Hajj 2023: Thousands of pilgrims pray on Mount Arafat in sweltering heat

Hundreds of thousands of worshipers gathered on Mount Arafat, near Mecca, the highest point of the Hajj, also known as Jabal Al-Rahma or Mount of Mercy, for a day on Tuesday, June 27. of prayers and contemplation marking the key stage of the pilgrimage, under oppressive heat.

This year’s Great Pilgrimage is indeed breaking all records, not only in terms of attendance after three years of restrictions imposed by the Covid-19, but also of the 45 degrees Celsius which are rampant.

At the first light of dawn, myriads of worshipers converged on this holy site of Islam, where the Prophet Muhammad (saws) delivered his Farewell Sermon, after spending the night in air-conditioned tents in Mina. (read below Prophet Muhammad’s Farewell Sermon)

The farewell sermon of the Messenger of God:

” O people! Give me an attentive ear, because I don’t know if I will still be with you next year. So listen carefully to what I say and pass on these words to those who could not be here today.

O people! Just as you hold this month, this day, this city sacred, so also consider the life and property of every Muslim as sacred. Return the property you have been lent to its rightful owners. Don’t hurt anyone so they won’t hurt you.

Remember that one day you will meet your Lord and He will ask you to account for your actions in this world. God has forbidden you usury. Therefore, any usurious obligation must henceforth be cancelled. Your capital is yours. You will neither inflict nor suffer any iniquity. God judged that there should be no interest and that any interest due to Abbas Ibn ‘Abd ‘Al Muttalib must be canceled. All rights (to revenge) deriving from the homicides of the pre-Islamic period are now canceled and the first ones that I abolish are those deriving from the murder of Rabiah Ibn Al Harith.

O people! Unbelievers play with the calendar in order to make permissible what God has forbidden and forbid what God has allowed. According to God, the months are twelve in number. Four of them are saints. Three of them are successive and one occurs between the months of Jumada and Shaban. Pay attention to the Devil, for the good of your religion. He has lost all hope of leading you astray by big sins, so be careful to follow him in small sins.

O people! It is true that you have rights over your wives, but they also have rights over you. Remember that you took them as wives only with God’s permission and by fulfilling a covenant with Him. If they remain loyal to you, then it is their right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Treat your wives well and be kind to them, as they are your devoted partners and assistants. And it’s your right not to associate with people you don’t approve of, and to never be unfaithful.

O people! Listen to me with sincerity. Worship God, perform your five daily prayers, fast during the month of Ramadan and give of your good in Zakat (charity). Make Hajj (pilgrimage), if you can.

All mankind descends from Adam and Eve. An Arab is not superior to a non-Arab and a non-Arab is not superior to an Arab. A white is not superior to a black and a black is not superior to a white – only by piety and good deed.

Know that every Muslim is the brother of every Muslim and that Muslims constitute a brotherhood. The property of others is not legitimate for a Muslim except that which his brother freely gives to him. So don’t do yourself any injustice. Remember that one day you will meet God and answer for your actions in this world. So be careful! Do not stray from the path of godliness after my departure.

O people! No prophet or messenger will come after me and no new belief will be born. Reason well then, O people, and understand the words I convey to you. I leave behind me two things: the Quran and my Sunna and if you follow them, you will never go astray.

All those who listen will have to transmit my words to others and the others, to still others, so that the latter will understand my words even better than those who listen to me directly. Bear witness, O God, that I have conveyed Your message to Your people”.