'Arafah | Mufti Azeemuddin

Opening Supplications

The following Quranic verses from Surah al-Baqarah were recited as an opening:

Respected elders, brothers and sisters and dear listeners, Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

The Greatest Day of the Year

We thank Allah for allowing us to witness this blessed day of Arafah, this Eid for the Muslims — the greatest day for us of the entire year.

A Jewish person once came to Umar ibn al-Khattab and mentioned to him: "You have in your book such a verse — we are envious of that verse. If that verse were to be given to us in our scripture, and if we were to know what day and what place it was revealed, most definitely we would have made that our biggest celebration of the year. That would have been the most amazing thing for us — to know that such a verse has been revealed in our book, in our scripture."

So Umar asked, "What verse are you speaking about?" And he mentioned that it is the verse of Surah al-Ma'idah, wherein Allah says:

"Today I have completed your deen, and I have fulfilled and completed My blessing upon you, and I have chosen Islam as your religion — I have chosen this as your way of life."

This ayah is so conclusive. It shows that there are no more additions and subtractions from this final version, this final edition of the Book of Allah. From all the books and all the scriptures, this is the very last and very final one. And the Jewish man said, "Had we received this type of bishara — this type of glad tidings — we would have been so happy."

So Umar ibn al-Khattab responded to this Jewish person: "Verily, we do know exactly when and where this verse was revealed. This verse was revealed on the day of Arafah, and it was revealed on the day of Jumu'ah. It was Arafah, it was the day of Jumu'ah, during the time of Rasulullah ﷺ's Hajj. And we know exactly in the plain of Arafah where it was, when the Prophet ﷺ received these verses as a revelation."

And hence, most definitely for us, this day is the biggest day of the year. Umar was saying: it's not like we don't appreciate this — thanks but no thanks. We appreciate it. You don't need to tell us that. We already understand that the greatest day of the entire year for the Muslims is this day of Arafah. Especially when it coincides with Jumu'ah — on top of that, Jumu'ah itself is Eid, and then Arafah is the Eid of Eid.

Dear friends, this is one of many historical aspects of this day. That this is a day — just one of the incidents of this day — was something that even the Jews were coveting us for and were wishing that they had. From amongst the many, many blessings that have taken place on this day.

Allah's Chosen Times

Allah chooses however He wants, whatever He wants. You know in the lottery — in such-and-such a number, if you win, you get a jackpot. A hundred million other numbers mean nothing. But if you have six consecutive numbers, then you get three hundred million. What is it about those numbers? There's nothing inherently great about them. It's just that the computer generated them and said: okay, for today, these are the winning numbers. And you don't have to argue with the wisdom — they are the winning numbers. If your numbers match that number, you got it.

Allah is the Creator of time. He says:

He created time. Allah created all aspects of time. He says:

He takes an oath on the early morning. He takes an oath on:

The dawn. He takes an oath on:

The night. Allah takes an oath on الشَّمْسِ وَالْقَمَرِ — the sun and the moon, from which time is set. All of these things are the creation of Allah, who is above and beyond this construct and this makhluq.

So He has chosen Ramadan as a blessed month. He has chosen Jumu'ah as a blessed day. He has chosen the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah as blessed days. He has chosen the last ten nights of Ramadan as blessed nights — and so on.

So He has chosen Arafah as the winning lottery. And the amazing thing is that Arafah is not something hidden. If I'm not mistaken, Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned something beautiful — that the nights of Ramadan, which one is Laylatul Qadr? We are not aware. So maybe a person had work on the odd nights or the even nights. He needed to worship and he did ibadah as much as he could. But the actual Night of Power, he missed it because he had to go to work or he got sick — his son or daughter was sick, whatever the case may be. He missed it, and he didn't know. It was that night.

But this is something so unique about Arafah — there is no ambiguity. There is only one day, and that is the ninth of Dhul Hijjah, which you and I are coming to the end of. So there is no chance of missing it. If a person has even a small amount of yaqeen and iman, he or she will prepare well in advance for this day — sleep the day before, if possible, take off from work, and dedicate the entire day to digging, digging, digging and amassing ibadah.

Alhamdulillah, may Allah bless and reward all of us for whatever effort we did. Our mashayikh here — Mawlana Yaqub, Mawlana Farhan, the students, and Mufti Ibn Hajj — they did a lot of work in producing the writings and articles on the virtues of these days and nights. And I'm thinking: usually Allah has blessed us to travel to the Haramayn for so many years, and way before the masjid opened, this is the first time we're here. So I never thought about it too much, but after reading and reflecting, I said, SubhanAllah, this type of program — we should have it the day before, and then the day of, it should be just du'a. Collective du'a, maybe a little bit of talk. But so much apathy and ignorance surrounds the virtue of this day. People don't get it. By Allah, if we knew it, the ummah would have taken the day off, rested well the day before, and spent this day 100% in every single moment begging and beseeching and seeking Allah's help, assistance, and du'a.

The Farewell Khutbah of the Prophet ﷺ

Dear friends, this day of Arafah is the day where Rasulullah ﷺ delivered his very famous farewell khutbah — the one many of us have hanging in our homes. The final Hajj khutbah that Rasulullah ﷺ gave signaled the end of his years on earth. Very soon after, just a few months later, Nabi ﷺ passed away.

In that beautiful, powerful khutbah, the Prophet ﷺ mentioned a few points. One of the things he mentioned — including in his last final words as he left this world — was:

(The final words of the Prophet ﷺ — reported in Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 26986, and other collections)

The Rights of Those Under Our Care

Two things are mentioned in the Khutbah Hajjat al-Wada' as well: take care of your prayer, and take care of your slaves and those subordinate to you. Let's talk about the second one first.

