Continue reading »]]> by Kenan Cetinkaya

kchetinkaya@hotmail.com

September 4, 2010

Similar to the example of a King or Queen who chooses certain days in a year to show his/her generosity and love toward his/her folk, God uses the holy times as a reasons to spread his mercy and blessings, much more than the common days and times, to his servants, Children of Adam. I believe that Holy months such as Ramadan and nights such as the night of the Qadir, has such a implication in Islamic faith. If we analyze the Holy Scriptures, mainly Quran and Bible, we can come cross the conclusion that all mankind is from a single person named Adam (pbuh). After him many people came and passed away and children Adam divided into very complex groups and nationalities. This division somehow made them forgets that they eventually came from the single father. I believe that the Holy nights remind us that we are all from the single parents and they were from the earth. Even though we as keeping specific

qualities different from each other, at last, can come together around the same table as the children of the same father in order to share celebration of the fasting.  Ramadan in this aspect, by keeping the self away from any kind of eating, drinking and sexual relationship, teaches Muslims that they must be humble in their action and be away from any kinds of arrogance. When a person abstains himself from these daily attitudes, he become weaker physically which help him to control the carnal desires. It is always easier to take in control the weaker person than strong and full person. Regarding to keeping the self and the society in control, Ramadan teaches Muslims that;

- They are not the real owner of their life and the possessions. God is the one who gives mankind whatever they have including their life. That is why Muslims generally pays their alms-giving (Zakat) in the Ramadan by acknowledging the reality that they all come from the real owner of the universe.
- Because Muslims feel weaker in strength they understand that in reality people are so weak. In every second they have everlasting demands and request from God. Because they exactly feel what the poor and the sick people feel, during their fasting they are commanded to pay fitr sadaqa (small amount of food given for the poor)
- By obeying God’s rules during the day and taking control the carnal self, they confess the reality that real owner of the universe asks from people to love God and serve him accordingly. In Islamic terms serving for humanity is serving for God also. That is why instead of staying away from the community and keeping themselves in seclusion, Muslims are encouraged to integrate into the community and strength their relationship with the others, which reaches to its peak during the Ramadan. Therefore, in Muslim societies it is not weird to see families host families, neighbors and relatives in Ramadan much more than other days. In the public squares of the towns Ramadan tents are set in order to entertain and teach Muslims about the wisdoms of Ramadan and being good citizen for their community and good servant for God. At the end of Ramadan this kinds of activities reaches their peak with the celebrations of Ramadan as the community.

Continue reading »]]> by MEVLÜT KARABULUT
04 September 2010

Ankara has set a record for the most people breaking their fast together at one time — 10 platforms and nearly 100 civil society organizations banded together in an attempt to break the record with a 50,000-person iftar, and attendance far exceeded expectations.

Nearly 75,000 Ankarites showed up for the iftar (fast-breaking dinner), which was held at the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) with a setup that included table space and chairs for 50,000 people. On the menu was lentil soup, rice pilaf, stir-fried meat, ayran, dates, olives, honey, butter and other traditional iftar appetizers, salad and baklava for dessert.

Three separate catering companies prepared food for the event, cooking eight tons of meat, five tons of rice and two tons of garbanzo beans, in addition to 60,000 servings of pide bread, 60,000 units of ayran and 120,000 bottles of water.

The chairs of course were not enough, and so plates of food were distributed to people who then went and sat in nearby bleachers and on the grass to eat. People had been shuttled to the AKM by municipal buses from neighboring districts, while some minibuses and public buses were set aside to serve the iftar area for free. Some attendees were unable to get any food at all; those who participated in the iftar were given tickets free of charge to the Lunapark amusement park.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other ministers also participated in the event.

The iftar had an undeniable political edge to it as well — the food packaging had writing printed on it supporting “yes” votes in the upcoming constitutional amendment referendum slated for Sept. 12.

Large projection screens were set up at different locations throughout the AKM, on which images from the iftar were displayed live. Some attendees wore campaign gear supporting “yes” votes in the referendum, such as a group wearing “Drivers and Chauffeurs Also Vote Yes.”

A large round table was reserved for the prime minister, other ministers and bureaucrats and members of the organizing platforms. Speaking at the iftar, Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek also addressed the topic of the referendum in his comments. “We are undergoing an important and difficult test for the future of Turkey and our children and for democracy,” he said. Gökçek also criticized political parties that are running campaigns in favor of “no” votes in the referendum.

source: http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-220917-record-breaking-iftar-serves-over-50000-in-capital.html

Continue reading »]]> by Fethullah Gulen

At this time when we experience occasions of much sorrow and some contentment, we sense the promise in the advent of Ramadan, the month of mercy and forgiveness. In the climate of this month of light, we feel both spring and autumn at the same time in our inner worlds, seasons of lovely expectations and longing.

With their profound, spiritual breezes, every sound and breath of air in Ramadan announces in a most exalted and exhilarating style all the pleasures we would like to taste in life and the hopes of good we deeply cherish.

Coming like successive rays of light, the smiling days of Ramadan envelop us with the expectations, hopes and joys they carry from the worlds beyond, and preset to us samples from Paradise.

When Ramadan begins, our inner life, its thoughts and feelings, is renewed and strengthened. Breezes of mercy, coming in different wavelengths, unite with our hopes and expectations, and penetrate our hearts. In the enchanting days and illumined nights of Ramadan, we feel as if all the obstacles blocking our way to God are removed and the hills on that way are leveled. Like rain pouring on the earth, Ramadan comes with streams of meanings and emotions that water dried and thirsty hearts, making the inner worlds of people propitious for new meanings and conceptions. By means of the light of the days, hours and minutes of this blessed month, hearts attain such spiritual depth and become so purified that they never desire to leave its climate of peace.

As Ramadan approaches, we live the delight of anticipation and preparation for it. The food and drink that come into our kitchens in the days before it comes, put us in mind of it with a thrill of expectation. And then it comes at last, laden with mercy and forgiveness. As soon as it honours us, each of us finds himself in a spiral of light rising toward the Unknown, Existent One in a new spiritual mood in the night-time and in another, different spiritual mood in daytime. We open our eyes to each of its days with a different solemnity and self-possession, and reach every evening in an enchanting, delightful serenity.

