Arafat

Arafat is a plain outside Mecca where the pilgrims stand on the ninth day of Dhu al-Hijja; there they hear the sermon and pray to God until sunset. The Prophet said that standing at Arafat is the Hajj itself, so whoever does not stand there has no Hajj.

Arafat is a plain about twenty kilometres east of Mecca, outside the sacred boundary, where the pilgrims stand on the ninth of Dhu al-Hijja from noon to sunset; they hear the sermon, pray and supplicate there. The Prophet said 'Hajj is Arafat' — standing there is a pillar without which the Hajj is invalid. Among its landmarks is the small Mount of Mercy, linked in people's telling to Adam and Eve; its plain holds millions of pilgrims, who move on by night to Muzdalifa then Mina. White boundary markers separate it from the sacred zone.

Arafat is a plain some twenty kilometres east of Mecca outside the sacred boundary, the site of the standing on the ninth of Dhu al-Hijja. The hadiths establish that 'Hajj is Arafat' — the standing is the supreme pillar without which there is no Hajj — and the Prophet ﷺ stood there in the Farewell Pilgrimage and delivered the famous sermon; the sira books record that the verse 'Today I have perfected your religion' came down there. The schools fix the standing's time from noon of Arafa to dawn of sacrifice day, most allowing a moment of presence at night for the weak. Among its landmarks is the Mount of Mercy at its eastern edge, tied in tradition to Adam and Eve's reunion, and white boundary signs marking that it lies outside the sanctuary so pilgrims and non-pilgrims may both stand there. After sunset the crowds move to Muzdalifa then Mina, and state services steer millions within hours.