The one who has been instructed to take care of even a slave during those days — you think he will not take care of his employee? His son and daughter? His relative, an orphan under his care, his wife, his daughter, his parents? If we have been given this as the final parting advice of the Prophet ﷺ, then make sure we take care of them. Make sure they are not standing up against us on the Day of Judgment. And then what about everyone else — all other human beings who we do not claim any type of ownership over?

So basically, وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ includes حُقُوقُ الْعِبَادِ — all the rights of servants. The fulfillment of the rights of servants is a huge component of our success in our deen. Without that, we can't go anywhere.

And we know that even the shaheed on the Day of Judgment — his soul is مُعَلَّق, suspended. It is not able to ascend to the heavens until his debts are cleared. The Prophet ﷺ — how many times he would ask before performing the funeral prayer: "Are there debts on this person? If there are debts, I'm backing off. I'm not going to perform the salatul janazah." The greatest source of forgiveness, Rasul ﷺ, is present. He loves his ummah more than anyone else — but he says, "I'm not going to get involved. This is between you and him." He would ask, "Does this person owe anything?" And at times, companions would stand up and say, "Ya Rasulullah, we don't know what he owes, but whoever has a claim against him, come to me." Imagine the companionship and brotherhood between the sahaba. Someone's passed away — "How can I allow him to go buried without Rasul ﷺ performing his salatul janazah?" He would say, "Whoever has a claim, come to me." When Nabi ﷺ was assured that all the debts were taken care of, then he would stand up and perform the salatul janazah.

The Sanctity of a Muslim's Honor, Wealth, and Life

The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1739; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1679)

"His wealth, his honor, and his life are haram." The Prophet ﷺ said that just like this day is sacred — he asked the companions: "What day is this? What city is this? What place are we in?" Of course, you think the companions didn't know where they were standing or what day it was? They knew. But what was their answer? اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَعْلَمُ — "Allah and His Messenger know best." As if to say: "If you tell me it's Tuesday, that's it, it's Tuesday. If you tell me I'm sitting in a football field, then that's what it is. I am ready to deny whatever my eyes see, what my mind tells me, what my senses tell me — whatever the Prophet ﷺ declares, that is the truth." SubhanAllah. That is why the sahaba were the sahaba — that was the level of submission they had to the Prophet ﷺ. No questions asked in front of the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ.

So the Prophet ﷺ highlighted that this is Dhul Hijjah, this is the ninth of Dhul Hijjah, this is Arafah — and he wanted to make them realize how sacred a month they were in, how sacred a day they were in, and how sacred a place they were standing in. And then he connected that with the honor, the wealth, and the life of a believer: just like all of this is sacred, the honor, the blood, and the health of a Muslim is even more sacred than that.

Nabi ﷺ is going around the Ka'bah doing tawaf, and he looks at the Ka'bah and says: "How blessed you are, O Ka'bah. How beautiful you are, O Ka'bah. How beloved you are, O Ka'bah." And then he says: "O Ka'bah, but remember — as blessed, as beloved, as beautiful, as fragrant as you are, the honor of one Muslim is greater than you." Meaning: desecrating the Ka'bah — which none of us can even imagine — breaking it down, which is a horror, a nightmare to think of. We don't even put our feet towards the Ka'bah even though we are fifteen thousand miles away. In our bedrooms, in our bathrooms, we ensure we are not facing or turning our backs to the Ka'bah, even though we have thousands of barriers between us and the Ka'bah.

Nabi ﷺ is telling that same Ka'bah: as blessed as you are, the honor of a Muslim is superior to you. Meaning the breaking of one Muslim's heart, in the eyes of Allah, is a bigger catastrophe than the breaking of the Ka'bah. The price a person has to pay for hurting a Muslim, for backstabbing a Muslim, for speaking ill about a Muslim, for breaking the heart of a Muslim, for usurping his money — based on this hadith — is a worse crime than were one to desecrate the Ka'bah. Something for us to absorb and understand.

In the eyes of Allah, what is the value of one Muslim? Let us not take each other for granted. No matter how someone may look evil to you, or weak, or sinful — if he has the kalima لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ in his heart, then you and I do not know his status in the eyes of Allah. And the ones who do not have the kalima in their hearts — you do not know when they will be gifted it.

A Scholar Who Passed Away on the Day of Arafah

Today I heard the sad news of the passing of yet another scholar. A scholar of Madinah al-Munawwarah — Shaykh Zia ur-Rahman al-A'zami, from India. He passed away. One of the great giants of Madinah al-Munawwarah and one of the main heads of the departments there at the Islamic University of Madinah. He had been there for many, many decades, and his dedication to knowledge was so recognized that although he was from India, he received honorary Saudi citizenship — and you know how difficult that is. He was the Dean of the Faculty of Hadith. He wrote entries in the Mawsu'ah al-Qur'aniyyah — the Qur'an encyclopedia — using over 200 books, totaling 20 volumes, and he compiled within it 16,000 hadith without repeating a single hadith more than once.

What is amazing about this Shaykh Zia ur-Rahman? He was originally a Brahmin Hindu. He accepted Islam at the age of 16. And this is the status Allah gave him. On the day of Arafah, he passed away in Madinah al-Munawwarah, and he was buried that day in Jannatul Baqi'. SubhanAllah.

You do not know who goes where in life — that's what I'm saying. You do not know if someone is not a Muslim today: it might be a Hindu, a Christian, a Jew, or an Atheist. We have no idea where they're going to end up. But in the end, they're still a makhluq of Allah. They are a human being. And we have to ensure that we respect and honor all of them. This is a very important message of the Hajjatul Wada'.

The Rights of Women

In the Khutbah Hajjat al-Wada', Rasulullah ﷺ specifically mentioned:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5185; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1468)

"Take care of your women — take this advice from me." The Prophet ﷺ devoted a big portion of the Hajjatul Wada' khutbah to human rights: the rights of women, the rights of children, the rights of all humans. And this is amazing at a time when there was no concept of this. The most important khutbah of Rasulullah ﷺ's life — the one preserved by all of us, found hanging in masajid and homes more than any other — and its major portion is about human rights. It is about حُقُوق of humans, حُقُوق of each other.