The pleasant nights of Ramadan receive warmest welcome from all souls. Eyes look more deeply in them and people feel deeper love for each other. Everyone desires to do good to everyone and passions and ill-feeling are subjugated to a certain extent. In Ramadan everyone feels so much more attached to God and is so careful in his relations with others that it is impossible not to see this.

Believing souls taste the contentment of belief more deeply and experience the blessing of the good morals. Prescribed by Islam and the spiritual ease of doing good to others. Moreover, they try to expand, to share, this contentment, blessing and ease with others. Since these souls at rest are convinced that one day will come when this life will end in an eternal happiness and whatever they suffer and sacrifice here for God’s sake will be returned with very great reward, they struggle against their animal appetites in a mood of doing an act of worship. The meals they take at sunset to break the fast give them the pleasure of worship and are followed by early night prayer with the addition of the supererogatory service of worship particular to Ramadan. The meals they take before dawn to start fasting are united with supererogatory night prayer (tahajjud) and become a dimension of their nearness to God. Streets are filled with the people going to and returning from mosques, in which declarations of ‘God is the Greatest’ resound as in the Masjid al-Haram in Makka. You would think that the streets are each a mosque and each mosque is Ka’ba. The people shaped by Ramadan in this way, thought mortal in nature, gain a sort of eternity and each of their acts done in the consciousness of deliberate worship becomes a ceremony pertaining to the Hereafter.

Nights are experienced more deeply and in consideration of the afterlife, and days are spent as portions of time dominated by resolution and strong will-power. Those fasting for God’s sake feel a thrill of joy, and spend every and each day in the excitement of a new re-union. They reach every morning in an indescribable feeling as if they were called to a new testing. You can discern on their faces a sign of humility mixed with solemnity, a feeling of nothingness before God together with serenity and seriousness and melancholy combined with a feeling of security. Their every act reflects spiritual peace and exhilaration coming from adherence to God’s will and confidence in Him, and sincerity and kindness acquired by being cleansed in the cascades of the Qur’an. As if created from light and consisting in only their shadows, they are very careful to give no one any harm or trouble. Respect and courtesy are so much a part of their nature that, even after a day of thirst and hunger and resisting their carnal desires, they remain gentle and pure-hearted. They display a mood shaped by fear and reverence, discipline and contentment, solemnity and politeness. They are respectful and reverent toward the Almighty and well-mannered and sincere toward one another.

Their faces and eyes reflect different degrees and dimensions of depth of spiritual realms and are radiant with the lights of the unseen world. Though each individual may have been shaped by a different climate and different ideas, – all of them, including the intelligent and pure-hearted, those used to a disciplined, careful life and those a bit untidy and careless, the nervous and the calm, those very sensitive to problems of the age and those a little unfeeling, the rich and the poor, the happy and sorrowful, the healthy and the ill, the white and black – share almost the same feelings in Ramadan. They reach the night and morning together, listen to the call to prayers and perform the prayers together, take the meals before dawn and break their fasts together. They feel together one of the two instances of rejoicing promised for those who fast. [The Prophet said: There are two instances of rejoicing for one who fasts: one when he will receive the reward of fasting in the Hereafter.]

All Muslims, whatever their nationality or country of origin or temperament or social status or physical state, come together and breathe the same ‘air’ in the climate of Ramadan. In it, their souls are shaped in a way particular to that climate, and they share a sort of deeply-felt happiness which can be experienced only by spirit beings. Ramadan has a fascinating effect on Muslims that leaves its positive imprints on even the souls of the poorest and most oppressed people.

Ramadan envelops us with many beauties: the pleasure in the supererogatory prayers performed after the prescribed night service; consciousness of the blessings of Ramadan; the light that pours on us both from the heaven and from the lights that decorate the mosques; the nearness of the Creative Power and Its message of compassion and forgiveness whispered in our hearts. As if planned and commanded in order to kindle such feelings and thoughts in us, each element of the public rites in Ramadan causes the ‘strings’ of our heats to resonate: the calls made from minarets and the blessings called on the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, and the pronouncements of Divine Unity, Grandeur and Glory which resound in our ears, all prepare our souls for worship. They awake us to spiritual and celestial truths and enable even the crudest soul to perform its duties of worship in the way those duties are meant to be performed.

The voices rising from minarets meet with the voices of the inhabitants of the heavens and resound throughout the heavens and the earth. They penetrate our souls and take us through a climate of purest meanings and poetry, a realm of sweet imagination. In this pleasant atmosphere, we feel as if it is Ramadan which pours from the heavens, which is discerned o the faces of people and scents the air and is written in the lights of the mosques. Enchanted by this calm and peaceful atmosphere, we achieve a sort of infinitude and feel as if comprehending the whole of existence. Ramadan captivates particularly those open to eternity to such an extent that they experience nothing else than it.

I remember well that during my childhood when there was as yet no electricity in cities, people walked to mosques with kerosene lamps in the darkness of night. We imagined that Ramadan was walking around in the alleys in the lights of those lamps. Under the influence o poetry, meaning and deep spirituality which Ramadan poured into our souls, we desired that it should never come to an end. Nevertheless, despite our heartfelt desire, it flew away and the festive day followed it with all its pomp.

source: http://en.mfethullahgulen.info/recent-articles/1201-being-shaped-by-ramadan.html

Continue reading »]]> by Kenan Cetinkaya

E-mail: kchetinkaya@hotmail.com

THE SANCTITY OF WATER IN CHRISTIANITY AND OTHER RELIGIONS (ESPECIALLY IN ISLAM)

Introduction

In this paper, I am going to examine sanctity of water in detail in Christianity in terms of using in the first sacrament; Baptism. Afterward I will compare water’s role in Christianity and Islam.

In the beginning, I will try to find out the historicity and theology of the using of water in the other religions –especially in Judaism– before Christianity. In the main body of the paper I will deeply discuss the role of water in the New Testament and in Catholic Tradition and Theology. Then, I will touch the sanctity of water in Islam and its similarities and differences from Christianity.

