Khutba on Arafat and Days of DhulHijja

الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي أحل الطيبات، وحرّم الخبيثات، نحمده تعالى ونستعينه، ونشكره تعالى ونستغفره ونستغيثه، نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهد الله فهو المهتد ومن يضلل فلن تجد له وليا مرشدا، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك و له الحمد، يحيي ويميت، بيده الخير، وهو على كل شيء قدير،  ونشهد أن سيدنا و مولانا محمداً عبده ورسوله، وحبيبه وصفيه، بلغ الرسالة وأدى الأمانة ونصح الأمة، النبي الأمي الذي أرسله الله بالهدى والدين الحق، بشيرا ونذيرا بين يدي الساعة، صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.
أما بعد! فيا عباد الله اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون. يأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولا سديدا يصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم. ومن يطع
الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزا عظيما. اتقوا الله فيما أمر وانتهوا عما نها عنه وزجر.

            Today is the third of Dhul-Hijja, the month of the Hajj. The first ten days of this month are among the most significant in the entire year, having a very special station with Allah, a station so special that He saw fit to make an oath by them. And as we know Allah only makes an oath by something in order to draw our attention to its great worth. Allah says,

وَالْفَجْرِ وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ وَالشَّفْعِ وَالْوَتْرِ

            the translation of which is, “By the dawn and ten nights, and the even and the odd,”
            According to the majority of the mufassirun, the ten nights mentioned here refer to the first ten days of Dhul Hijja, with the ‘even’ referring to the tenth day – the day of Eid and sacrifice, and the ‘odd’ referring to the ninth day – the day of ‘Arafat.
            Allah loves these days more than any other in the entire year, as is indicated in numerous hadith from the Messenger of Allah. For example, in one hadith, he said,

إن أحبَّ الزمان اإلى الله الأشهرُ الحرمُ وأحبَّ الأشهر اإلى الله ذى الحجة وفضل الله فى ذى الحجة العَشَرَ الأوائل

            “The most beloved times to Allah are the sacred months, the most beloved of the sacred months to Allah is Dhul Hijjah, and the part of Dhul Hijjah that he favours the most are its first ten days.”
            And in another hadith, narrated by Ibn ‘Abbas,

“ما من أيامٍ العملُ الصالحُ أحبُ إلى الله فيهن من هذه الأيام” يعني: عشرِ ذي الحجة، قالوا: ولا الجهادُ في سبيل الله؟ قال: ولا الجهادُ في سبيل الله، إلا رجلاً خرج بنفسه وماله، ثم لم يرجِعْ من ذلك بشيء

            “There are no days during which right action is more beloved to Allah than these days;” meaning the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah. “Not even Jihad in the way of Allah?” the Companions asked. “Not even Jihad in the way of Allah,” the Prophet replied, “unless someone goes out to Jihad, sacrificing both his life and property, and then does not return with either.”
            What does it mean when we say Allah loves a particular period of time? It means that He magnifies and multiplies the reward for actions done during it. It means that He makes good actions – obeying Him – easier, and bad actions – disobeying Him – more difficult. It means that He places great treasures and untold riches within it for those who have the desire and capacity to look. It means that His mercy expands and His forgiveness extends even further afield. It means that for that time’s duration He strengthens His friends and makes their enemies weak. The Prophet said,

ما رؤي الشيطان أصغر ولا أحقر ولا أدحر ولا أغيظ منه في يوم عرفة ، وما ذاك إلا أن الرحمة تتنزل فيه فيتجاوز عن الذنوب العظام

            “There is no day upon which Shaytan can be found so belittled, humiliated, defeated and frustrated as on the day of Arafat! And that is solely because of the mercy that is sent down during its course, providing forgiveness for the major wrong actions.”
            Allah’s mercy on this day, the day of Arafat which will, this year, inshallah fall on Thursday the 25th of October, extends even to the inhabitants of the Fire, many of whom will be freed from its torment during its course. For the Prophet said,

ما من يوم أكثر من أن يعتق الله تعالى فيه عبداً من النار من يوم عرفة
           
            “There is no day during which Allah frees more people from the Fire than the Day of Arafat.”
            It was upon this day that Allah perfected His message to His beloved creation, the Prophet, and made His final deen for us complete. For it was on this day that Allah revealed to His Messenger,

الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا

            the translation of which is: “Today I have perfected your deen for you and completed My blessing upon you and I am pleased with Islam as a deen for you.” This is so great a cause for rejoicing that even the Jews, often the most vehement opponents of the deen, are narrated as having said to Umar, “Were such an aya to have been sent down to us, we would have made that day an Eid.” To which, Umar famously replied, “The day on which it was revealed is actually two Eids for us, for it was sent down on Jumuah on the day of Arafat.”
      These coming days, each and every one of them, are worthy of celebration. And we would do well to take advantage of them and gain maximum benefit. Allah’s great love for them is for our benefit not His. And if we do not love what Allah and His Messenger love then what do we have. We ask Allah to make us love with His love and hate with His hate and not be blind to the blessings He gives us when they are placed before us. We ask Him to make these ten days a special time for all the Muslim umma, a time when He gives them victory over their enemies and mastery over themselves. A time when He unites their hearts and makes what was broken whole.
           
أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم ولسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرَّحيم.
الحمد لله الحمد لله رب العالمين، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، صلى الله وسلم وبارك عليه وعلى آله وصحبه، والتابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.
أما بعد! فيأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله ما استطعتم واسمعوا وأطيعوا وأنفقوا خيرا لأنفسكم. يا عباد الله أوصيكم وإياي بتقوى الله وطاعته وأحذركم وإياي عن معصيته ومخالفته.

            As we mentioned in the first khutba, in a hadith from the Messenger of Allah, there is no time better throughout the year than these ten days to do right action, amalun salih. Now this term ‘amalun salih, of course refers to right action in all its forms, to ensuring that the deen is put into practice in all its aspects. But there are certain actions that are singled out for greater reward in these days, and which we are encouraged to focus our energies and our efforts upon. The first of these, of course, is the hajj, many of the rites of which can only be performed during these ten days, such as standing at ‘Arafat. The reward for an accepted Hajj cannot be measured, it is so great. The Prophet said,

حجةٌ مبرورة خيرٌ من الدنيا وما فيها وحجةٌ مبرورة ليس لها جزاءٌ إلا الجنة

            “An accepted hajj is better than the entire world and everything in it. An accepted hajj brings no less a reward than the Garden.” We ask Allah to accept the Hajj of all those who go this year, and bring them back strong and reinvigorated, with a fresh himma and impetus to see His deen established in our time.
            The second, third and fourth are fasting, making dua and giving sadaqa. Abu-d’Darda is narrated as having said,

عليكم بصوم أيَّامِ العشرِ وإكثارِ الدعاءِ والاستغفارِ والصدقةِ فيها، فَإني سمعتُ نبيَكم يقول: الويلُ لمن حرّم خير أيامِ العشرِ، عليكم بصوم التاسعِ خاصةً فإن فيه من الخيرات أكثرَ من أن يُحصيَها العادُّون

            Abu-d’Darda is narrated as having said, “You must fast the ten days [of Dhul Hijja], fill them with dua and istighfar and give a lot of sadaqa during them, for I heard your Prophet say, ‘Woe to those who forbid the good of those ten days. You must fast the ninth day in particular because there are more good things in that one day than anybody could possibly count.’”
            The Prophet, himself, used to often fast these nine days and is never known to have missed the fast of the ninth day, the day of Arafat. And, for that reason, fasting it is a sunna mu’akadda, a strongly emphasised sunna. And, if that were not enough reason in itself to fast it, and what reason could be better than emulating the Messenger of Allah, there is also the fact that fasting it wipes away two years worth of wrong action. For the Prophet said,