The Rights of One Another — Huquq al-'Ibad

That is the key important point I want to mention, my dear friends — there is a deficiency in my life and in the life of many: we do not give as much thought as we need to this huge aspect of our deen, which is the rights of one another. Be it our husbands, our wives, our parents, our children, our fellow worshippers, our neighbors, our business partners, and the community members we work with.

Our goal today, on the day of Arafah, should be that we repent to Allah and say: "Ya Allah, I want to ensure that I face You on the Day of Judgment without a single person having any claim against me. Because I cannot afford that. I cannot afford tomorrow a hundred people coming and saying, 'Ya Allah, he has done this to me, he has done this to me.'"

What did Nabi ﷺ say about that person? He said the greatest bankrupt, the greatest muflis, is the one who comes on the Day of Judgment with mountains of fasting — like all of us are fasting. Mountains of salah — alhamdulillah, we pray. Mountains of Qur'an — mashallah, many of us did our khatm. Mountains of all good deeds. But:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2581)

He has cursed this one, he has hit that one, he has spoken ill to that one — and he has racked up so many sins by usurping people's rights and broken the hearts of so many people that there is a whole long line of people with claims against him. And Allah will say:

No one will be oppressed today. No soul will be oppressed at all. Everyone will meet one another in full equity. The people with claims will line up, and the mountains of good deeds will come to an end — but the line is still there. People are waiting. And then Allah will say: "We're going to come up with a plan. Since he has nothing left to give you, you start offloading your sins onto him." So now, they start offloading sins. By the time the line finishes, he is sitting with mountains of sins he never committed — mountains of drinking wine, mountains of zina, mountains of riba, missed prayers — things he never did. But he picked them up from other people. Why? Because he was not careful about the huquq of one another.

This is the hadith of Sahih Muslim about the greatest bankrupt person. And I think you all would agree: where did he start, and where did he end?

We need to ensure today that we repent to Allah and seek forgiveness from one another. And we ask Allah: "Ya Allah, there are so many people whom I may have said or done something to in my past life — for fifty, thirty, twenty years, whatever. We don't all remember everything. Ya Allah, I ask You to reward that person with so many hasanat on the Day of Judgment that he will not even consider coming after me. Give him such a high out-of-court settlement that he will not come after me."

This is from the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ — he taught us this du'a, saying: "I am just a human. Whoever I've hurt, whoever I've done something I shouldn't have to —" and Nabi ﷺ never actually did anything like that, but he is teaching us. Make a du'a like this:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6361; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2601)

"O Allah, any servant of Yours that I have cursed, hurt, or sworn at — make this pain that I made him go through a means of the forgiveness of his sins, a means of elevation in status in Jannah, and a means of peace for him." What does that mean? That he will not come after me then. When he sees how much hasanat Allah is giving him, he will say: "This is not worth it." If you go after him, you get X amount. But if you do an out-of-court settlement with Allah, you get ten times that. That is within the qudra and the power of Allah. He can do that for all of us.

So there's no reason to give up and say, "How am I supposed to go message all the people I may have wronged before WhatsApp and text even existed?" We turn to Allah for that and ask His assistance.

The Prohibition of Riba

Nabi ﷺ also spoke about riba in the Hajjatul Wada'. He mentioned how interest is haram. And he said: "The first thing I'm going to do is forgive any interest that was owed to my family — to my uncle Abbas, who gave out loans expecting interest returns. I will stand up on behalf of my family and say it is forgiven. You don't need to pay him any interest money. I'm going to start from home." And the Qur'an says:

"O you who believe, do not consume riba, multiplied many times over. And fear Allah so that you may become successful." This is one of the very important points of the Khutbah Hajjat al-Wada'.

Salah — The Pillar of the Deen

I told you two things the Prophet ﷺ mentioned at the time of his death. One was the slaves and حُقُوقُ الْعِبَادِ. What was the other one? Salah. That is عَمُودُ الدِّين — it is the head of everything. Nabi ﷺ made it clear that there is no place in Islam for the one who does not perform salah.

My dear friends, we may have lots of weaknesses — we all do. But one weakness we truly cannot afford is in our salah. We cannot afford to become negligent in this. Whatever has happened in the past has happened. But we have to ensure that on this blessed day of Arafah we repent to Allah and say: "Ya Allah, as a child, at 13, 14, 15, or whatever, any salahs that I have missed — Ya Allah, please forgive me." Repent for prayers we may have missed, be it Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, or Isha — while traveling, while at work, etc. Feel remorseful about it. Ask Allah for forgiveness. Make the intention never to miss it again. And then also start making qada of the missed prayers — making them up one by one.

If we have missed only a few prayers and remember the occasion, make them up specifically. But if there are many, take an educated guess at how many there are and begin working through them — starting either from the most recently missed or from the earliest. As each one is made up, the next one becomes the first. We can calculate how many years a person was not praying, or on which particular salah we were most negligent — like Dhuhr at work or Fajr due to difficulty waking up — and start working toward making those up. Because there is truly no place for us in the deen, no matter what other good efforts we are making, if we are negligent in our salah.

The final advice of the Prophet ﷺ before he passed away — and he said:

(Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 3940; Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 13720)

"The coolness of my eyes has been placed in salah."

Seeking Forgiveness from Our Parents

Dear friends, towards the end of the Khutbat al-Wada', one more thing I want to mention regarding huquq al-'ibad: if we have done wrong to our parents or our children — and especially to our parents — this is definitely the time to seek forgiveness from them.

