Mount Arafat
Encyclopedia
Arabic transliteration
Different approaches and methods for the romanization of Arabic exist. They vary in the way that they address the inherent problems of rendering written and spoken Arabic in the Latin alphabet; they also use different symbols for Arabic phonemes that do not exist in English or other European...
Jabal ‘Arafāt) is a granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
hill
Hill
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills often have a distinct summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of flat terrain without a massive summit A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills...
east of Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
. It is also known as the Mount of Mercy (Jabal ar-Rahmah). The hill is the place Muslims believe the Islamic prophet Muhammad stood and delivered the Farewell Sermon
The Farewell Sermon
The Farewell Sermon , also known as Muhammad's Final Sermon or The Last Sermon, was delivered by Muhammad on the 9th Dhu al-Hijjah, 10 AH in the Uranah valley of Mount Arafat The Farewell Sermon , also known as Muhammad's Final Sermon or The Last Sermon, was delivered by Muhammad on the 9th...
to the Muslims who had accompanied him for the Hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
towards the end of his life. It reaches about 70 m in height.
According to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic tradition, it was on Mount Arafah that Adam and Eve, separated for 200 years following their expulsion from the Garden of Eden
Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
, met and recognized each other and were reunited. Here too they were forgiven by Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
for their transgression after offering their repentance. A main reason of the ritual of pilgrimage is the renewal of that Prayer of Repentance every year standing on the hill of mercy, the climax of Hajj. The pilgrims will spend the whole day on Arafah supplicating to Allah to forgive their sins and praying for personal strength in the future.
Arafah rituals end at sunset and pilgrims then move to Muzdalifah
Muzdalifah
Muzdalifah is an open, level area near Mecca in Saudi Arabia associated with the Hajj. It lies just southeast of Mina on the route between Mina and Arafat. Each year on the 9th day of the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah, after an afternoon of prayer at Arafat , Muslim pilgrims visit Muzdalifah in...
for shortened Maghrib Prayer and `Isha’ prayers and for a short rest.
The level area surrounding the hill is called the Plain of Arafat. The term Mount Arafat is sometimes applied to this entire area. It is an important place in Islam because during the Hajj, pilgrims spend the afternoon there on the ninth day of Dhul Hijjah (ذو الحجة). Failure to be present in the plain of Arafat on the required day invalidates the pilgrimage. Many pilgrims stay here all night in vigil.
The hill is referenced in James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
's novel Finnegans Wake
Finnegans Wake
Finnegans Wake is a novel by Irish author James Joyce, significant for its experimental style and resulting reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the English language. Written in Paris over a period of seventeen years, and published in 1939, two years before the author's...
.
Since late 2010, this place is served by Mecca Metro
Mecca Metro
The Mecca Metro, officially the Al Mashaaer Al Muqaddassah Metro, is an long elevated metro in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which opened in November 2010.-Background:...
.