Ascending Mount 'Arafat and Praying on It
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Fatwa No. ( 16 )
Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and companions. After the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta reviewed the inquiry sent by the honorable head of the Makkah court, via His Eminence the Minister of Justice, No. 1639, dated 1/11/1391 AH, to the honorable head of the Departments of Scientific Research and Ifta, Da'wah, and Guidance, and referred to it by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars, No. 97/2, dated 18/1/1392 AH, regarding the widening of the passage leading to the summit of the mountain known as Mount of Mercy to resolve the congestion problem that facilitated pickpocketing by thieves among the pilgrims of the House of Allah, and regarding the possibility of removing the prayer area located in the middle of this passage to achieve the widening.
After the Committee studied the inquiry, it responded as follows:
It is not established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he encouraged ascending Mount 'Arafat , which is known among people as: Mount of Mercy . It was not part of his (peace and blessings be upon him) practice to ascend this mountain during his Hajj, nor did he make it a ritual. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:. The Rightly Guided Caliphs, the other Companions, and those who followed them in excellence followed this practice; they did not ascend this mountain during their Hajj, nor did they make it a ritual for them, following the example of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). It is established that he (peace and blessings be upon him) stood under this mountain at the large rocks and said: Sahih Muslim 1218c. Therefore, many scholars said that ascending this mountain during Hajj as a ritual is a religious innovation (bid'ah), including Imam al-Nawawi , Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah , and Shaykh Sadiq Khan . From this, it is known that it is not appropriate to widen this passage, nor to strive to make it a traveled path, because of the establishment of the innovation and the facilitation of the path for its practitioners. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sahih Muslim 1718b. It was not part of his (peace and blessings be upon him) practice to pray voluntary prayers at the standing place
'Arafah , but he was content with praying the midday and afternoon prayers in the mosque of Namirah, combining and shortening them, and he did not establish a prayer place at what is called the Mount of Mercy for those who climb this mountain to pray a voluntary or obligatory prayer on the day of 'Arafah . Rather, after praying the midday and afternoon prayers, he occupied himself with the remembrance of Allah through glorification, exaltation, praise, and saying Allahu Akbar, along with the talbiyah, supplicating to his Lord and imploring Him, until the sun set. Therefore, establishing a prayer place or mosque on this mountain for those who climb it is among the religious innovations introduced by the ignorant. The current prayer place should be removed, not to widen the passage, but to eliminate the innovation and to prevent the people of evil and deception from misleading the naive pilgrims to the Sacred House of Allah, and to cut off the ambitions of these people to take the pilgrims to the summit of this mountain or to its prayer place, thereby exposing the pilgrims to hardship and the theft of their money. Moreover, the place on this mountain where those who climb it pray is not given the rulings of mosques, and this is the signed ruling. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and companions. After the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta reviewed the inquiry sent by the honorable head of the Makkah court, via His Eminence the Minister of Justice, No. 1639, dated 1/11/1391 AH, to the honorable head of the Departments of Scientific Research and Ifta, Da'wah, and Guidance, and referred to it by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars, No. 97/2, dated 18/1/1392 AH, regarding the widening of the passage leading to the summit of the mountain known as Mount of Mercy to resolve the congestion problem that facilitated pickpocketing by thieves among the pilgrims of the House of Allah, and regarding the possibility of removing the prayer area located in the middle of this passage to achieve the widening.
After the Committee studied the inquiry, it responded as follows:
It is not established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he encouraged ascending Mount 'Arafat , which is known among people as: Mount of Mercy . It was not part of his (peace and blessings be upon him) practice to ascend this mountain during his Hajj, nor did he make it a ritual. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Take your rituals from me
خذوا عني مناسككم1 have stayed here (near these rocks), and the whole of Arafat is a place for stay
وقفت ها هنا وعرفة كلها موقف، وارفعوا عن بطن عرنةHe who did any act for which there is no sanction from our behalf, that is to be rejected.
من عمل عملاً ليس عليه أمرنا فهو رد'Arafah , but he was content with praying the midday and afternoon prayers in the mosque of Namirah, combining and shortening them, and he did not establish a prayer place at what is called the Mount of Mercy for those who climb this mountain to pray a voluntary or obligatory prayer on the day of 'Arafah . Rather, after praying the midday and afternoon prayers, he occupied himself with the remembrance of Allah through glorification, exaltation, praise, and saying Allahu Akbar, along with the talbiyah, supplicating to his Lord and imploring Him, until the sun set. Therefore, establishing a prayer place or mosque on this mountain for those who climb it is among the religious innovations introduced by the ignorant. The current prayer place should be removed, not to widen the passage, but to eliminate the innovation and to prevent the people of evil and deception from misleading the naive pilgrims to the Sacred House of Allah, and to cut off the ambitions of these people to take the pilgrims to the summit of this mountain or to its prayer place, thereby exposing the pilgrims to hardship and the theft of their money. Moreover, the place on this mountain where those who climb it pray is not given the rulings of mosques, and this is the signed ruling. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.