Hajj - Articles|- Hajj Exemplifies Equality Before Allah: Holy Prophet Muhammad's Sermon at Arafah

This sermon was delivered on the Ninth Day of Dhul Hijjah 10 A.H. in
the 'Uranah valley of Mount Arafah' (in Makkah). Part of his beautiful
sermon is as below, in which he insistson rights of each other. After
praising, and thanking Allah Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) said:
".......... O People, lend me an attentive ear, for I know not whether
after this year, I shall ever be amongst you again. Therefore listen
to what Iam saying to you very carefully and TAKE THESE WORDS TO THOSE
WHO COULD NOT BE PRESENT HERE TODAY.
O People, just as you regard this month, this day, and this city as
Sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred
trust. Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners.
Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you. Remember that you will indeed
meet your LORD, and that HE will indeed reckon your deeds.
ALLAH has forbidden you to take usury (interest), therefore all
interest obligation shall henceforth be waived. Your capital, however,
is yours to keep. You will neither inflict nor suffer any inequity.
Allah has judged that there shall be no interest and that all the
interest due to Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib(Holy Prophet Muhammad's
uncle) shall henceforth be waived.
Beware of Satan, for the safety of your religion. He has lost all hope
that he will ever be able to lead you astray in big things, so beware
of following him in small things.
O People, it is true that you have certain rights with regard to your
women, but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have
taken them as your wivesonly under Allah's trust and with His
permission. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right
to be fed and clothed in kindness. Do treat your women well and be
kind to them for they are yourpartners and committed helpers. And it
is your right that they do not make friends with any one of whom you
do not approve, as well as never to be unchaste.
O People, listen to me in earnest, worship ALLAH, say your five daily
prayers (Salah), fast during the month of Ramadan , and give your
wealth in Zakat. Perform Hajj if you can afford to.
All mankind is from Adamand Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a
non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white
has no superiority over black nor does a black have any superiority
over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is
a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one
brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to
a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not,
therefore, do injustice to yourselves.
Remember, one day you will appear before ALLAH and answer your deeds.
So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am
gone.
O People, NO PROPHET OR APOSTLE WILL COME AFTER ME AND NO NEW FAITH
WILL BE BORN. Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand words
which I convey to you. I leave behind me two things, the QURAN and
myAhlul Bayt, and if you follow these you will never go astray.
All those who listen to meshall pass on my words toothers and those to
others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than
those who listen to me directly. Be my witness, O ALLAH, that I have
conveyed your message to your people .........."
(1.) Prayer of Arafah (2.) Aa'maal of the day of Arafah
Hajj Exemplifies Equality Before Allah: Imam Hussain's Sermon at Mina
to scholars of religion
O people take lesson from the counsel God gave to His friends when He
rebuked the Rabbis bysaying: "Why do not the Rabbis and the doctors
ofLaw (scholars) forbid them from their (habit of) uttering sinful
words and eating things forbidden? Evil indeed are their works."
(5:63)
And God says: "Curses were pronounced on those among the Childrenof
Israel who rejected Faith, by the tongue of David and of Jesus the son
of Mary: because theydisobeyed and persisted in excesses. Nor did they
(usually) forbid one another the iniquities which they committed: evil
indeed were the deeds which they did." (5:78-79)
God reproached them because they saw with their own eyes the
oppressors committing vile and corrupt acts, but did not stop them,
out of love for the favors they received from them as well as fear of
persecution and injury. However, God says: "Fear not men, but fear
Me." (5:44) And He says: "The believing men and women are friends and
protectors to each other; they enjoin the good andforbid the evil;
they perform the prayer, and pay the alms, and obey God and His
messenger. Upon them God shall have mercy; God is Almighty, All-wise."
(9:71)
God mentions the duty ofenjoining the good and forbidding the evil
(Al-Amr bil Maroof and Nahi un al-Munkir) before all other duties,
because He knows that if it is performed and is established in the
society all other duties, the easy and the difficult, will alsobecome
established. The reason for this is that Al-Amr bil Maroof and Nahi un
al-Munkir means summoning people to Islam, as well as resistance
against injustice, opposing and struggling against oppressors, and
endeavoring to ensure that public wealth and income derived from
warare distributed in accordance with the just laws of Islam, and that
taxes are collected, leviedand expended in due andproper form.
