Steps OF Hajj : Second Day of Hajj - 9th of Dhul Hijjah ( Yaumul Wuquf Arafat )

During the second day, the 9th of Dhu al-Hijjah, pilgrims leave Mina for the plain of Arafat where they rest.  This is the central rite of the hajj.  As they congregate there, the pilgrims’ stance and gathering reminds them of the Day of Judgment.  Some of them gather at the Mount of Mercy, where the Prophet delivered his unforgettable Farewell Sermon, enunciating far-reaching religious, economic, social and political reforms.  These are emotionally charged hours, which the pilgrims spend in worship and supplication.  Many shed tears as they ask God to forgive them.  On this sacred spot, they reach the culmination of their religious lives as they feel the presence and closeness of a merciful God.

The first Englishwoman to perform the hajj, Lady Evelyn Cobbold, described in 1934 the feelings pilgrims experience at Arafat.

“It would require a master pen to describe the scene, poignant in its intensity, of that great concourse of humanity of which I was one small unit, completely lost to their surroundings in a fervor of religious enthusiasm.  Many of the pilgrims had tears streaming down their cheeks; others raised their faces to the starlit sky that had witnessed this drama so often in the past centuries.  The shining eyes, the passionate appeals, the pitiful hands outstretched in prayer moved me in a way that nothing had ever done before, and I felt caught up in a strong wave of spiritual exaltation.  I was one with the rest of the pilgrims in a sublime act of complete surrender to the Supreme Will which is Islam.”

She goes on to describe the closeness pilgrims feel to the Prophet while standing in Arafat:

“...as I stand beside the granite pillar, I feel I am on Sacred ground.  I see with my mind’s eye the Prophet delivering that last address, over thirteen hundred years ago, to the weeping multitudes.  I visualize the many preachers who have spoken to countless millions who have assembled on the vast plain below; for this is the culminating scene of the Great Pilgrimage.”

The Prophet is reported to have asked God to pardon the sins of pilgrims who gathered at Arafat, and was granted his wish.  Thus, the hopeful pilgrims prepare to leave this plain joyfully, feeling reborn without sin and intending to turn over a new leaf.

Just after sunset, the mass of pilgrims proceeds to Muzdalifah, an open plain about halfway between Arafat and Mina.  There they first pray and then collect a fixed number of chickpea-sized pebbles to use on the following days.

Second Day of Hajj - 9^th of Dhul Hijjah 

This day is known as Yaumul Wuquf, or the Day of Standing.

1. The pilgrims go to ‘Arafat.

2. They perform Zuhr Salah (Early Afternoon Prayers) and ‘Asr Salah (Late Afternoon Prayers) together, in a shortened form (Qasr) at ‘Arafat.

3. Pilgrims stand there with devotion, till sunset, praying and asking Allah’s forgiveness. This is known as Wuquf or standing.

4. In the evening the pilgrims go to Muzdalifah and offer shortened Maghrib Salah (Sunset Prayers) and ‘Isha Salah (Night Prayers) prayer together.

5. They rest there at the night, and collect small pebbles for stoning the Jimar in Mina.