Common features of the Water in Cultures and Religions

Water, especially, following water, whether of a spring or river has always struck man with its “powers” and efficiency. It moves, it heals, it inspires, it prophesies. It empresses one with its life which seems to be continually renewed. Water are and are life. The symbolism and sanctity of water, says, Eliade, expresses at the same time the “performal, virtual, the chaotic.[1]” The waters before the world of creation and the waters which submerge continents periodically are expressive of this cosmic symbolism of water.[2]

Secondly, water is undoubtedly one of the most ancient and universal of all religious symbols.[3] Without water there is no life, yet water has the power to destroy as well as to create in general religious view. We can see that in many stories of the several religions and myths. In common view humankind is at the mercy of water just as people are at the compassion of the God. The significance of water manifests itself differently in the religions and beliefs but it is these two common features of water that underlie its place in the cultures and faiths.

A) ROLE OF THE WATER IN THE WORLD RELIGIONS

1) Hinduism

Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world known history. Role of water in Hinduism has a special place because it is believed to have spiritually cleansing powers.  To Hindus all water is sacred, especially rivers[4]. Although Hinduism encompasses so many different beliefs among those that most Hindus do share is the importance of striving to attain purity and avoiding pollution.  This relates to both physical cleanliness and spiritual well-being.[5]

The Ganges River is the most important of the sacred rivers Hindus attach great importance to bathing in and drinking the water of the Ganges River in India as a means of enjoying rest after death. Water of the river is used for praying and for testing of people who going to die soon.

The other function of water: Morning cleansing with water is a basic obligation for Hindus daily life. Also, “Tarpana”[6] is the point at which the worshipper makes a cup with his hands and pours the water back into the river reciting from “mantras”[7].  After sipping some water, he may then apply the distinguishing mark of his “sampradaya” (tradition), and say the morning prayer, “samdhya”.

2) Buddhism

For Buddhists symbolism and ritual is senseless because they usually search reality from unreality. It does not give much important to matter but spiritual way. Nonetheless water has important feature in Buddhist funerals where water is poured into a bowl placed before the monks and the dead body. [8]

3) Shinto

Water is universal in its all religious uses, but nowhere more central than in Shinto. From ancient times, the Japanese have used water for purification (harai) according to ancient Chinese records of the Wei Dynasty. Japanese families bathed themselves in a river after attending a funeral. The custom of taking baths is a long one in Japan, all of which implies a deep desire to be ritually pure. This attitude probably led to the ascetic practice known as “misogi shuho”. In modern Shinto, harai takes many forms, and may not even use water. A waterfall, river, or pond may also be used. The open sea, because of its salt content, is a considered most effective. Immersion one of these is referred to as “misogi”.[9]

4) Zoroastrianism

Water is also important fact in Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrians believe that pollution is evil and that water, when pure, is sacred.  Zoroastrians themselves must avoid pollution of any kind and must perform ritual ablutions before saying their prayers (which are said 5 times a day facing a source of light) and before any religious ceremonies such as weddings.

Purity and impurity are essential concerns in Zoroastrian thought and practice.  For minor pollutions, “padyab-kusti” is performed, which involves washing and saying special prayers. On the other hand, serious pollution, for example contact with a dead body, requires the nine day “baresnum ceremony” which is held in the temple area and includes periods of prayer and washing with the aid of priests. Also one of the six benevolent divine beings is feminine and creator of water and represented by water in priestly acts of worship.[10]

5) Judaism

a) Role of Water in the Rituals

In Judaism using water for purification is so important and it is acknowledged by Torah and Talmud.  Washing the hands[11], and the feet, or total immersion which must done in flowing – living water like river, spring or in a “mikveh”.

“Mikveh” means a gathering of water for ritual immersion is a Jewish ritual bath used for cleansing after contact with a dead body or after menstruation. It can also be used for immersing vessels and as part of the initiation ceremony for converts.  Only water that has not previously been drawn into a container can be used, and there must be no leakages.  The “mikveh” has its origins in Ancient times when people had to be purified in a “mikveh” before they could enter the Temple area.  Water in this case is important for its cleansing properties. . Its water would be rainwater, springs, snow and ice.[12]

In the temple area ablutions were practiced by priests, converts to Judaism as part of the initiation rites and by women on the seventh day after their menstrual period[13].  Moreover, priests had to wash their hands and feet before taking part in Temple services.  The ritual washing of hands is performed before and after meals and on many other occasions.[14]

b) Role of Water in the Old Testament:

Because of it is sacred both for Jews and Christians; I will look at the Old Testament very deeply in terms of sanctity of water. There are many verses which role of water is important. However, I will touch on some very familiar and very relevant to the subject. The story of the Great Flood is mentioned in Genesis 6-8. The flood is a divine punishment from which Noah and followers of him continued to exist because of their righteousness.[15] The Flood washed away all the sins of the world so that people could start afresh. For some interpreters washing of world with flood is baptism of world itself.    This event also echoed in Christianity by the death and resurrection of Christ that removes sin so that nothing will stand in the way of man and God.

Secondly, the Red Sea as instrument of God’s punishment to the people who insist on do evil against God’s enjoins. On the other hand this miracle was a reward for the faith of Moses and the Israelites, God’s Chosen People. Tertullian, one of the early Church Fathers emphasizes the two different functions of the water in here, too.[16]

Moreover, some Prophets such as Elijah, Jeremiah and Haggai predicted and expounded drought of water as punishment from God. For instance : in 1 Kings 17:1 “And Elias the Thesbite, of the inhabitants of Galaad, said to Achab: As the Lord liveth, the God of Israel, in whose sight I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to the words of my mouth.” And also Jeremiah 14: 1-6 and Haggai 1: 10-11

Polluted and undrinkable water was also very serious role of water in the Old Testament.  One of the plagues of Egypt was turning the waters of the Nile river to blood (Exodus 7:14-24).  Again, when the Israelites left the Red Sea and came to Marah they found the water there bitter and complained to Moses.  God allowed Moses to perform the miracle of making the water sweet and restored the Israelites faith in Him (Exodus 15:22-27).

Water is also important for cleansing.  Priests were washed at their consecration (Exodus 29:4):  And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water.

Special ablutions were demanded for priests on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:4, 24, 26) “16:4 He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on”. And water is used for all men for the removal of ceremonial pollution (Leviticus 11:40 and 15:13 and Deuteronomy 23:11 ): And he that eateth of the carcass of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: he also that beareth the carcass of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even.