Usually, there is always a twenty to thirty minute talk I give in the plain of Arafah every year — may Allah take us again and again. In that talk I always mention one story, and I'm going to mention it here today. One of the years when I was going for hajj, a few days before I left, a mother called me. And just like those calls we remember exactly when and where they took place — I remember where I was driving, and I remember exactly the goosebumps I got listening to her.

She told me: "My son is going with you for hajj. Do not tell him I called you. But I want you to speak about the rights of parents when it's your turn, because although my son goes for hajj and has been more than once, and he is very active in the Muslim community — he doesn't realize maybe how much he hurts me and how much he upsets me. I don't want anything from him. I don't want monetary wealth or khidmah. Allah has given me a lot. All I want is salaam — stop by, bring the kids over, just check on how I'm doing. That is what I want. But I am deprived of that. And I am very upset. You are a scholar — she tells me — no matter how many hajj and umrah you do, does all that count if your mom is upset at you?"

Now why am I getting goosebumps? Because I'm thinking about my own mother, my own father, my own parents. Everyone is thinking about themselves: "My God, imagine if my parents ever called someone else and had that conversation about me." And I'm thinking about this brother too — does he get it? But she says: "Please, I don't want to ruin things further. Do not tell him I called you."

So every single year I make a point of this — because it was a learning lesson for me. That year, those present heard it from me. But every year I make the point: there might be many sons and daughters in the plain of Arafah who have also upset their parents, who have also upset their loved ones, and they may not know what they've gotten themselves into.

So besides asking forgiveness from Allah for our sins and for the rights we have usurped from one another, we also need to seek forgiveness directly from those individuals.

Taking the Higher Ground — The Lesson of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq

Today is the day. We don't have much time left, but at least tomorrow is the day of Eid. Let us use the occasion of Eid. My dear brothers — can parents do zulm on children? Yes, they can. Can children do zulm on parents? Of course. Both sides. But we have to take the higher ground. Even if someone has wronged me nine times and I wronged them once — let me ask forgiveness for that one wrong I did, and let me forgive them for those nine times. Let us not try to say, "But you did so much worse to me." Let's take the higher ground — no matter whether it's with our wife, our husband, our children, our parents, our siblings, whoever it may be.

I remember the story of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. All of us know this story. Rasulullah ﷺ relates the story about what happened with his daughter Aisha — the story of the ifk. When Abu Bakr found out that Mistah, a relative of his whom he was financially supporting, was carrying tales and speaking ill about his daughter — not just gossip, but accusing her of a haram relationship — his daughter who is the wife of the Prophet ﷺ. And Abu Bakr had been spending money on this man. Yet he had the audacity to spread these accusations. What would any one of us do? Would anything less than a physical confrontation cross our minds?

All Abu Bakr al-Siddiq said was: "I'm not going to spend money on him anymore." Isn't that fair? Isn't that acceptable? But Allah wants us to take the even higher road. Immediately, Allah Jalla Jalaluhu revealed verses:

"Let not those among you who are blessed with graces and wealth take oaths not to give to their relatives, the poor, and those who emigrated in the path of Allah. Let them pardon and forgive. Do you not love that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful."

I want all of us — listening online or here — to think about people who have hurt us a lot in our lives. Think about how many times, when someone told us to forgive them, we responded with: "Please, it's easy to say forgive. It's easy to say do sabr. Do you have any idea what I'm going through?" And think about how many times we lost our temper on those who told us to forgive and forget. No matter how badly we were hurt.

And then look at what Abu Bakr went through. Honestly ask yourself: is what you're going through worse than what Abu Bakr went through? And yet Allah was not satisfied with him simply stopping the financial support. Allah is saying: "You have a great place in Jannah. I cannot accept that from you. If you want to continue your ascent to where you're headed, you have to give this up. Forgive and forget."

And then Allah turns to Abu Bakr and the likes of him: أَلَا تُحِبُّونَ أَن يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ — "Don't you love that Allah should forgive you? وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ — Indeed, Allah loves forgiving and Allah is Merciful. If you want Me to forgive you, then forgive him for what he's done. He's wrong. But forgive him and continue doing what you were doing."

As soon as Rasulullah ﷺ recited these verses, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq heard them. He became emotional and took an oath: "By Allah, I want Allah to forgive me." And he said, "I will continue to support Mistah like before."

My dear friends, this story on this day is a powerful message of redemption — with Allah, and in allowing other people to gain redemption with us. Forgiving people, forgetting what has happened, and exchanging it with Allah. Bartering with Allah: "O Allah, I am so hurt today. But I am giving this up for Your sake so that You may forgive me. Because whatever he or she has done to me is nothing in comparison to what I have done to Your deen, to Your Prophet ﷺ's sunnah, and to Your obligations. So if I let go of this, will You let go of that?" And Allah will say: "Yes. You let go of My creation, and I will let go of you."

Today is that beautiful day where we turn to Allah and let it all loose.

The Days of Eid and Mending Ties

Tomorrow and the days after this weekend are the days of Ayyam al-Tashriq — days of joy, days of eating, drinking, and feeding. This is the time where we can go to people, call people, text people, send a gift, drop off a gift. For anyone we feel we may have hurt, we ask forgiveness from them. Maybe other times of the year we find it awkward — but this is the time to break the ice, because the ice has already been broken for you. It is the days of Eid. Everyone does that.

But remember: sending a generic image with "Eid Mubarak" on it doesn't cut it. The people from whom you want to seek forgiveness, or with whom you want to really mend ties — a generic Eid Mubarak text or card is not going to work. We need to make the effort of calling them, asking how they're doing, and insha'Allah leaving some du'as for them and gifts for them. If we do this, we will see that great things will happen.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 54)

"You will not enter Jannah until you become believers, and you will not become believers until you love one another. Shall I not tell you something that, if you were to do it, you would begin to love one another? Make salaam common amongst yourselves."

