HAJJ Muslims from all over the world will be on Arafat tomorrow

(Patria) - According to the Calendar of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the 9th of Dhu al-Hijjah, or Yawm Arafah, falls tomorrow, Tuesday, May 26, and it is the day when all pilgrims, regardless of who they are or where they are from, must be on Arafat.

Arafat is a plateau about fifteen kilometers from the holy city of Mecca and the site of the central ritual of the Muslim pilgrimage (wuquf or standing at 'Arafat), where pilgrims spend the entire day in worship.

Staying at Arafat is the central Hajj ritual and the main integral part of the Hajj ritual.

Arafat is the place that on the 9th of Dhu al-Hijjah offers the closest and most similar image of the Day of Judgment. Namely, several million pilgrims in the same attire as on the Day of Judgment, in white ihrams, are turned towards the mountain of God's mercy – Jabal al-Rahmah, and spend the whole day remembering, praising, and glorifying, and supplicating to the Almighty, Allah, SWT. Arafat is the place where the most takbirs, talbiyahs, and supplications are recited in one day.

Fasting on the Day of Arafat atones for sins committed in the previous and following year.

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "There is no day on which Allah frees more people from the Fire than the Day of Arafat. He draws near and boasts about them to His angels, saying: 'What do these people want?' "

From the dawn fard prayer on the Day of Arafat, the recitation of takbir al-tashriq begins, announced the Administration for Religious Affairs of the Islamic Community in BiH.

This takbir continues to be recited after every fard prayer until after the Asr prayer on the fourth day of Eid al-Adha. Reciting this takbir al-tashriq is wajib in our madhhab. This means we should recite: 'Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, la ilaha illallahu wallahu akbar, Allahu akbaru wa lillahil-hamd', after every fard prayer from the Day of Arafat after the dawn fard prayer until the Asr prayer on the fourth day of Eid al-Adha.

The Messenger of Allah delivered his famous sermon on the Farewell Pilgrimage when he arrived at Arafat before noon. This farewell sermon is, for Muslims, a kind of charter of universal obligations and human rights.

Standing at Arafat is a kind of anticipation of the Day of Judgment, but also the largest mass gathering of representatives of Muslims from all over the world. Although they have different languages, skin colors, origins, cultures, and geographical areas from which they come, at Arafat all pilgrims share common unique beliefs, feelings, desires, and supplications.