Water is also symbolic of God’s blessing and spiritual refreshment and is used many times in the Bible.  The following are just a few examples:

Isaiah 35:6-7

6- Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. 7- And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

Isaiah 41:17-18

17-When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. 18- I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

In Ezekial’s vision of God’s house the waters that poured from under the threshold represent the unrestricted flow of God’s blessings upon his people (Ezekiel 47:1-12).

Another important point which Dr Klein points out is water as metaphor for Torah. According to the author in Exodus 15:22 it says that “ and they traveled three days in the wilderness and found no water.” So, it can be said that children of Israel went for three days without Torah.  When they found water they actually find the Torah, the living source. [17]

B) SANCTITY OF THE WATER IN CHRISTIANITY

Water, bread, and wine are not simply reminders of God’s love: they bring God to us. In baptism we are set free from the slavery of sin and dressed with Christ. In the Eucharist, Christ himself becomes our food and drink.

(Henri J. M. Nouwen, Bread for the Journey, 1997)

From the Christian point of view as, very close to Old Testament view, three essential dimensions of water symbolism are important. The first one can be termed cosmic dimension. According to this dimension, there can be no life without water, and because of this primitive man identifies water with the principle of life, sees in it the primarily essential matter of the world: “ … and the Spirit of God was moving on the face of the water”(Gen, 1:2). Secondly, it is the symbol of destruction and death. It is dark habitation of the demonic powers, and the very image of the irrational, uncontrollable, and elemental in the world. And finally, water is the principle of purification, of cleanliness, and therefore of regeneration and renewal. It washes away dirties; it recreates the pristine purity of the earth.[18]

1) Baptism

Baptism is one of the most important sacraments of the Christianity which accepted by almost all Christian groups. With deeply symbols of the baptism, role of water in this sacrament is undoubtedly important. For instance, baptism with water naturally brings to mind the rites of cleansing, purification, and initiation as it largely has been mentioned in Gospel of John.[19]

Before introduction to role of water in Baptism it is important to say that before Christianity the rite of baptizing was employed by several Jewish sects of the period, for example, the Essenes. Thus John was not an innovator in this respect.[20]However, in Christian tradition it has been shaped in new form and owned by Christians. In baptism, role of water begins with blessing of holy water.

Blessing of Holy Water

The blessing of water is necessary element in the celebration of baptism.  This prayer is wedded to the sacramental act in its essential sacrament as the prayer is an integral part of the liturgical action.[21]

2) Water Symbolism and Water (as Baptismal action) in John’s Gospel “Living Water”

The role of water is very evidently in Gospel of John. The most important item in this instruction of Christ’s is however the description of the new birth as effected by water and the spirit.[22] This is the clearest statement in the New Testament of the role played by these two essential elements in Christian Baptism.

Another conversation, that between Jesus and the Samaritan woman near the well, contains important baptismal doctrine. The distinction Jesus makes on this occasion between well-water and “living water” (water flowing in a brook or from a spring) would appear to be source of the Church’s insistence from earliest times upon the use of flowing water in the administration of baptism.

In John’s narrative, moreover, “living water” is a symbol for a mysterious supernatural reality. “Any man who drinks this water” (that drawn from Jacob’s well) “will be thirsty again. Whoever drinks the water I shall give him, will never again experience thirst. For the water I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water that leaps up unto eternal life”.[23] Among the fathers of the church, Justin and Irenaeus understand these words of baptism. Moreover, the evangelist himself explains this “fountain” or “rivulets” of “living water” as the Spirit whom those who came to believe in him were destined to receive.[24] This ‘living water’ which symbolizes the Spirit is the sacrament of Baptism. According to Dr. Worden, Christ’s promise that this divinely given ‘drink’ will satisfy thirst forever is a reference to a quality of Baptism which distinguishes it from the Eucharist: the impossibility of its being repeated.[25]

According to Worden, the most important item in this instruction of Christ’s is the description of the new birth as affected by water and the Spirit.[26] This is the clearest statement in the New Testament of the role played by these two essential elements in Christian Baptism. Furthermore, he says that by certain symbolic acts sinful people try to return to union with God-by washing in water, for example: water very fittingly symbolized the living God, and by immersing himself in water a man could be symbolically united once more with God, the source of all life.[27] In addition, Bruno Burki points out that Christian baptism in water and the Spirit has its stage set for it by the anamnetic recall of God’s action as Savior of all, by means of water, and by appeal to the Holy Spirit as a Person of Blessed Trinity, to intervene anew.[28]

On another hand, Dr Lawler points out another considerable aspect of the water using in Baptism in early Christianity. He shows us the early Syrian and Palestinian Church as an example. In respect of him, in the early Syrian Church the emphasis of the water ritual fell on womb and birth, as in John’s “useless one is born of water and the Spirit; he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jh.3:5). On the other hand, in the early Palestinian Church the emphasis fell on tomb and death and resurrection, as in Paul’s “were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, [they] too might walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4). Lawler concludes the examples as saying that “The tomb and womb, death and life, meanings came together, and the baptismal ritual was explicitly interpreted in both ways.” [29]

3) The asperges

This is the ceremony of sprinkling altar, clergy, and people with holy water on Sundays. Leo IV (d.885) ordained that each priest should bless water every Sunday in his won church and sprinkle the people with it. At the same time, Hincmar, Archbishop of Reims, made a similar disposition for his diocese. [30]

Such sprinkling on Sundays was remiscent of Baptism; the same is true of modern rite of Asperges. The antiphon Asperges me (but during paschal time, Vidi aquam) accompanies the sprinkling. The baptismal water, blessed at the Easter Vigil service but separated before the infusion of the holy oils, is used for the sprinkling in church on Easter day, and in homes and other places. [31]

4) Use in other Functions

It is known that in the earliest Christian times, water was used for expiatory and purification purposes, to a way analogous to its employment under the Jewish Law. For this sacrament flowing water, river or sea water were used by early Christian Area.[32]

Some early documents[33] have information about blessing of water beside oil during mass. At mass, the priest’s mingling a few drops of water with the wine to be consecrated symbolizes the union of two natures in Christ, the unity of Christ and his people, and the water that came out with blood from his side. This is possibly based on the Jewish custom of taking water with their wine. In baptism, water represents death to one’s old self and a new life in Christ.[34]Also, we can see many examples from the life of early Christians that refers the sanctification of water by signing the cross over water. In early time, moreover, it is believed that blessed water will cure some certain diseases. [35]

Also, in John 13:1-15 it shows us very important role of water in Christian life especially in Eastern Churches. Because of that event, it became a ritual for Christians.[36] Also, water is used to mix with water during the mass ceremony.[37] For purifying the chalice after communion the water is used again.