You do not enter Jannah with a heart full of grudges. It doesn't work like that. You know there is a temperature check at the masjids and everywhere else? There is a grudge check at Jannah. And I'm not making this up — it is from the Qur'an:

Allah says in the Qur'an that all the people of Jannah will have completely clean hearts. There will be no hatred or anger in their hearts. That is a condition. You enter Jannah with a clean heart. And where does that cleaning take place? If we don't clean it here, it gets cleaned in the Hellfire. Or it gets cleaned in the grave. I don't think any of us want that. So the way to do it is in this world, while we still can.

We don't know how long we've got to live. Make sure we forgive every single person today. Whether we are the zalim or the mazlum, we forgive. And we make the commitment that insha'Allah, we will reach out to people and ask them for forgiveness, no matter what the oppression may have been.

Today, let's make this niyyah — that we have cleansed our hearts. Say: "Ya Allah, I have forgiven everyone, no matter what they have done to me." If you have financial disputes, you can certainly pursue them — no one is saying forgive all debts if it was your entire life savings. You want to try to get it back? Go ahead. But if it's truly over and unrecoverable, my brothers — give up the grudge. The grudge in your heart. And you will see what barakah Allah will give us, what sweetness Allah will give us in our hearts, what muhabbat of Allah He will place in our hearts.

Shaytan's Disgrace on the Day of Arafah

These are some of the beautiful points of the Khutbah of Arafah that Rasulullah ﷺ gave — reminders of the virtue of this day. Nabi ﷺ mentioned that there is no day on which Shaytan is seen more disgraced than this day, due to the number of people he deceived and misled who are nonetheless being forgiven. So if you and I feel that we've been a victim this year of Shaytan, now is the time to make him weep and cry. We have the opportunity to throw water on all of Shaytan's efforts — simply by repenting and seeking forgiveness from Allah.

The Prophet ﷺ has mentioned that الْحَجُّ عَرَفَةُ — Hajj is Arafah. When the sun sets, the Hajj is essentially completed, and the one who has an accepted Hajj, the Prophet ﷺ said:

"He will return the day as though he was born." So those of you who had planned to go this year, saved up money, even gave deposits — Allah is watching. Remember that this is not in your hands. Your Hajj is right now. Whatever good deed you are doing now, and your du'a to Allah — why would it be hard for Allah to accept your du'a just as He accepts those of the people who are over there?

The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Ibn Hibban, Hadith 3853; reported by Ibn Khuzaymah)

"There is no day in the eyes of Allah that is more superior than the day of Arafah. Allah descends to the nearest heavens and boasts about the people of the earth to the dwellers of the heavens." He says: "Look at them. MashAllah — what amazing servants of Mine they are."

A Call to Sadaqah and Community Announcements

So when we are going to make du'a as we close our fast and break it — mashaAllah, for nine days all of us have been engaged in extra ibadah, and many of us have done our khatams as well.

MashAllah, whoever has completed their khatam of Qur'an this month — raise your hand. BarakAllahu feekum. BarakAllahu feekum. MashAllah. And for those who are listening online as well — alhamdulillah, this is a time when thousands of angels descend. We have probably easily twenty or thirty or more khatams here. And on top of that, it's right before Maghrib, and it's Thursday — we are about to enter Jumu'ah. Blessing upon blessing upon blessing. I don't know how many millions of angels are surrounding this gathering as we speak.

So ensure that we ask Allah with yaqeen, with conviction. Have hope that before my hands go down, Allah has accepted my du'a.

ادْعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَنتُمْ مُوقِنُونَ بِالْإِجَابَةِ — "Call upon Allah while you are certain of a response." (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3479)

We begin with praising Allah, sending salutations upon the Prophet ﷺ, and then making du'a for the ummah, for our communities, our families and relatives, for ourselves, for our deen and dunya, for those who are alive and those who have passed away.

My brothers — why have we been taught to make du'a after salah, after namaz? Because you're asking Allah for something. Before you ask, you want to do something for Allah. Just like in the dunya there is a paycheck — I did the work, now can I get paid? So that's what du'a is. You're asking Allah to get paid. When do you ask to get paid? After you've done something. You've read Qur'an, you prayed Asr in jama'ah, you're sitting in a state of i'tikaf, you're fasting — you've done all that. I want to add one more good deed we should do today, if we have not already: sadaqah. Make sure before the next half hour, before this day ends, if we have not already given sadaqah, please do so. There is nothing more powerful in removing Allah's wrath from us than this. There is nothing more powerful in granting shifa — physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental — than sadaqah. You have to give the bill to the hospital anyway. But fifty dollars, a hundred dollars, a thousand dollars — whatever Allah has given us the ability to give — make sure that before sunset, we give that insha'Allah.

Alhamdulillah — for those listening online, and those who have not been able to come to the masjid due to COVID — you can see some of the beautiful pictures here. MashAllah. This is the gymnasium being prepared. Already the speakers have been set up in the back, and we will have Eid Salah all the way in the back as well, if needed. This is the running track and the gymnasium — almost, almost, almost completed. MashAllah. This is the banquet hall and dining hall for our students and for the community as well. This is the sisters' hall. This is the women's musalla and prayer hall — you can see the dome, the multi-layered dome, and the beautiful woodwork. Almost done. Alhamdulillah — this is a beautiful women's prayer hall for our sisters and mothers. MashAllah. And here are the wudu areas — notice something unique: electric hand dryers and electric feet dryers right underneath as well. So that our feet are dry and clean, we're not wasting napkins, and we're saving the planet. Alhamdulillah.

There are different ways to donate — through WhatsApp, text message, pledge, or the website. Whether it is zakat or sadaqah, there are kiosks in the back as well through which a person can donate by credit card, and there is a donation box on the wall. But before Maghrib salah, make sure we do that.

