Al-Hajj Al-Mabroor

“They said: ‘Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You
forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall
certainly be of the losers.’” (Al-A‘râf, 7: 23)
Bearing on that, the meaning would be (admitting) his sins and
(knowing) how to repent. Now we shall move back to the Khalîl
(the close servant) of Allah, Ibrâhîm (Abraham, peace be upon
him), and how did Allah inform him about the place of ‘Arafah.
Ibrâhîm (peace be upon him) saw in the vision he had that he was
slaughtering his son Ismâ‘îl (Ishmael, peace be upon him), a hard
deed on the soul being his only son whom he should slaughter
with his very hands. Ibrâhîm sat at that place thinking over and
mediating, therefore the day of ‘Arafah was known as the Day of
Tarwaiyah (Deliberation). On becoming certain that the vision is
true and knowing that he must slaughter his son, the place
wherein he learned the truth of the vision was named ‘Arafah
(Seeing the truth).
Another says that Jibrîl (Angel Gabriel) used to teach Ibrâhîm
(peace be upon him) the Hajj rituals at that place and used to ask
him, ‘Do you now know?’ And Ibrâhîm answered, ‘Yes, I do.’ And
perhaps it means that man knows his Lord in that place and comes
to it confessing his sins and begging for the Forgiveness of Allah in
humility and submission.
However, the different meanings and circumstances that led to
assigning the name of ‘Arafah or At-Tarwaiyah to that day are not in
opposition. Indeed, on that blessed Day Allah boasts of His
servants saying:
“See My servants, they have forsaken all what they possess and
came to Me disheveled and dust covered begging for My
Forgiveness and Mercy. I call you to bear witness that I have
forgiven them.”
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