Further, a strictly liturgical use of water is also made in such offices as the laying of the foundation stone of a church and the consecration of a cemetery, though here the blessing consists only of the five prayers commonly used for making ordinary holy water. In the blessing of a bell, however, and in the dedication of a church special features occur. In the case of the bell an entirely new prayer, “Benedic, Domine, hanc aquam”, is inserted, and with the water thus consecrated the bell is afterwards completely washed inside and out.

For the consecration of a church a special lustral water is prepared after the bishop has entered the building, and the various ingredients, viz. salt, water, ashes, and wine, before being mixed together, are blessed with prayers which differ entirely from those employed in the case of holy water for common use. This lustral water is sprinkled while the bishop seven times makes the circuit of the altar and three times that of the interior of the church. The rite of washing the high altar on Maundy Thursday is performed in the Roman basilicas and some other churches with a certain solemnity, and was in old times an even more noteworthy function than at present. For this purpose wine and sometimes rose water were employed as well as the pure element. Again at the opening of the holy doors in the Roman basilicas when the year of jubilee begins, the penitentiaries, provided with sponges and towels, wash and wipe the threshold, after the previously obstructed door has been unwalled. Less strictly liturgical is the use of water which is blessed with various special formulae for devotional purposes.[38]

It is habitual to have a holy water font at the entrance of a church and for one to use the sacramental by making the sing of the cross. Holy water is ordinary water sanctified by the blessing of the Church. The blessing consists of exotcisms of water and salt; the salt is added to the water in the form of a cross to signify that this water is now preserved from corruption. The practice of putting salt into water comes from the incident of the miraculous cure of the poisonous well where the prophet Eliseus used salt to purify the water of the well (see 2 Kings 19-22). [39]

Christians are permitted to take holy water home with them to sprinkle the sick, their homes, fields, etc. it is recommended that they put it in fonts in the rooms of their homes and use it to bless themselves daily and frequently. Water blessed during the Easter Vigil is known as Easter Water. It is customary for millions the world over to obtain for their homes this Easter water which has been blessed on Easter Saturday.[40] Finally, the liturgy frequently calls for the washing of hands or objects (such as bells or chalices, for example) as a necessary or symbolic purification.[41]

5) Role water in the New Testament

Because we focused on the role of symbol of water much, we will only touch on other some important verses in the New Testament. In the New Testament water is connected with the gift of eternal life.  Some examples are

John 4:14 “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Revelation 21:6

“Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.”
Water is also connected with the baptismal cleansing for the forgiveness of sins as in Hebrews 10:22

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”

Also, Acts 10:47; 11:16 departs between water baptism and Spirit-baptism; baptism of the Spirit can even precede water baptism. In 1 Peter 3:19-21, baptism is designated an image of salvation through water.  John 3:5 and Titus 3:5 The whole event, the symbolic action of water baptism and the Spirit-baptism in faith to a new Christian life, can be summarized as “being reborn” or the “washing of rebirth”.[42]

C) SANTITY OF WATER IN ISLAM

1) Role of Water in the Rituals

Islam requires physical and spiritual cleanliness. On the physical side, Islam requires Muslims to clean their bodies, clothes, houses, and community, and they are rewarded by God for doing so. While people generally consider cleanliness desirable, Islam insists upon it and makes it an indispensable fundamental of religious life. In fact, books on Islamic jurisprudence often contain a whole chapter on this very requirement.[43] Pure water is used essentially in matters of purification or “wudu” and “gusl”. Hence the necessity to investigate water’s purity, water has four essential attributes: smell, color, taste, and fluidity.[44]

In Islamic ritual daily ritual life there are three kinds of ablutions.  First one is ghusl, the major ablution which is the method of bath that one should make ablutions, and then pour water over the entire body, from head to foot, at least three times.[45] Muslims are obliged to perform “ghusl” after sexual intercourse, after a woman completes her menstrual cycle and after a woman gives birth which incur state of major ritual impurity.[46] Ghusl is also recommended before the Friday prayer, the two main feasts of Islamic calendar (Ramadan and Feast of Sacrifice), and before touching the Quran.  Ghusl must be done for the dead before they are buried. [47]

The second cleanliness way is “wudu”[48], which can be named as the minor ablution, which is performed to remove minor ritual impurity from everyday life.  This must be done before each of the five daily prayers and involves using pure water to wash the face with pure water, rub the head with water, washing the hands and arms up to the elbows and the feet up to the ankles.[49]Every mosque has running water for “wudu”.  The third type of ablution is performed when no water is available: “tayammum”.  In this case clean sand is used.

2) Role of Water in the Quran

Islam describes water with very sacred qualities such as a life-giving, sustaining and purifying resource. It is the origin of all life on earth, the substance from which God (Allah) created man[50], and the Holy Qur’an emphasizes its centrality: “We made from water every living thing”.[51]Water is the primary element that existed even before the heavens and the earth did: “And it is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and his Throne was upon the waters”.[52]

The water of rain, rivers and fountains mentioned in the Qur’an are symbolized Allah’s benevolence: “He sends down saving rain for them when they have lost all hope and spreads abroad His mercy”[53] At the same time, the believers are frequently reminded that it is Allah Who gives sweet water to the people, and that He can just as easily hold back it: “Consider the water which you drink. Was it you that brought it down from the rain cloud or We? If We had pleased, We could make it bitter”.[54]

Furthermore, from the many Quranic references to cooling rivers, fresh rain and fountains of flavored drinking water in Paradise; we can infer that water is the essence of the gardens of Paradise. According to Quran water flows beneath and through them, bringing coolness and greenery, and stopping thirst. The believers will be rewarded for their faithfulness by “rivers of living water; and rivers of milk unchanging in taste, and rivers of wine, delicious to the drinkers, and rivers of honey purified”[55]. The Qur’an also equates the waters of Paradise with moral uprightness: “In the garden is no idle talk; there is a gushing fountain”[56]

