Friday, December 5, 2008

The Day of Arafah

by
Ilm Seeker

The Prophet (saw) said: "Hajj is Arafah." [Sunan Abu Dawud, book 10, #1944] How true that is – if you go to Arafah, but miss everything else, your Hajj is sound; and if you do everything else, but miss Arafah, your Hajj is not valid.

How much more important can you get than that? So how can you make the best use of the Day of Arafah, while you're in Arafah?
The Prophet (saw) said: "The best du'a you can make is the du'a on the day of Arafah." [Malik's Mutawatta, Book 10, #20.76.255]

So this is it -- your chance to change the world Insha Allah, because the du'a you make on Arafah will be accepted, bi idhnillah. And you have about five hours to do it. And remember -- when you make du'a for someone who's not around, the angels make the same du'a for you!

The Prophet (saw) said: "He who makes du'a (for others in their absence), the Angel commissioned (for carrying supplication to his Lord) says: Ameen, and it for you also (something similar)." [Saheeh Muslim, Book 35, #6589]

The best preparation you can make for the Day of Arafah is to write a du'a list. Write it out ahead of time, and make it long -- at least twenty pages! What are some of the benefits of doing it ahead of time?

You can think of anything you want in this life and the next, and add that; you won't forget anything. You can plan ahead, see where you want to be in 5, 10, 50 years, in the
akhira, and incorporate that in your du'a list. You have time to make du'a for all your brothers and sisters in Islam and your close relatives.

You can ask your friends and relatives what they want you to make du'a for, on their behalf. They will be extremely happy if you tell them you made du’a for them on the Day of Arafah! And trust me, twenty pages is not enough -- if you squeeze every ounce, every second, of your time on Arafah making du'a -- as you should -- you can easily cover your du'a list a few times. So make it long, as long as possible.

Here are some ideas to help get you started on your du'a list – just some things to think about. Think up your own additional categories and personalize your list more.

Du’a List:
1. Your eeman
2. Your rank in Jannah (and Al-Firdaus)
3. Your knowledge of Islam
4. Your memorization of The Qur'an
5. Your health
6. Your wealth
7. Your job
8. Your children and spouse - -their eeman and akhira, health, etc.
9. The ummah at large
10. Those oppressed in Palestine, Chechnya, Somalia, and worldwide
11. People you want to become Muslim -- including Presidents and world leaders
12. Countries you want to become Muslim -- including your current residence
13. Guidance for every human being on the planet
14. Your Islamic work and projects
15. People who you know who aren't very practicing, to become more practicing
16. People you know who are practicing, to become better and more practicing.
17. Any weakness you have -- any sin you commit -- to be overcome

This is just a list to get you started. Work on it, and Insha Allah you'll find ideas flowing.

Before that day, brush up on and make sure you know the etiquettes of du'a -- praise Allah, glorify Him, thank Him, and send salaam and salawaat on His Prophet (saw).

Call Him by His great names -- including Allah, Al-Hayyu, and Al-Qayyum -- then ask what you want.

We ask Allah to accept our Hajj and the Hajj of all the Hujjaj, and to make Hajj easy for everyone who goes or intends to go. Ameen.

©Ilm Fruits

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