بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

The following is paraphrased from the speech of Shaikh Mohammad Amaan al-Jaamy رحمه الله تعالى regarding the issue of Mount Rahma and the common belief that the mountain must be climbed on the day of ‘Arafah.

“So it is upon the Pilgrims to avoid climbing the mountain and crowding around it so their precious time is not wasted in that which does not benefit them, rather in it is harm [i.e. wasted time in attempting to get to it and climb it as well as the crowding etc when that time should be used in supplication], instead it is correct for the Pilgrims to spread out across ‘Arafah as they please without specifying a particular location”.

The Shaikh then goes on to mention the names of Mount Rahma:

“They have mentioned several names for this mountain:

1- “Mount Rahma” [Mount Mercy] and this is the most famous of the names and possibly the most recent one.

2- “Mount Supplication” [Mount Du’a]

3- “Al-Qurain” as some of the commoners refer to it as.

4- “Ilaal” and that is from one of the oldest names of it.

I have attempted to discover the reasoning behind it being called “Mount Rahma” and I checked various resources and asked various People of Knowledge, however I did not find a sufficiently satisfying answer, and so I leave the issue as a matter of research. However, I do feel some discomfort with this name, since mercy is not restricted to the mountain and the one who claims that must bring forth his evidence. Similarly, supplication on that day is not specific to the mountain, rather Mount Rahma is like any other part of ‘Arafah in that regard. The mercy of Allah and His freeing of slaves from the Fire is general to all individuals wherever they stand within  ‘Arafah on that day.

The reason why I researched this issue is because of what we have witnessed ourselves from some Pilgrims in terms of actions that are resembling the acts of Jaahiliyyah [ignorance]…in fact for many Pilgrims the idea amongst them has become that the point of ‘Arafah is actually to have to climb the mountain. That is since many have mistakenly understood that the name “Mount Rahma” must indicate that the mercy of Allah only descends upon the Mount on that day.”

Translator’s note: A fine example of why success lies within the Sunnah and not in opposing it, consider how many hours of the blessed day of ‘Arafah are put to waste pushing through crowds and making an attempt to climb the mountain, as well as the fatigue that arises from such activity possibly impacting upon the remainder of the Hajj rites, all of which diverts the servant from supplication and indeed vastly reduces the available time on that Day before sunset, Allahul Musta’an.

[via Sahab]