6. THE WAY TO ‘ARAFA
THE WAY TO ‘ARAFA
On 7 Dhul Hijjah it is recommended for the imam (i.e. the caliph or his representative) to give a sermon after the noon prayer (zuhr)in Mecca (at the Kaaba), instructing the pilgrims about the rites they will soon perform, and ordering them to go forth on the following day (0: the morning of the eighth) to Mina.
The imam goes forth with them after the dawn prayer (subh) on 8 Dhul Hijjah. He prays the noon, midafternoon, sunset, and nightfall prayers with them at Mina, and they spend the night and pray the following dawn prayer there. When the sun rises over the mountain at Mina that is called Thabir, they proceed to ‘Arafa.
Spending the night and staying at Mina during this time are a sunnah (and not part of the hajj rites. If one does not spend the night at Mina at all, or go there, it does not entail any consequences) that many people no longer do, but corne to ‘Arafa at the end of the night with lighted candles. This lighting of candles is a disgraceful innovation (as is their corning there a day or two before 9 Dhul Hijjah, a mistake that contravenes the sunnah, and through which they miss many other sunnas).
It is sunnah on the way to ‘Arafa to say: “O Allah, to You I betake myself, seeking Your noble countenance. Forgive me my sins, make my hajj a pious one, show me mercy, and do not disappoint me”; and to do much of chanting “Labbayk,” invocation (dhikr), supplication, and Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).
When the pilgrims reach a place called Namira (the site of a large mosque) just before ‘Arafa, they stop, and do not immediately enter ‘Arafa. When the time for the noon prayer comes, it is sunnah for the imam to give two sermons before the prayer, and then they pray, joining the noon and midafternoon prayers together. This too is a sunnah that few follows.
(Source: The reliance of the traveller, revised edition, Edited and Translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller)
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