Virtues Of Day Of Arafah

Alhamdulillah we have entered into the blessed 10 days of Dhu Al-Hijjah (the month of Hajj). The 9th day of Dhu Al-Hijjah is called the day of Arafah, a day where Hajj pilgrims gather at the mount of Arafah praying and supplicating to Allah (‘azza wa jal; The Possessor of Complete Glory and Majesty).

The day of Arafah this year will be on Friday 8th June 2022. This day has many virtues, some of which are listed below.

Fasting on the day of Arafah is an expiation for two years:

It is highly recommended (mustahabb) for non-pilgrims to fast during this day. Abu Qatadah (radiAllahu ‘anhu; may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ; peace be upon him) was asked about fasting on the day of Arafah, so he said, “It expiates the sins (minor) of the past year and the coming year”. [Muslim]

Allah frees more slaves from the fire on the day of Arafah than any other day:

The Prophet (ﷺ; peace be upon him) said, “There is no day on which Allah frees people from the Fire more so than on the day of Arafah. He comes close to those (people standing on ’Arafah), and then He revels before His Angels saying, What are these people seeking”. [Tirmidhi]

It is the day on which Islam was perfected and the Almighty’s favour was accomplished:

It was reported from Umar ibn al-Khattab (radiAllahu ‘anhu; may Allah be pleased with him) that a Jewish man said to him, “O Ameer al-Mu’mineen, there is an aayah in your Book which you recite; if it had come to us Jews, we would have taken that day as an ‘Eid (festival)”. Umar said, “Which aayah?”.

He said: “This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion” [Surah al-Ma’idah 5:3]. Umar said, “We know on which day and in which place that was revealed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). It was when he was standing in Arafah on a Friday”.

May Allah most high grant us all the tawfiq (ability) to practice on all the above suggested good deeds and more, may He also bless us with repeated opportunities of physically being on the plains of Arafah. Ameen!

It is from the Sunnah to increase in saying the Tasbeeh, Tahmeed and Takbeer during the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah. The great Sahaba (radiAllahu’anhuma; may Allah be pleased with them) would go into the markets proclaiming these loudly, so as to remind others who would also then remember to make these adhkar (remembrance of Allah). For men it is prescribed to recite these loudly and as much as possible, whereas for women it is prescribed to say these to themselves.