Du'a Requests

I wanted to announce some du'a requests. A brother this morning asked for du'a — his wife is unfortunately not doing well emotionally and mentally. She has donated from her own money, mashallah, $4,000 — may Allah reward her and grant her complete shifa. Please say ameen.

The second du'a request: right before I came here, one of the musallis of the masjid called me, and I had to control my tears because I did not want to show my emotion in front of him. SubhanAllah. His seven-year-old daughter — just a few hours ago — was diagnosed with bone cancer, and her first chemotherapy is tomorrow. Please make du'a for her shifa.

Similarly, a thirty-year-old brother who I know very well — many of you know him — from the Chicagoland area. I just received the very sad news. He is a beautiful brother, very active in the masjid in Chicago. He is also being hospitalized for cancer.

And the third brother, Sajid Vahid, a previous owner of Pick and Move, who used to come here every day and meticulously deliver food for our students, who hosted all the volunteers, and who gave a great da'wah effort through his restaurant as well some years back — right now, I'm told he is in his final moments from cancer as well. But Allah is All-Powerful. Just because the doctors say he is in his last moments doesn't mean anything. Allah Jalla Jalaluhu can grant shifa to all of these people. Please say ameen. If you can, go visit him. I am going to visit him this weekend insha'Allah. It will be beneficial for ourselves first — it will soften our hearts — and insha'Allah it will be a source of happiness for him as well.

Also, one of our brothers in Arizona who hosted us twice — Hafiz Farhan took me around, fed us, and later brought about twenty other brothers from Arizona for the winter intensive — his father, a young man of approximately forty-five to fifty years old who also invited us for lunch when I was there, got COVID a couple weeks ago, and yesterday he passed away. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'oon.

There are many brothers who I know — and many I don't know — who have passed away recently from all sorts of sicknesses. Let us insha'Allah remember them in our du'as. And for those who are sick, make du'a for their shifa.

My dear friends — and when we give sadaqah, we give sadaqah on their behalf as well. If we give sadaqah on behalf of someone who has passed away, our $100 is going anyway. Why not make the niyyah: "Ya Allah, this is on behalf of all the mawta of the Muslims — all those Muslims who have passed away from the ummah. I want this reward to go to them." What a gift. Starting from who? From Rasulullah ﷺ himself — who slaughtered sixty-three camels on behalf of the ummah by his own hand, and gave the rest to Ali to slaughter. For us, if we give some sadaqah on his behalf, how wonderful that would be.

So insha'Allah I request all of us to share this message with our family, friends, and those listening online. And you may be wondering when we are going to officially open. Of course, if COVID had not happened and things were open as expected, we would have already opened. But things have slowed down quite a bit — though mashAllah, as you came in, you saw the concrete work taking place. We are still hoping to have the courtyard and gym ready for tomorrow for salah. And insha'Allah, everything opening — with Allah's fadl and all of your du'as — is by insha'Allah mid-September, or end of September, or if Allah wills, even before that.

So continue to contribute as you always have, and hopefully continue to support the students of knowledge studying here. This will become insha'Allah a means of our happiness in this dunya, in the grave, and in the akhira as well.

We will give some time for individual du'a towards the end. Iftar is around 8:15 today, so around 8:05 or so, insha'Allah, for the last ten minutes, we can keep individual du'as for that time. In the meantime, insha'Allah, let us collectively make du'a.

And one du'a we should ask Allah is: "Ya Allah, whatever is the need of the time, allow the person making du'a to be inspired." Whatever Allah puts on my tongue — I want all of you to make this du'a at the beginning: "Ya Allah, allow us to make such du'as that are the most pertinent to make." We are not here making du'a just for ourselves. We are making du'a for the entire ummah and all that it is going through.

The Collective Du'a

O Allah! Most Merciful Allah! Most Gracious Allah! O Most Magnificent Allah! O Most Powerful Allah! O Most Forgiving Allah! O Most Benevolent Allah! O Most Loving Allah! O Allah — our Creator! Our Master! The Owner of this world and the next! The Provider of sustenance! The One who sees us in every moment of day and night! The One who has inspired us to speak, to talk, to make du'a! The One who has given us health and wealth, parents and children, our homes, our rizq, our honor! The One who can take all of this away without a moment's notice — yet does not do so! The One who is disobeyed all the time, disrespected all the time — yet continues to shower His blessings upon us! The One who does not play tit-for-tat with us even though we deserve that — instead overlooking all our mistakes and continuing to provide for us! The Most Forgiving, Most Merciful, Most Knowledgeable of our mistakes and our sins — yet does not disgrace us in front of our friends and relatives! The One who has played a role in one hundred percent covering up our faults and secrets, not allowing people around us to know of our mistakes, thereby allowing us to lead honorable lives! For had You exposed our sins upon one another, we would run away from one another! The One who continues to provide us with rizq and aafiyah even though we may not have the worldly or spiritual credentials for it!

O Allah! Today, this group of brothers and sisters — online and on-site, men and women — have gathered. We have gathered in very unique times, very ajeeb times. O Allah! At this very moment, for the past hundreds of years, millions and millions would have been gathered on the plains of Arafah. Today, O Allah, only a handful of humans are there. Many angels and many jinn may be there — but humans, Ya Allah, very few. These humans are now in masajid, or have forgotten about this day and are in their homes.