O scholars, who are celebrated and enjoy good repute on account of
your learning! You have achieved a good name in society because of
your good will. It is on account of God that men venerate you and
stand in awe of you, so that even powerful fear you and the weak honor
you,and those who are not subject to you and over whom you hold no
authority grant you favors they deny themselves. When the people do
not receive their due, they seek your intercession, and you walk in
the street with the majesty of kings and princes.
Have you not earned all this respect and prestige because of the
people's hopes that you will implement God's laws, even though in most
instances you have failed to do so?
You have taken lightly your duties as leaders. You have neglected the
rights of the oppressed and the lowly, but have assiduously pursued
what you regard as your personal rights. You havenot spent your money
or risked your life for the sake of the One Who gave you life, nor
have you fought against any group or tribe for the sake of God.
Nevertheless, you desire -and regard it as your due- that He should
grant you paradise, the company of the prophet, and security from
chastisement in the hereafter. You have such expectations of God, I
fear that the full weight of His wrath descend upon you, for although
itis by His might and glory that you have achieved high rank, you show
no respect to those who truly know God, while you yourselves enjoy
respect among God's creatures on His account.
(I am also afraid for you for another reason :) you see the covenant
enactedwith God being violated and trampled under foot,yet you show no
anxiety, when it comes to the covenants enacted with your fathers, you
becomegreatly disturbed and anxious if they are only violated in part,
but the pledges you have given to the most noble Messenger are a
matter of complete indifference to you.
The blind, the dumb, and chronically ill everywherelack protection in
towns and no mercy is shown them. But you neither behave in accordance
with your function and rank, nor you support or pay any regard to
those who do. You purchase your safety from the oppressive ruling
powerswith flattery cajolery, and compromise.
All these activities have been forbidden to you byGod, and He has,
more over, commanded you to forbid each other to engage in them, but
you pay no attention.
The calamity that has befallen you is greater than what has befallen
others, for true rank and degree of 'Ulama' has been taken away from
you. The administration of the country and the issuing of decrees and
ordinances should actually be trusted to religious scholars who are
guardians of God's ordinances concerning what is permitted and what is
forbidden. But your position has been usurped from you, for no other
reason than that you have abandoned the truth (al-Haqq), and have
disagreed about the nature of the Sunnah, despite the existence of
clear proofs.
Had you the forbearance to endure adversities andhardships for the
sake of God, then all proposed regulations (God's affairs) would be
brought to you for your approval and for you to issue; authority would
liein your hands. But you allowed the oppressors to take away your
functions and God's affairs (i.e. government) to fall into their
hands, sothat they administer them by resorting to ambiguities and
make arbitrariness and the satisfaction of lust their consistent
practice. What enabled them to gain control of government was your
fleeing in panicfrom (inevitable) death and your love of life, which
shall in all certainty depart from you. As a consequence of that
mentality, you have delivered the powerless masses into the clutches
of the oppressors. While some cringe like slaves under the yoke of
oppressors, and others have been reduced to destitution in regard to
their livelihood, the rulers run the affairs of the government in
accordance with their whims, earning ignominyand disgrace for
themselves with their licentiousness, following evil counselors, and
showing impudence toward God. One of their appointed spokesmen mounts
the pulpit (Minbar) in each city. The country is defenseless before
them, and their hands grab freely whatever they want of it.The people
are their slaves and are powerless to defend themselves. One of the
governors is a dictator by nature, malevolent and rancorous; another
represses to recognize either God or the Day of Resurrection! It is
not strange - how can one think it strange, that society is in the
clutches of a cunning oppressor whose tax collectors are oppressors
and whose governors feel no compassion or mercy towards the believers
under rule.
It is God who will judge concerning what is dispute among us and
deliver a decisive verdict concerning all that occursamong us.
O God! You know that everything we did was not prompted by rivalry for
political power, nor for a search for wealth and abundance; rather it
was done to demonstrateto men the shining principles and values of
Your religion, to reform the affairs of Your land, to protect and
secure the indisputable rights of Your oppressed servants, and to act
in accordance with the duties. You haveestablished the norms, laws,
and ordinances which You have decreed.
So (O scholars of religion!) You are to help us reach this goal, win
back our rights from those powers who have considered it acceptable to
wrong you and who have attempted to put out the light kindled by your
Prophet. God suffices us, upon Him do we rely, to Him do we return,
and to Him shall we return.

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