Allah knows me." This was his trust, that was his love with Allah. And it was said to the fire:

"Be cool and a safety for Ibrahim." He was rescued from this fire. In his heart — the unity of Allah, the love of Allah — that was one challenge that he passed.

The Trial of Sayyidina Ismail

The next great challenge was that Sayyidina Ibrahim عليه السلام kept on asking: "Ya Allah, bless me with a righteous son." He kept on asking. Allah blessed him with a righteous son. When he was able to work with his father — could help him, could assist him — Allah gave him the message that he should sacrifice his own son, who was more beloved to him, more dearer to him, than anyone else, than anything else.

He consulted with his son. He said: "O my son, I have received this commandment. What is your opinion?" This is a lesson for our youth, a lesson for our children. Look at Sayyidina Ismail عليه السلام — he was a young boy — and when the father said to him: "I am going to sacrifice you in the way of Allah. What is your opinion?" And how did he reply?

"O my father, do it — you will find me patient." He was ready, he was prepared. Right now, what happens here — when our parents say something to our children, even if it is because of a mistake the child has made, and the father says something, immediately there is a reaction: "You are going to hurt me? Let me call 911!" These are not the teachings of Sayyidina Ibrahim عليه السلام. This is a lesson for us. Sayyidina Ismail عليه السلام, who was hardly 13 or 14 years old according to some opinions, said: "O my father, do it — you will find me patient." These are the teachings that we have to learn and implement in our life.

Rules and Guidelines for Qurbani

Tomorrow is called the Day of Nahar. The Rasul ﷺ was asked: "Ya Rasul Allah, what is this?" And the Rasul ﷺ replied: "This is the Sunnah of your father Ibrahim عليه السلام — this is a tradition, a Sunnah of your father Ibrahim that we sacrifice animals."

As for the rulings — Imam Abu Hanifa rahmatullah, because of one hadith in which the Rasul ﷺ said: "The person who is able to do sacrifice and is not doing it, he should not approach our Musallah" — based on this hadith, they say Qurbani is wajib upon those who are able, those who are paying Zakat, those who have the Maliki Nisab. Imam al-Shafi'i rahmatullah and Imam Muhammad rahmatullah, according to their understanding of the different ahadith, hold that it is Sunnah Muakkidah. The Rasul ﷺ performed it always. So we have to prepare for that.

The second important thing is: when we sacrifice an animal — whether here or overseas or wherever — the ages must be checked. This is an instruction for us, because this is an Ibadat we are performing, a Sunnah Muakkidah we are performing. The Rasul ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 35, Hadith 1963)

"Do not slaughter any animal other than a Musinnah." Musinnah means those that have reached the required age. The camel must be at least 5 years old; the cow at least 2 years old; the goat or sheep at least 1 year old. However, according to a hadith mentioned, a goat or sheep that is less than 1 year but large in size and looks like 1 year may also be accepted.

Also, the animal must be free from all kinds of defects and faults. Some of them are mentioned very clearly: a horn that is broken, teeth that are broken, a tail that is cut more than one third of its size, or an animal so thin that its bones are visible — these must be checked.

At the same time, it is one of the most preferable, the Masnun and Mustahab way, that when you slaughter the animal, the meat be divided into three portions: one portion for the household, one portion for family members or friends, and one portion for the needy. This is the preferable way, although you may give it all away or keep it all — but this is the better manner.

Also, you may perform the sacrifice on behalf of yourself, on behalf of your parents who have passed away. The Rasul ﷺ used to sacrifice on behalf of his entire Ummah. And it is also highly valuable to do one on behalf of the Rasul ﷺ. So there are some basics that when we perform our obligations, we should check even the smallest details so that we can perform this obligation in the best way.

May Allah forgive me and you and all the believers.

Du'a

Eid Announcements

Brothers and sisters, quick announcements for this week inshallah.

As you know, we have Eid this Saturday. We have three prayers arranged for you:

• The first prayer is at 7:45 AM
• The second is at 9:15 AM
• The third is at 10:45 AM

We have some parking guidelines for this weekend. We will have numerous people coming. We have some additional parking arranged. There will be no parking at the Crystal Banquet Hall area — the Spring Creek area where we normally park on Fridays. Also, please listen to the people directing traffic on that day.

We will have parking at St. Elizabeth Church, at the intersection of Spring Creek and Independence, behind the Texaco — that is the first satellite parking. The second satellite parking is at Jack Carter.

If you are half an hour early, there is a potential you will find parking here and in the parking behind McDonald's. If you are on time or even 15 minutes before the prayers, you will not find parking in these lots — please proceed to the satellite locations.

We have four buses arranged that will run periodically for the entire duration of the three prayers. Please proceed in a timely fashion and board the buses.

Also, there will be no Sunday school on October 5th. It is closed on that day.