O Allah! We ask You — just like this trial of corona that has come upon us, which is definitely a makhluq of Yours, a creation of Yours, and which we have deserved because of our own actions — Ya Allah, we ask You to uplift this trial from the ummah! Remove this fitna from the ummah! Grant a cure for this sickness, for this virus! Please — all the masajid that have closed, the Masjid al-Haram that continues to be restricted from the open public, the Masjid al-Nabawi, the manasik of Hajj — O Allah! What greater catastrophe could there be than that! Millions who would have otherwise gone and clung to the ghilaf of the Ka'bah beseeching You are now deprived from doing so. All the millions who would shed their tears in front of the Ka'bah, who would look at the green dome and shed their tears in front of the Prophet ﷺ — O Allah, the ummah has been deprived from these blessings! The Ka'bah is a place where all the anwar and the nur from Your arsh descends — O Allah, today the ummah is crying to witness that beautiful Ka'bah with our own eyes!

O Allah! What have we found ourselves in? O Allah! The community does not have answers. The ulama don't have answers. The doctors don't have answers. None besides You know how to get out of this. O Allah! This is one of the smallest foot soldiers of Your army. I ask You, O Allah, to call this foot soldier back! O Allah! Please, we have learned our lesson — not to turn a blind eye to the masjid, not to fail to appreciate Your houses, not to fail to appreciate the gatherings of dhikr and ilm, the halaqat and retreats and gatherings of ijtima'. Definitely we took that for granted. And today we are suffering. We are paying the price. Millions of people are unable to be in a masjid on this day. Millions have lost their connection with the deen. Millions have lost the deen because of this crisis.

O Allah! I beg You — bring all of them back towards the deen! O Allah! There is nothing more beloved to You than Your deen, and there is nothing more beloved to You after that than Your creation. O Allah! We are trying to connect Your creation to Your deen — please make us successful in our efforts!

O Allah! We ask You — whichever masjid, whichever place, whichever home, whichever basement, closet, car, or any place any Muslim today is trying to fulfill this great act of ibadah on the day of Arafah, beseeching You in his or her private space — O Allah, please accept his du'as, accept her du'as, accept our du'as and their du'as! Allow us to enjoy the blessings of this day even if we are not present at Arafah!

O Allah! Millions of people throughout the globe right now at this very moment are seeking forgiveness from You. O Allah! Your forgiving us does not make You any less great. You are Al-Akbar — in all states, You are the Greatest. No matter what anyone says or does, You are the Greatest. By You forgiving us, Your greatness does not increase — but it will change the destiny of our lives. It will change our future. It will change our dunya, our grave, our akhira. O Allah! We ask You to forgive all of us!

O Allah! For the prayers we have neglected, for the dhikr we have neglected, for the knowledge we have neglected. For the bad character we have had with one another. For the hurtful things we have said or done to one another. For doing things contrary to the Sunnah and contrary to the Shari'ah. O Allah! Whatever we have done and said — I ask You on this blessed day to forgive us! Make all of us from amongst the muwaffiqeen, from amongst those who have tawfiq to do good! Ya Allah! It costs You nothing to turn the switch on in all of us. Turn the switch on in all of us, so that we immediately become conscious of Your existence, always aware that You are with us and watching us. Grant us consciousness of each other's rights and responsibilities. Grant us the ability to submit to Your will, to submit to the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

O Allah! Our life is Yours. Our time is Yours. Our wealth is Yours. Allow us to spend our life, our time, our energy, and our resources in a manner that is pleasing to You. Grant us iman e kamil — strong iman, strong yaqeen. Grant us such iman that will keep us away from sin. Grant within us such fear of You and such desire of the akhirah and of Jannah that it keeps us awake at night and motivates us every day to do more and more. Let us not feel fatigued. Let not our children feel fatigued. Let not our parents feel fatigued from excessive ibadah. Allow us to lead a life in one hundred percent submission to the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

O Allah! Through Your immense blessings and through the love You have for us — because of which You have given us the tawfiq to be here today — grant complete forgiveness to all our major and minor sins: those committed by daylight, those committed at night, those committed collectively, those committed individually.

O Allah! Now let us all recite the following du'a. As Nabi ﷺ said — when an old man said, "Ya Rasulullah, I have so many sins, I have too many sins," the Prophet ﷺ told that old man to stand up and repeat the following du'a, and he said: "If you recite this du'a three times, all your sins will be forgiven." The du'a that he led this person in was:

"O Allah! Your forgiveness is wider than my sins, and Your mercy is what I hope for more than my own deeds." (Recite three times.)

O Allah! Forgive all of our sins, change them — our major and our minor. O Allah! Whether we have made tawbah from them once or many times. Allow us to focus on improving our own lives, our deen, our akhlaaq, our tilawah, our Qur'an. Grant us steadfastness in the deen. Ramadan came, we were motivated, and already two and a half months have passed. Our salah has taken a dip. Our charity has taken a dip. Our recitation of Qur'an has taken a dip. O Allah! Grant us the himmah, the ability, the strength, and the tawfiq to continue moving forward, continuously increasing in our good deeds.

Ya Allah! We ask You to grant shifa to all of those who are sick — whatever sickness they may have. We ask Allah the Great, the Lord of the Great Throne, to heal our sick and the sick of the Muslims. (Repeat three times.)

O Allah! Forgive all of those who have passed away from this ummah — whether in the distant past or the recent present. O Allah! Forgive our living and our dying, our present and our absent, our young and our old, our male and our female. O Allah! Whosoever of us lives, let him live in Islam. And whosoever of us dies, let him die in faith. O Allah! Forgive them, have mercy on them, forgive them, and let them enter Paradise. O Allah! Purify them from sins as the white robe is purified from dirt. O Allah! Make their graves a resting place in Paradise and do not make their graves a place of fire. O Allah! Do not deprive us of their reward and do not test us after them.

O Allah! Accept the du'as we have made on behalf of the deceased. O Allah! Whatever good deeds we have done so far in this month and this day — please allow all those who have passed away to have a share in those good deeds. Allow all those who have passed away from the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ, including Rasulullah ﷺ himself, to have a share in the good deeds.

