ALLAH I had invited you from the distant corners of the world to His House, to be His guests and honoured you with a special audience on the plains of Arafat. He quenched your thirst with the water of Zam Zam and infused your hearts with the Light of Madinah. Your position is so august that we have been instructed to request your intercession in the following words of our Nabi r: " When you meet a Hâji, greet him, shake hands with him and ask him to beg for forgiveness of Allâh on your behalf before he enters his home, for he (himself is purified and) forgiven." Another tradition states that: "The Mujahid and the Hâji are members of Allâh's deputation. Whatever they beseech of Allâh is granted to them and whatever they beg of Him they receive." 

Haj has not only venerated the pilgrim, it has also conferred upon him/her the noble station of intercession. Abû Mûsa y narrates that Nabî r has said that: "The Hâji shall intercede on behalf of four hundred families or four hundred people from his family, and he emerges from his sins as (pure) as the day his mother had given birth to him."

This distinguished position also brings with it added responsibility. The responsibility to personify the parting directives of Nabî r, which he delivered on the plains of Arafat during the farewell Haj.

They include among others the following instructions:

• Regard the life, property, and integrity of every person as sacred.
  
• Abstain from indulging in interest and usury
  
• Dare not belittle any act of rebellion as "a small sin"
  
• Treat your wives with compassion and kindness
  
• Do not breach the trust of your husbands
  
• Be mindful of your five daily prayers, Zakât and fasting in Ramadân
  
• Treat all Muslims as equals, no one has superiority over another by virtue of his wealth, colour or tribe
  
• Know that one day you will have to account for all your doings
  
• Convey the message of Islâm to others
  
• Cling onto the Qur'ân and the Sunnah
  

These directives are your challenges for the future. They project the true Spirit of Arafat and reflect the beautiful Light of Madinah We beg of you to respond with "labbaik" to the so many needs and cries of the Ummah.