The Arafat Day sermon has started as pilgrims assembled in Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat on Monday in the high point of this year’s Hajj, being held in a downsized form and under coronavirus restrictions for the second year running, report agencies.
The Arafat Day sermon is being translated into ten languages including Bengali to convey the message of Islam to the widest possible audience, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
It will also be available on the Arafat Sermon App and on the Manarat Al-Haramain website. (https://manaratalharamain.gov.sa/arafa/arafa_sermon/bn.) The Financial Express is also re-webcasting the sermon on its site.
This year, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman has issued a royal order, assigning Sheikh Bandar Bin Abdulaziz Balila, imam and preacher of the Grand Mosque, to deliver the sermon on Arafat Day.
Pilgrims have assembled on the 70-metre high hill and its surrounding plain for hours of prayers and Holy Quran recitals to atone for their sins, staying there until the evening.
Muslims around the world mark the day of Arafat even if they do not make the pilgrimage. They mark it by fasting in an effort to repent.
Considered as the day of repentance, Arafat Day falls on the ninth of Dhul-Hijjah, the 12th lunar month in the Islamic calendar, and is regarded as the most important pillar of the annual pilgrimage.
After sunset, the pilgrims head to Muzdalifah, halfway between Arafat and Mina, where they sleep under the stars before performing the symbolic “stoning of the devil”.
The mask-clad faithfuls, who spent the night in camps in the Valley of Mina, have converged on Mount Arafat where it is believed the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) delivered his final sermon, for the most important of the Hajj rituals.
In recent years and under normal circumstances, Mount Arafat would host around 2.0 million pilgrims. But during this year’s unprecedented Hajj due to coronavirus preventive and precautionary measures to ensure the health and safety of the pilgrims, only 60,000 worshipers will head to the holy site.
Upon arrival at Mount Arafat, the pilgrims stand united but apart in reflection and prayer. This moment may be described as “standing before God” and is considered a dignifying ritual in which pilgrims seek forgiveness.