In the Hadith (Saying of the Prophet)

“The key to the heaven is salat(daily prayers), and the key to Salat is purification”[57]

Prophet Muhammad gives importance to cleanliness in daily life and religious acts. So that he says: “Cleanliness is half of faith,”[58] He also mentions the spiritual role of water while one practice the small ablution. He says: “When a believer performs ablution (Wudu) and rinses his mouth, sins go out from his mouth. When he snuffs up water, the sins go out from his nose, when he washes his face, sins go out from his face, so that they go out from under his eyelashes. When he washes his hands, sins go out from his hands, and from under his fingernails. When he wipes his head, sins go out from his head and frim his ears. When he washes his feet, sins go out from his feet and from beneath his toe nails. Then walking to Masjid (temple of Muslims) for praying (salat) provides extra blessing for him.”[59]

One of the most famous saying of the Prophet Muhammad he points out the effect of sincerely ritual with water hereafter. He says: “The believers will come on Resurrection Day with brightness on their foreheads, wrists and ankles from the effect of ablution.” [60]

CONCLUSION

Water is one of the most important elements in life of humankind. Not only humankind but all living beings were created by water. Therefore it is very evidential in all religious theology and ritual daily life.

On the other hand the similar affect of water can be considered especially in two theistic religions; Islam and Christianity. In the Bible, it mentions the water before creation of the world while “Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”[61] In the Quran, likewise it says that everything was created by water. And before existence of the universe God’s rule and sovereignty were on the water.[62] Furthermore, In the New Testament, all three synoptic Gospels begin with the baptism of Jesus which the water is so important for this the most important act. Also Jesus washed his disciples’ feet with water also he walked on the water.[63] In Islamic perspective Prophet Muhammad shows many miracles with help of God by using water. He flowed water between his fingers, he increased the quantity of food and water.[64] In both religions water means both cleanness and pure also can be used for punishment of God as in the flood story. Christians and Muslims also use water for their prayers. Muslims have to use water before five time daily prayers and before touching Quran and pilgrimage of Kaba, holy place in Mecca. Water is meaningful when Christians communicate it with the Jesus’ mission and relate it with the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, Muslims use it for spiritual purification before meet and prayer for God.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hamidullah, Muhammad, Introduction to Islam, Turkish Religious Foundation, Ankara, Turkey, 1997

Buyukcelebi, Ismail, Living in the Shade of Islam, The Light Inc, New Jersey, 2002

Kazi, Mazhar U., Guidance from the Messenger, Al Huda Publisher, Richardson, Texas, 2002

Williams, John Alden, The word of Islam, University of Texas Press, Austin, 1994

Sacraments in the Scriptures, Edited by T. Worden, Springfield, Illinois, 1966

Vorgrimler, Herbert, Sacramental Theology, Liturgical Press, 1992

Encyclopedia of Catholic Devotion and Practices, Intr. Ann Ball, Indiana,2003

New Catholic Encyclopedia, V 14, Theodicy, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1962

Klein, Isaac, A guide to Jewish Religious Practice, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York, 1979

Neusner, Jacob, Tamara Sonn and Jonathan E.Brockopp, Judaism and Islam in Practice, New York, 2000

Sappenfield, William J., The Chaos of Grace, The Living Pulpit, January-March 2005/The Living Pulpit

Demetrio, Francisco, Symbols in Comparative Religion and the Georgics, Ateneo University Publications, 1968

Schmemann, Alexander, Of Water and The Spirit, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1974

Burki, Bruno, The Blessing over the Baptismal Water, Studia Liturgica, v.26, 1996

Collins, Adela Yarbro, the Origin of Christian Baptism, Studia Liturgica, v. 19, 1989

Picken, Stuart D.B., Historical Dictionary of Shinto, The Scacecrow Press, London, 2002

[2] Demetrio, Francisco, Symbols in Comparative Religion and the Georgics, 32

[3] Schmemann, Alexander, Of Water and The Spirit, 39

[4] There are seven sacred rivers Ganges, Yamuna, Godavari, Sarasvati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri

[5] Dougan, Jane, see http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Po-Re/Religions-Water-in.html

[6] The rituals after death in Hinduism, see http://www.hinduism.co.za/tarpana.htm

[7] Mantra is a religious or mystical syllable or poem, typically from the Sanskrit language see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantra

[8] Abrams, Water in Religion, see http://www.africanwater.org/religion.htm

[9] Picken, Historical Dictionary of Shinto, 231-2

[10] http://www.africanwater.org/religion.htm

[11] Neusner, Jacob, Tamara Sonn and Jonathan E.Brockopp, Judaism and Islam in Practice, New York, 2000, 47

[12] Klein, Isaac, A guide to Jewish Religious Practice, 518-20

[13] Neusner, 55

[14]Klein, 49, likewise, after burial, washing as  mitswah and washing hands in the morning, See Klein, 3, 63.

[15] Schemann, 39-40

[16] Tertullian, On Baptism, Chapter 9 see also, http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0321.htm

[17] Klein, 27-28

[18] Schmemann, 39

[19] Jones, Larry Paul, The symbol of water in the Gospel of John, ,49

[20] The New Catholic encyclopedia, this baptism of john was not the Sacrament; rather, for those who received it, it was an external manifestation of interior sorrow for personal sins. See also, Collins, Adela Yarbro,  the Origin of Christian Baptism, 28

[21] Burki, Bruno, The Blessing over the Baptismal Water,178

[22] See Jn. 3:5

[23] See Jn. 4:13-14

[24] See, Jn. 7:38-39

[25] Sacraments in the Scriptures, 54-55

[26] See, Jn. 3:5

[27] Sacraments in the Scriptures, 132

[28] Burki, Bruno, The Blessing over the Baptismal Water, 178

[29] Lawler, Michael G., Symbol and Sacrament, 64

[30] New Catholic Encyclopedia, water

[31] Ibid, water

[32]New Catholic Encyclopedia, Holy Water, see  http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07432a.htm

[33] Such as Testamentum Domini and  The Pontifical of Scrapion of Thumis

[34] Encyclopedia of Catholic Devotion and Practices, 655-56

[35] The New Catholic Encyclopedia, Liturgical Using of Water

[36] The New Catholic Encyclopedia, Washing Feet and  Hands, see also http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15557b.htm

