Eid Al Adha Part 3: Wuqoof – Standing at Arafat

You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

Yesterday was a busy day for us, and I didn’t get a chance to write.  My apologies to all three of my readers.  Today I will be more on top of it.

1.  What People are Doing on Hajj | Wuqoof

This is the first day of the Hajj itself, and may be the most important day of Hajj (my Muslim friends can correct me if I’m wrong).   Today is the day when Muslims gather on the Plain of Arafat and face Mecca.  Many will fast, as fasting atones for the guilt of the previous year and the following year.  From Noon till sundown, they pray on the following topics:

• They should remember God
• They should ask for forgiveness
• They should pray other Islamic prayers

An especially sacred moment is during the setting of the sun.  During this time, people are alone with God.  It is during this time that they are requesting that sins and lifelong shortcomings be forgiven.  At sunset, a cannon signals the end of the ritual and pilgrims head to Muzdalifa.  At this location many will sleep and some will stay up all night. 

2.  What people are doing in Bahrain:  I’ve not been able to find out a whole lot.  The people I was going to ask have not been around.  However, the roads were fairly quiet yesterday.  I didn’t see a whole lot of Bahraini’s out.  When we were out, it was mostly expatriates on the roads and in the grocery store.  I imagine that some people are fasting (even though they are not on Hajj) and many people are visiting family.

3.  Beliefs behind the rituals: 

• People are seeking to be forgiven for their sins.  It is important to note that the emphasis is on the shame of sins.  Our sins are shameful before God’s eyes.  Our sins separate us from God and we must be forgiven for those sins.
• People are seeking intimacy and closeness with God.  This goes hand in hand with the first.  In order to have intimacy and closeness with God, the shame of our sins must be removed from us, for God is a Holy God.
• God is a Holy God, and he cannot tolerate our sinfulness and the shame we bring on ourselves through our sin separates us from God.

4.  Similarities and Differences to Christianity

• Similarity:  As a follower of Jesus, I must seek forgiveness for my sins.  In fact, I am invited to do it in 1 John 1:8-9: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• Difference:  My sin is only forgiven because Jesus – the Son of God – has taken the punishment.  My sin has brought shame on me that separates me from God, and since God is a Holy and Righteous God, He must deal with my shame.  In His mercy, God placed the punishment on Jesus instead of me, giving me freedom from the shame I have brought upon myself.
• Similarity:  followers of Jesus seek intimacy with God.  In fact, people of many religions seek intimacy with God.  But, since God is Holy and cannot tolerate the shame of man’s sin, we cannot experience intimacy with Him outside of the forgiveness of sin.  Why seek intimacy with God?  Because God is all satisfying.  
• Similarity:  God is a Holy God.  God is Righteousness.  God is Mercy.  God is Forgiving.  God is Love.