أحتسب على الله أن يكفر السنة التي قبله والسنة التي بعده

            “I anticipate that [because of fasting it], Allah will forgive the wrong actions of both the past year and the coming year.” That is a lot of wrong action wiped away for just the fast of a single day.
            As for the importance of dua on this day, there is a wonderful story narrated of Salim, the grandson of Umar ibn al-Khattab. As he was walking through the streets of Madina on the Day of Arafat, he came across a beggar asking people for alms. And so he went to him and said, “What is up with you, man. How can you ask other than Allah on this day?” What he meant was, “If you were but to ask your Lord sincerely on this day, all your needs would be met for it is one of the times of istijaba. So why bother with people?”
            Another type of action that is specifically emphasised during these days is dhikr. Allah says:
وَيَذْكُرُوا اسْمَ اللَّهِ فِي أَيَّامٍ مَعْلُومَاتٍ

            the translation of which is, “and they invoke Allah’s Name on known days.” These ‘ayyamin ma‘lumat’ – these ‘known days’ are interpreted by many of the Mufassirun as referring to these ten days at the start of Dhul Hijjah. Although all forms of dhikr are encouraged during these days, certain types of dhikr are singled out. In a hadith narrated by Ibn Umar, the Prophet said,

ما مِن أيامٍ أَعظمَ ولا أحبَ إلى الله العملُ فيهن من هذه الأيام العَشرِ فأكثروا فيهن من التهليل والتكبير والتحميد

            “There are no days during which right actions are greater or more beloved to Allah than these ten days, so do a lot of tahlil, takbir and tahmid during them.” Tahlil is saying ‘la ilaha illa Allah’, takbir is saying ‘Allahu akbar’ and tahmid is saying ‘alhamdu lillah’. It has been narrated of many of the sahaba – including Ibn Umar and Abu Hurayra – that they used to say the takbir throughout the entire ten days, regardless of where they were. Indeed al-Bukhari mentions that, during these ten days, Ibn Umar used to say the takbir aloud when he went out in the marketplace and that others would then repeat it after him. And Ishaq narrates that many of the ‘ulama of the tabi’in used to combine the three types of dhikr we mentioned above and say, throughout the ten days,
الله أكبر الله أكبر لا إله إلا الله والله أكبر ولله الحمد

            So we ask Allah to give us the success to fill these days with dhikr, fasting, dua and every other sort of right action. We ask Him to accept that right action from us and bring us closer to Him by means of it. And we ask Him to give victory to His friends in this period and destroy His enemies. And make the deen uppermost in the land.

إِنَّ اللهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ، يَا أَيُهَا الذِينَ آمَنُواْ صَلُّواْ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُواْ تَسْلِيماً. اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ  أَجْمَعِينَ. وَارْضَ اللَّهُمَّ عَنِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ وَعُثْمَانَ وَعَلِيٍّ، وعن خديجة وعائشة وسائر أزواج النبي، وَعَنْ سَائِرِ الصَّحَابَةِ أَجْمَعِينَ، خُصُوصاً اِلأَنْصَارَ مِنْهُمْ وَالمُهَاجِرِينَ، وَعَنِ التَّابِعِينَ وَتَابِعِي التَّابِعِينَ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.
اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِ وُلَاةَ أُمُورِ المُسْلِمِينَ لِمَا يُرْضِيكَ وَلِاتِّبَاعِ سُنَّةِ نَبِيِّكَ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَهُمْ عَلَى الصِّرَاطِ المُسْتَقِيمِ، وَأَصْلِحْهُمْ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ.
اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى شَيْخِنَا، وَعَلَى أَمِيرِنَا، وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ أُمَرَاءِ وَزُعَمَاءِ المُسْلِمِينَ. 
اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى المُسْلِمِينَ فِي هَذِهِ المَدِينَةِ، وَوَفِّقْهُمْ لِمَا تُحِبُّهُ وَتَرْضَاهُ يَا أَكْرَمَ الأَكْرَمِينَ.
اللَّهُمَّ أَعِزَّ الإِسْلَامَ وَالمُسِْلمِينَ (3) وَاخْذُلِ الْكُفْرَ وَالْكَافِرِينَ، وَانْصُرِ المُجَاهِدِينَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ. وَاجْعَلْ كَلِمََتَكَ هِيَ العُلْيَا وَكَلِمَةَ الْكُفْرِ هِيَ السُّفْلَى.
رَبَّنَا ءَاتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقَِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ.
إِنَّ اللهَ يَامُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى، وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ، يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَّكَّرُونَ، وَلَذِكْرُ اللهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ. وَقُومُواْ إِلَى صَلاتِكُمْ يَرْحَمُكُمُ اللهُ.