بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I wrote previously about the importance of the first 10 days of Dhul-Hijjah which you can read here, in shaa Allah: The First 10 Days in the Month Dhul-Hijjah.

In today’s post, let us focus on one of those ten blessed days — the day of ‘Arafah. 

One of the important days in the month of Dhul-Hijjah is the day of ‘Arafah (the 9th of Dhul-Hijjah). It is not a day for relaxation and entertainment, rather it is a serious day — a day of many virtues and rewards that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has preserved only for this occasion. And these amazing rewards are not just limited to the hujjaj who are physically in the plain of ‘Arafah, but they are for all of us as well, wa-lhamdulillah.

The day of ‘Arafah begins from Fajr until Maghrib (approximately 12 hours), and it is especially within these hours that we should busy ourselves with sincere, good deeds. Here are 3 important ‘ibaadah (acts of worship) that we should be focusing on this blessed day, bismillah:

🟣 (1) Fasting on the day of ‘Arafah. 

Rasulullah salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam (ﷺ) said that fasting on the day of 'Arafah expiates sins of 2 years: (1) the previous, and (2) the coming year. [Sahih Muslim 1162b]

Just one day of fasting earns us a huge reward from Allah — an expiation of 2 years worth of sins. To see a glimpse of how valuable this day is, try dividing those 2 years with the 12 hours of fasting.

We will get 1 minute of fasting is approximately equivalent to 1 day of forgiveness!

Read that again — it’s not even by the hour, rather by the minute! Every single minute that goes by on the day of ‘Arafah is astonishingly precious in value.

So subhana Allah, and I advise this to myself before others, don’t you dare skip fasting on the day of ‘Arafah if you’re able to fast. As for the ones who cannot fast due to valid reasons — rejoice! — for Allah will still reward His servants according to their intention.

🟣 (2) Supplicate numerously. 

Rasulullah ﷺ said: “The best supplication is that which is made on the day of Arafah.” [Sunan at-Tirmidhi 3585 | Graded fair by Sh. al-Albani rahimahullah]

From this hadith, we learn that the best du’a one could make is the du’a on the day of ‘Arafah. So the second most important thing that we should be concentrating on this day is supplication. This is the best du’a you can make out of the entire year, so do not belittle this deed.

There are numerous supplications we can ask from Allah, and among the greatest du’a that we should be focusing on this day is asking for Allah’s forgiveness, and asking Allah to free us from the Hellfire. Why? Because Rasulullah ﷺ said:

“There is no day when Allah sets free more servants from the Fire than the day of 'Arafah.” [Sahih Muslim 1348]

There is not a day in which Allah frees His servants from the Hellfire more than the day of ‘Arafah, even more than the days of Ramadan! So do not let this day go by and we did not even once ask Allah to make us among those whom He frees from the Fire.

🟣 (3) Recite at-tahleel in abundance. 

Rasulullah ﷺ said: “The best supplication is that which is made on the day of ‘Arafah. And the best of it, is what was said by myself and the Prophets before me: 

 لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

There is no god but Allah alone, without any partners, unto Him belong the dominion, and all praise [belongs to Him], and He has power over all things.” [Sunan at-Tirmidhi 3585 | Graded fair by Sh. al-Albani rahimahullah]

Rasulullah ﷺ said that the best phrase that he and the Prophets (peace be upon them all) before him ﷺ ever recited was this dhikr:

“La ilaaha illa Allah…” — there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah. All of our worship is only for Allah, no one else but Him. He is the Rabb of ‘Arafah, and He is the Rabb of ‘Alameen (everything);

“...wahdahu laa shareeka lahu” — no one is worthy of being partners or co-equal with Allah;

“...lahul-Mulk” — to Him belongs the kingship. Nothing belongs to us on this day, yesterday, nor tomorrow until the day of Judgment. Allah is the One Who owns every single thing, including ourselves;

“...walahul-hamdu” — and all praise belongs to Allah;

“...wa huwa ‘alaa kulli shayin qadeer.” — and He is capable of all things. No matter how difficult our situation may be, Allah is capable of handling our affairs. Live by this meaning. Believe, and be certain about this!

And did you know that the day of ‘Arafah is the same day when Allah ta’ala took the covenant from Bani Adam? Rasulullah ﷺ said: 

“Allah took the covenant from the loins of Adam at ‘Arafah, bringing forth from his backbone every seed that he would sow. He scattered them before Him, and then He spoke to them as they stood before Him, saying: Am I not your Rabb? They said: Of course, we bear witness.” [Musnad Ahmad 2455 | Graded authentic by Sh. al-Albani rahimahullah]

When Allah ta'ala took the generations from Prophet Adam ‘alayhis-salaam, and dispersed them all before Him — all the Prophets, and all the good people and the bad ones — Allah asked us all a question: Am I not your Rabb? And we all said: Yes indeed, we bear witness to this. And this happened on the day of ‘Arafah. 

So when the day of ‘Arafah comes again this year, and as we recite at-tahleel, it is as though we’re renewing that contract with Allah; we declare that we worship no one but Him subhanahu wa ta'ala. So live with its meaning, and recite it from the bottom of our hearts.

We can do many other good deeds on the day of ‘Arafah, but these 3 ‘ibaadah should be the highlights of our day. May Allah make Tawheed beloved in our hearts, allow us to fully utilise the day of ‘Arafah to the best of our capabilities, and accept from all of us.

Your sister in Deen,

Aida Msr