[37] The New Catholic Encyclopedia, Liturgical Using of Water, see also,  http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15564a.htm

[38] Liturgical Use of Water, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15564a.htm

[39] Encyclopedia of Catholic Devotion and Practices, 656

[40] Ibid, 656

[41] New Catholic Encyclopedia, water

[42] Vorgrimler, Herbert, Sacramental Theology,105-107

[43] Buyukcelebi, Ismail, Living in the Shade of Islam, 155

[44] Buyukcelebi, Ismail, Living in the Shade of Islam, 155

[45] Hamidullah, Muhammad, Introduction to Islam, 297

[46] Williams, John Alden, The word of Islam, 70

[47] Neusner, 42

[48] Neusner, 42

[49] This comes from the Quran 5: 7/8 “O you who believe, when you prepare for prayer, wash your faces and your hand to the elbows; rub your head and your feet to the ankles” and is elaborated on in great detail in the “Sunna” See also, Williams, John Alden, The word of Islam, 69

[50] Quran, 25:54

[51] Ibid, 21:30

[52] Ibid, 11:7

[53] Ibid, 25:48

[54] Ibid, 56:68-70

[55] Ibid, 47:16

[56] Ibid, 88:11-12

[57] Kazi, Mazhar U., Guidance from the Messenger, 21

[58] See Sahih-i Muslim, Tahare, 1

[59] Kazi, Mazhar U., Guidance from the Messenger, 21

[60] Chate, Francesca De, Ibid

[61] Gen. 1:2

[62] Quran 11:7

[63] Matthew 14:22-33

[64] http://sunnah.org/history/miracles_of_Prophet.htm#Water

Continue reading »]]> 1- Face the Qiblah (toward Mecca), and make sure you’re in a clean area, now you are about to start one of the following prayers: 1st prayer (Subh), 2nd prayer (Dhuhr), 3rd (Asr), 4th (Maghrib), 5th (Ishaa).

2-Standing, you will start the prayer raising both hands up close to your ears and say “Allahu Akbar” (God is Most Great). (Look at the picture on the side).
3-Then put one hand on the top of the other hand between your chest and upper stomach, and start reciting surat “al fatiha”, say “ameen” once you finish it, and then start reciting another small surat.

4-Once you finish reciting raise your hands up to the ears, saying “Allahu Akbar.” Bow (your hands on your knees, back straight, your face toward the ground, saying three times, “Subhana rabbiyal adheem” (Glory be to my Lord Almighty). This position is called (ruku’).

5-Rise back to standing while saying “Sami’a Allahu liman hamidah, Rabbana wa lakal hamd” (God hears those who call upon Him; Our Lord, praise be to You).

6-Raise hands up, saying “Allahu Akbar” then descend to the ground (see photo), while your face on the ground say three times “Subhana Rabbiyal A’ala” (Glory be to my Lord, the Most High). This position is called “sujud”

7-Rise to a sitting position , saying “Allahu Akbar.”

8-Then prostrate back on the ground (this is the second time you do it), while your face on the ground say three times “Subhana Rabbiyal A’ala”. You should repeat this two times.

9-Rise to a sitting positition , remain sitting and recite the first part of the Tashahhud in Arabic: “Atta-hiyyatu lillahi was-salawatu wat-tayyibatu As-salamu ‘ala an-Nabiyy wa rahmat-ullahi wa barakatuhu As-salamu ‘alaina wa ‘alaa ‘Ibaadillah-is-salihin. Ash-hadu-al-la-ilaha illAllahu wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa Rasuluh”. Note that while reciting “Ash-hadu-al-la ilaha illaAllahu …”

To end your prayer, while still sitting, turn your face to the right and say “Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah” (Peace be upon you and God’s blessings), and turn to the left and say the same “Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah”. And that’s how you finish your prayer, easy!

If the prayer is to be longer than 2 “rak’as”, then add the same steps from 2 to 8 depending on how many “rak’as” you have to perfom.

Main prayers of the day:

1st prayer (Subh) = 2 Rakats

2nd prayer (Dhuhr) = 4 Rakats

3rd prayer (Asr) = 4 Rakats

4th prayer (Maghrib) = 3 Rakats

5th prayer (Ishaa) = 4 Rakats

source: http://arabic.speak7.com/prayer.htm

Continue reading »]]> Islam prayer ensures that prayers are said five times each day and the timings are spread evenly throughout the day, so that a Muslim is constantly reminded of God and given sufficient opportunities to seek forgiveness and guidance from Him.

There are five obligatory prayers, which are rewardable and other optional prayers to perform. A praying Muslim must have reached the state of mental discrimination which is when a child reaches about seven lunar years.

Before a Muslim prays they must have the proper Taharah, purification. This means that they perform wudu’, ablution, or ghusl, full shower to remove najas, filthy substances.

There are substances, najas, which not be on a person’s body, clothes, place of prayer or carried when praying. This includes urine, faeces, blood, vomit, pus and penis or vaginal discharges, except maniyy, semen and the woman’s fluid of orgasm, as these are not regarded as filthy.

After urinating or defecating the person uses toilet paper to dry and then pours water on the area. It is acceptable to use just toilet paper or water only. However, the urine must not go past the exit area and faeces must not spread past the buttock area.

Ablutions, wudu, has recommended and obligatory parts which include washing of the hands, wrists, nose, mouth, ears, forearms and elbows, as some parts are washed Muslims say ‘inwardly’ specific words.

Muslims observe the formal Islam prayer at the following times:
The prayer Fajr begins the day and is performed before sunrise to start the day in remembrance of God.

The next prayers, Dhuhr, are said after the day’s work has begun and take place after noon to remember God and seek His guidance.

‘Asr are the prayers said in the late afternoon and Muslims believe that although they may be busy with their daily lives it is important to give time to remember God and the greater meaning of their lives.

Just after sunset Maghrib are the prayers which are said to remember God as the days comes to a close.

Before going to bed Muslims take time to remember God’s presence, guidance, mercy and forgiveness by performing Isha.

In Muslim communities people are reminded of the prayer times through the calling of the adhan. For Muslims who live Muslim minority communities adhan programmes of Muslim prayer schedules are available and these give Islam prayer schedule times across the world to encompass all time zones.

