Araafah

Two / three days back I read an interesting post on one of my friend’s timeline listing the benefits of being an atheist 

Although I firmly believe that all beliefs, religious or otherwise are a matter of sensibility v/s senselessness, one can also not deny the fact that most atheists are the true believers and have not only understood The Messages of The Creator (that came via so many prophets), but are actually living their life according to the essence of all those Messages put together 

A couple of days before Eid ul Zuha was celebrated, sitting with my chaai ka cup somewhere, I overheard a conversation, the dumb irony of which irritated me  

So it went like ... 

1st person : 

"Allah has created ease for the people in worship and belief ... Everything is based on logic and neeyat ... He is All-knowing and knows you inside out "

2nd person : 

"Yeah .. Will be fasting on  the day of Araafah ... But I am a little confused, because going by the lunar calendar in India we are a day behind Saudi Arabia ... So on what date should I fast ?" 

3rd person :

"My friend lives in Dubai, they've given money for qurbaani in India, following the lunar calendar and sighting of moon we are celebrating Eid on different days, unn ki qurbaani qubool  hogi bhi ya nahi ... ???"

4th Person :

"Will it be against Islam if we show pics of Khaan e K'aba ( House of God / Holy K’baa ) to our children ... ?!!!"

Call this thinking what you will 

But in my humble opinion in the hands of Confused / Semiliterate / Over-thinking / Frightened followers, religion becomes a bondage that closes minds and enslaves souls ... and quite often it becomes a weapon that can mercilessly kill logic !!!

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A word about why Mount Arafaat is important to the Muslims and what is the day of Araafah :

It is believed that the Prophet was standing at Mount Arafaat on a Friday when this momentous message from God was delivered to him 

It said :

"Today I have perfected for you your religion and completed upon you My blessing and I have chosen for you Islam as [your] religion”’.

That day known as "Araafah" is hence considered an especially blessed one

Even before the time of Prophet Mohammed , Hajj was prevalent and Pilgrims used to travel to Arafaat and spend time in prayer and asking for forgiveness

Mount Arafat also known as “mountain of mercy” is a granodiorite hill near Makka