Of the best Days Allah has decreed for us, is the Day of Arafah. For those of us on Hajj it is the essence of Hajj, it is what makes the Hajj. For those of us left behind, it is still a great day and there are ways in which we can reap the rewards too.

What makes the Day of Arafah so special?

• It is the Day on which Allah perfected the Religion for us and revealed verse five of Surah Ma’idah,

Umar ibn al-Khattaab narrated 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.” (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.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

• Thus based on the above it is a day of celebration, (but please refrain from party poppers and cake….spend the time wisely doing thikr)

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Yawm Arafah (the day of Arafah), Yawm al-Nahr (the Day of Sacrifice) and Ayyaam al-Tashreeq (the 3 days following Yawm al-Nahr) are Eid for us, the people of Islam. These are days of eating and drinking.” (This was narrated by the authors of As–Sunan)

It another narration Umar said: “It – i.e., the ayah ‘This day I have perfected…’ was revealed on a Friday, the Day of Arafah, both of which – praise be to Allah – are Eids for us.”

• To highlight its greatness, Allah took an oath by it in Surah Burooj when He said, “By the witnessing day [Friday] and by the witnessed day [the Day of Arafah].” (Burooj 85:3)

It was reported from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The promised day is the Day of Resurrection, the witnessed day is the Day of Arafah, and the witnessing day is Friday.” (Narrated by Tirmidhi and classed as saheeh by Sh Al-Albaani)

• Fasting this day brings expiation for two years, imagine that! We will cover this further on.

• This day also was the Day on which Allah took a covenant with us all,

Ibn ‘Abbas said, ‘the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Allah took the covenant from the loins of Adam in Na’maan, i.e., Arafah. He brought forth from his loins all his offspring and spread them before Him, then He addressed them, and said: ‘Am I not your Lord? They said, ‘Yes, we testify,’ lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection: ‘Verily, we have been unaware of this.’ Or lest you should say: ‘It was only our fathers a foretime who took others as partners in worship along with Allah, and we were (merely their) descendants after them; will You then destroy us because of the deeds of men who practised Al-Baatil (i.e., ploytheism and committing crimes and sins, invoking and worshipping others besides Allah)?’ (Al-A’raaf 7:172-173).” (Narrated by Ahmad and classed as saheeh by Sh Al-Albaani)

And there is no greater day than this and no greater covenant than this.

• To cream it off, it is a day of salvation and forgiveness, and Allah’s pride in the people who are there is known,

‘Aa’ishah narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “There is no day on which Allah frees more people from the Fire than the Day of Arafah. He comes close and expresses His pride to the angels, saying, ‘What do these people want?’” (Muslim)

It was reported from Ibn ‘Umar that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Allah expresses His pride to His angels at the time of ‘Ishaa’ on the Day of Arafah, about the people of Arafah. He says, ‘Look at My slaves who have come unkempt and dusty.’” (Ahmad and classed as saheeh by Sh Al-Albaani)

To conclude, there are many reasons for the Day of Arafah to be revered and honoured, for Allah honoured it in singling it out as Day of forgiveness and Mercy. However, beware of false narrations which spread, regarding an innovated virtue about the Day of Arafah. People claim that if the Day of Arafah falls on Friday that it is equal to seventy hajjs or seventy-two hajjs. This belief has no basis, and so-called Ahadith found on this matter are false and nothing has been narrated from the Prophet regarding this.

Bearing in mind that this day has many virtues, what should one do on the Day of Arafah?

Fasting on the Day of Arafah:

It is a confirmed Sunnah for the non-pilgrims:

It was narrated from Abu Qatadah that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was asked about fasting on the day of Arafah and he said: “It expiates for the past and coming years.” (Muslim) According to another report: “I ask Allah that it may expiate for (the sins of) the year that comes before it and the year that comes after it.”

Having a Ghusl on the Day of Arafah:

It is mustahabb (unconfirmed Sunnah) for the pilgrim to make Ghusul for the standing on Arafah, because he is gathering with the people. Furthermore, some of the sahabahs did it, and advised for it to be done, but this is only for those who will gather with people.

Making Du’aa on this Day:

It was narrated from ‘Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-‘Aas  that the Prophet  said: “The best of du’aa is du’aa on the day of Arafah, and the best that I and the Prophets before me said is ‘Laa ilaaha ill-Allah wahdahu la shareeka lah, lahu’l-mulk wa lahu’l-hamd wa huwa ‘ala kulli shay’in qadeer (There is no god but Allah alone, with no partner or associate; His is the dominion, to Him be praise, and He has power over all things).” (Tirmidhi, classed as hasan by Sh Al-Albaani)

It was narrated from Talhah ibn ‘Ubayd ibn Kurayz: “The best of du’aa is du’aa on the day of Arafah.” (Malik in Al-Muwatta; classed as hasan by Sh Al-Albaani)

And this goes for all people, whether performing hajj or not. One should spend time making duaa, hoping that Allah forgives him and saves him from the fire.

Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten days.

We ask Allah to grant the Hujjaaj an accepted Hajj and to accept their duaas and ours too. Ameen.