Continue reading »]]> by Professor Shahul Hameed
Religious pilgrimages usually derive their importance from their connection to the birth or death or burial of a prophet or a saint. There is indeed a general misunderstanding among people that hajj (Muslims’ pilgrimage) gets its importance from Makkah as the birth place of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
However, the facts tell us a different story.

The Kabah in Makkah is the first house built on earth for the worship of the One and Only God of the universe. The final prophet, Muhammad, was born in the same city where the Kabah stands, in answer to the prayer of the grand patriarch, Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him).

Indeed, the rituals of hajj — such as the circumambulation of the House, running between the two mounts of Safa and Marwah, and animal sacrifice — owe more to the life and example of Prophet Abraham, his wife Hajar, and his son Ismail, than to Prophet Muhammad.

In hajj, the pilgrims try to emulate Prophet Abraham and his family by re-enacting some of their acts of obedience and sacrifice.
Every time during the five ritual prayers, Muslims far and near turn towards the Sacred House at Makkah where the Kabah stands. And once every year during hajj, pilgrims coming from the far corners of the planet cross the seas and deserts to congregate towards that center.
Once they reach there, the first thing they do is to go in a circle whose center is the Kabah, which performs “an essential existential function by providing orientation in an otherwise disoriented world.” (Robinson)
Muslims consider the Kabah as the center of the whole earth as it symbolizes the Oneness of Allah Almighty — the Only God deserving of worship and unconditional obedience.

Islam is unique in that as it does not allow the worship of any creation of God, whether human, animal or material.

According to Mircea Eliade, the well-known religious philosopher, religious man needs to found his world by finding in it a fixed center. Indeed, he calls such a center, “the Center of the World” and “the Navel of the Earth”, expressions he might have borrowed from the Muslim tradition of hajj.

In fact, the circumambulation of the House (Tawaf) has great mystic significance. It is a practical demonstration of the Muslim belief in the oneness of God (tawheed).

For the believers, the Kabah exerts a strong spiritual pull on them, which urges them to move towards it and become a part of the never-ending circles of humanity slowly moving around it.

The circumambulation around the Kabah starts from the Black Stone situated on one corner of the cube-like structure. The pilgrims are to kiss this stone if possible, or if that is not possible in the crowd, gesture towards it to note the number of times they circle the Kabah.

That is to say,the Black Stone is a sort of a marking stone, placed in a corner from where the pilgrims begin the circumambulation. This stone was placed there when the Kabah was originally built.

Even though the cubical structure of the Kabah was rebuilt a number of times in history, this particular corner stone was not replaced, as it represented the original house of worship built on earth to worship the One and Only God of the universe.

The place between the door of the Kabah and the Black Stone is called Al-Multazam. The pilgrims are well advised to offer supplications there, because Muslims believe that this is one of the places where supplications are to be answered.
After the circumambulation, and the prayer at Maqam Ibrahim, the pilgrims move to Zamzam.
The origin of Zamzam water is well-known: As the infant Ismail cried out in thirst, his mother Hajar ran repeatedly back and forth between the hills of the Safa and Marwah in the hope of finding water.
As the baby cried, his feet rubbed the sand where miraculously, a spring bubbled out. Thus it was that the well of Zamzam was created. This well has never run dry, and its water has always maintained a very distinctive taste.
After drinking from Zamzam water, the pilgrims move towards the mounts of Safa and Marwah to retrace the steps of Hajar in search of water.
On the eighth day of Dhul-Hijjah, people gather in a place called Mina and prepare to move to the mount of Arafat the next day. Prophet Muhammad equated hajj with Arafah, meaning that the essence of hajj is standing on the mount of Arafat on the ninth day of Dhul-Hijjah.
Indeed, there is no other center of pilgrimage that unites at one place, so many humans of so many different races, nationalities, and languages to participate in the same religious rites.
The hajj, in which all marks of social distinction are wiped out, presents the unity of humanity. Malcolm X, the charismatic African-American Muslim leader wrote:
America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem….I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together, irrespective of their colors. You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to re-arrange much of thought-patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions. (Haley 340)

Certainly, the culmination of the hajj is on the day of Arafah. That is the “standing” in the valley of Arafah on the ninth day of Dhul Hijjah. At Arafah the believer has the higher spiritual experience of standing in Divine Presence.
Here between the earth and sky, there is nothing to make him feel that he is away from his Creator. Standing in the midst of a sea of humanity eagerly “desiring the face of God”, the pilgrim feels completely transformed by the experience of Divine Presence.
Prophet Muhammad said,
“There is no day on which Allah frees more of His slaves from Fire than the Day of Arafah, and He verily draws near, then boasts of them before the angles, saying: “What do they seek?” (Muslim).
After Arafah, pilgrims move towards a place called Muzdalifah which is between Mina and Arafah, and stay there for the night.
From there, the pilgrims move to Mina valley to throw stones at the three pillars. After the symbolic stoning of the pillars, the slaughter of animals and the circumambulation of hajj around the Kabah should be done. And thereafter the pilgrims stay in Mina for three days — called the Days of Tashreeq.
Hajj is a unique occasion when God is especially Merciful to His servants. He answers the prayers of all those who undertake the pilgrimage with sincere faith.
The pilgrims should rely wholeheartedly on God’s forgiveness and mercy, and take care to pray to Him with sincerity and devotion.
Hajj is an occasion that clearly demonstrates the power of invocation at the sacred places, felt by His servants.

It has been made clear by Prophet Muhammad that the supplications of the hajj pilgrims will be accepted:
The soldier in the path of Allah and the one who performs hajj and the one who performs Umrah, all are the delegation of Allah! He called them and they answered. And they asked Him, and He shall grant them (what they ask for)! (Ibn Majah).
Once the pilgrimage is over, the pilgrims (who performed the rites of hajj with faith and expectation of rewards from God) return home with the satisfaction that their sins have been forgiven and their prayers answered.

Works Cited:

Robinson, Molly. Old French Traditions of Place and Belonging: Roland, Alexis and Tristan. Princeton University, 2000.

Haley, Alex. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Ballantine Books, 1965.
source: http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1258880455660&pagename=Zone-English-Discover_Islam%2FDIELayout&ref=body