O Allah! Allow us to take care of our parents. Allow us to become a source of happiness for our parents, our children, our siblings, and our relatives. Allow parents to be kind, nurturing, caring, and loving with their children. Teach us and inspire us how to raise them properly — not only how to teach them but how to continue giving them the education and tarbiyah they require throughout their lives.

O Allah! All of those who are of marriageable age but are not married — grant them righteous spouses. (Repeat three times.) Those who are married — grant them muhabbah and love within their marriage. (Repeat three times.) Those who are separated — allow them to find the best of spouses. Make their separations easy. Allow each one of them to find, Ya Allah, spouses that are aligned with their tarbiyah and their temperament. O Allah! Have mercy upon those going through difficulty in their marital issues.

O Allah! Grant us the akhlaaq of Rasulullah ﷺ, so that we can be — Ya Allah — the way he was with everyone. Grant us the ability to seek ilm. Grant our children the ability to seek ilm. Allow us all to remain connected to ilm — as students of ilm, as patrons of ilm, as supporters of ilm.

O Allah! Grant all of us ikhlas in whatever we're doing. Grant us sincerity. No deed is acceptable without ikhlas. O Allah! Small or large, whatever deed we have done — You know the secrets of our hearts. Save us from ostentation. Save us from riya'.

Ya Allah! Ya Allah! This is a beautiful moment of acceptance of du'as — with the khatm of Qur'an, right before Maghrib, on the day of Arafah. Ya Allah! We ask You to protect the ummah. Protect our masajid, our madrasas, our deen institutions. Protect our homes. Protect our businesses. Protect the honor of the Muslims, the wealth of the Muslims. Protect all assets and aspects of the Muslim community.

Ya Allah! Allow this past year — whatever sins happened — to be forgiven. Accept the fast of those who are fasting. Allow the remaining years of our lives to be better than the past years. Those who have lost their jobs — grant them better and more comfortable halal jobs. Whoever is suffering because of job loss — O Allah! Provide them halal rizq, halal sustenance.

O Allah! We ask You to raise us with the sahaba, grant us the qualities of the sahaba, and use us for the service of the deen the way the sahaba did.

O Allah! Grant all of us cure from hasad, from nazar, from sihr, from evil eye. Grant us protection from the evil plotting of humans as well as jinn. Protect us from وَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ — the insinuations of Shaytan from among the jinn and among mankind. Protect us, our children, our siblings, our homes from all evil eye and from the evil attacks of Shaytan.

O Allah! Grant all of us Your muhabbah, grant us Your ma'rifah, grant us the love of the Qur'an. The Qur'an is Your kalam — allow us to read it profusely. Allow us to dedicate at least an hour a day to reciting it. Those who were reading before but have stopped — allow them to get inspired again. Those who do not know how to recite Qur'an with tajweed — allow them to learn. Those intending to memorize — allow them to focus on memorization. And most importantly, allow us all to follow the teachings of the Qur'an. Teach us and teach our children. Open up the ways for us to learn the teachings and meanings of the Qur'an.

O Allah! Whatever rizq we have is only through the barakah of Your mercy — otherwise we would never have barakah in it. Just as You have given us, O Allah, continue to give us. Allow us to always have the giving upper hand instead of the taking lower hand. Grant us tawfiq, Ya Allah, to give from what You have given us — in Your path, not only here at the madrasa and masjid, but wherever we get an opportunity. Allow us to give and feel the benefits of giving.

O Allah! Many brothers and sisters have requested du'as for shifa, for cure from diseases that cannot be treated normally. O Allah! Have mercy upon every single one of them. Grant them all shifa. Whatever emotional, physical, or mental stress any of us are going through — grant complete shifa. Put muhabbah between the spouses. Put muhabbah between parents and children. Allow us to be remembered by our kids after we are gone, and allow us to remember our elders who have gone. Allow us to remember our parents and grandparents who are no longer with us. Those whose parents and grandparents are no longer with them — allow them, Ya Allah, to give sadaqah jariyah on their behalf and to continue praying for them. And those whose parents are still alive — allow them to serve them and earn their Jannah by serving them.

O Allah! Whatever permissible desires and needs we all have — fulfill them. O Allah! This masjid and madrasa is one of the few beacons of guidance and ilm in this country. There are very few institutions teaching knowledge with the breadth and extent that is being taught here. This is a safe haven for so many hundreds of students who otherwise could not travel, and now especially cannot travel. O Allah! You have used this institution as a place for them to come and complete their studies. Please protect this institution from the evil eye of Shaytan. Protect it from falling into the target and scope of Iblis and his cronies — for they are all Your creation, and You have power over them. Do not test us through them. Grant protection to this institution in all its aspects.

O Allah! Grant protection to the teachers here, to the students here, to the families of the students, to the families of the teachers, to the patrons, to the ambassadors, to the musallis, to the well-wishers — O Allah, anyone who has had any share in the past ten to twelve years, before the masjid was opened, anyone who had any part in making possible what we have seen here today — O Allah! Forgive them completely. Have mercy upon them. If they have passed away, fill their graves with nur. Keep the musallis of this masjid and the ansar of the masjid and their families united, strong, and working together to vanquish the evil attacks of Shaytan and the nafs. Save us from falling into the temptations of our nafs.

O Allah! Much needs to be asked for, but we do not know how to ask. We do not know what to ask. O Allah! We ask You to grant us all the good that Rasulullah ﷺ asked You of, and we seek refuge in You from all the evil that Rasulullah ﷺ sought refuge in You from. O Allah! Whatever du'as the people of Arafah are making and have made, whatever du'as the people in the Haramayn have been making — O Allah! Grant us a share in all of those du'as. Grant us qubuliyyah for this effort. Grant qubuliyyah to this du'a. O Allah! Grant us all the things we should have asked for but were too shy, or forgot to ask for. O Allah! Grant us protection from all the evil that Rasulullah ﷺ sought refuge in You from.