The Day of Arafa

The hadīth under study brings into light the importance and significance of the Day of Arafa, when Allah the Exalted forgives and sets free from Hell maximum number of His servants. Here the word ‘near’ does not mean physical nearness, since God is everywhere, but an exuberance of the Lord’s Mercy.

The literal translation of the word yubdhi means ‘he boasts’, but here it means ‘he praises’. This is perhaps meant to show to the angels that their misgivings about Adam which they had expressed before the Lord at the time of his creation were wrong. The Qur’ān records these apprehensions of the angels when Allah said: “And recall the time when your Lord said unto the angels: ‘Verily I am going to place a Vicegerent on earth.’ The angels expressed their apprehensions before the Lord in the following words: ‘Will Thou place on it such as will spread corruption thereon and shed blood – whereas it is we who extol Thy limitless Glory and hallow Thy Name?’ God answered: ‘Verily I know that which you do not know’.” (2:30-31)

Allah, on the Day of Arafa, when there stand millions of pilgrims coming from all corners of the world, asks the angels to see for themselves whether their apprehensions were correct. Now here stand before the Lord not those about whom they apprehended corruption but the devoted servants of the Great Master, who have undergone the hardships of journey purely for the sake of their Lord.