![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
In Arabic class this morning we learned how to conjugate, using the verb عرف (arafa), "to know." Partway through it dawned on some of us that this root is where the name Arafat comes from, so our teacher told us the story. (I'm expanding on it here based on my own research.)
In Islam, the story of the fall goes like this: when God created Adam from dust, he commanded all the angels and jinn (a race of incorporeal creatures) to bow down before him. Iblis, or Shaytan, refused because he said that a creature made of smokeless fire should not bow to a creature of dust. This is how Iblis fell from grace. He was damned to hell for his pride, but he will not actually go there until the Day of Judgment, so until then he spends his time tempting humans to do evil in order to have company in the next life.
At the time they were created, Adam and Eve lived in Paradise with God, not on Earth. But Iblis, luring them with the promise of immortality ("a kingdom that never decays"), convinced them to eat a fruit from the forbidden tree. As soon as they ate of the fruit, you will be unsurprised to hear, Adam and Eve were filled with shame and began making clothes for themselves out of leaves. As soon as God confronted them they repented, and God forgave them -- but they were still ejected from Paradise, and sent to be God's vicegerents (caliphs) on Earth.
Now when they were sent down to live on earth, Adam was sent to India, and Eve to Saudi Arabia. Specifically she was sent to Jeddah, a town still associated with her. (Most people believe the name of the city is from the Arabic word for "grandmother," though "seashore" seems a more logical derivation. And Eve's tomb is in Jeddah, though it's been sealed by Wahhabis to prevent saint-worship.)
Eventually -- after 200 years, according to our teacher -- Adam and Eve found each other again. The place where they were reunited was a hill near Mecca, and because that is where they "knew" each other for the first time on Earth, the hill is called Mount Arafat. So yes, Arafat is named for the verb "to know." And, every year, this happy reunion is recalled as part of the Hajj: everyone making Hajj spends the 9th day of Hijjah on Mount Arafat, in remembrance of Adam and Eve coming together on the 9th day of Hijjah, many many years ago.
In a popular Christian interpretation of the Fall of Adam and Eve, our ancestors sinned, and lost immortality, by seeking knowledge inappropriately. In the Muslim version, their mistake was to seek immortality; "knowledge" is associated not with their pride but with their joyous reunion. I like that. What I like even more is that Islam has never interpreted this story to mean that humanity still pays a price for Adam's "original sin." In fact, they'd debate whether it was a sin at all, since by most accounts a prophet cannot sin.
Sources used:
In Islam, the story of the fall goes like this: when God created Adam from dust, he commanded all the angels and jinn (a race of incorporeal creatures) to bow down before him. Iblis, or Shaytan, refused because he said that a creature made of smokeless fire should not bow to a creature of dust. This is how Iblis fell from grace. He was damned to hell for his pride, but he will not actually go there until the Day of Judgment, so until then he spends his time tempting humans to do evil in order to have company in the next life.
At the time they were created, Adam and Eve lived in Paradise with God, not on Earth. But Iblis, luring them with the promise of immortality ("a kingdom that never decays"), convinced them to eat a fruit from the forbidden tree. As soon as they ate of the fruit, you will be unsurprised to hear, Adam and Eve were filled with shame and began making clothes for themselves out of leaves. As soon as God confronted them they repented, and God forgave them -- but they were still ejected from Paradise, and sent to be God's vicegerents (caliphs) on Earth.
Now when they were sent down to live on earth, Adam was sent to India, and Eve to Saudi Arabia. Specifically she was sent to Jeddah, a town still associated with her. (Most people believe the name of the city is from the Arabic word for "grandmother," though "seashore" seems a more logical derivation. And Eve's tomb is in Jeddah, though it's been sealed by Wahhabis to prevent saint-worship.)
Eventually -- after 200 years, according to our teacher -- Adam and Eve found each other again. The place where they were reunited was a hill near Mecca, and because that is where they "knew" each other for the first time on Earth, the hill is called Mount Arafat. So yes, Arafat is named for the verb "to know." And, every year, this happy reunion is recalled as part of the Hajj: everyone making Hajj spends the 9th day of Hijjah on Mount Arafat, in remembrance of Adam and Eve coming together on the 9th day of Hijjah, many many years ago.
In a popular Christian interpretation of the Fall of Adam and Eve, our ancestors sinned, and lost immortality, by seeking knowledge inappropriately. In the Muslim version, their mistake was to seek immortality; "knowledge" is associated not with their pride but with their joyous reunion. I like that. What I like even more is that Islam has never interpreted this story to mean that humanity still pays a price for Adam's "original sin." In fact, they'd debate whether it was a sin at all, since by most accounts a prophet cannot sin.
Sources used:
- "Eve", from Hawwa' Magazine
- "Prophethood", from IslamOnline
- Wikipedia pages on Mount Arafat, Jeddah, Shaitan and Iblis.
