Virtues of the Day of Arafaah ?



Praise be to Allaah.

1.It is the day on which the religion was perfected and
Allaah’s Favour was completed.

In Al-Saheehayn it was reported from ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab
(may Allaah 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.” [al-Maa’idah 5:3 –
interpretation of the meaning]. ‘Umar said, “We know on
which day and in which place that was revealed to the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). It was
when he was standing in ‘Arafaah on a Friday.”

2.It is a day of Eid for the people who are in that place.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: “Yawm ‘Arafaah (the day of ‘Arafaah), Yawm al-Nahr
(the Day of Sacrifice) and Ayyaam al-Tashreeq (the 3 days
following Yawm al-Nahr) are Eid (festival) for us, the
people of Islam. These are days of eating and drinking.”
This was narrated by the authors of al-Sunan. It was
reported that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab said: “It – i.e., the
aayah ‘This day I have perfected…’ was revealed on a
Friday, the Day of ‘Arafaah, both of which – praise be to
Allaah – are Eids for us.”

3.It is a day by which Allaah swore an oath.

The Almighty cannot swear by anything except that which is
mighty. Yawm ‘Arafaah is the “witnessed day” mentioned in
the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):

“By the witnessing day [Friday] and by the witnessed day
[the Day of ‘Arafaah].” [al-Burooj 85:3].

It was reported from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased
with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) said: “The promised day is the Day of
Resurrection, the witnessed day is the Day of ‘Arafaah, and
the witnessing day is Friday.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi and
classed as saheeh by al-Albaani.

It is the “odd” [i.e., odd-numbered, Witr] by which Allaah
swore in the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):

“And by the even and the odd” [al-Fajr 89:3]. Ibn ‘Abbaas
said: “The even is the Day of al-Adhaa [i.e., 10th
Dhoo’l-Hijjah] and the odd is the Day of ‘Arafaah [i.e.,
9th Dhoo’l-Hijjah] This is also the view of ‘Ikrimah and
al-Dahhaak.

4.Fasting on this day is an expiation for two years.

It was reported from Abu Qutaadah (may Allaah be pleased
with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) was asked about fasting on the Day
of ‘Arafaah. He said, “It expiates for the sins of the
previous year and of the coming year.” Narrated by Muslim.

This (fasting) is mustahabb for those who are not on Hajj.
In the case of the one who is on Hajj, it is not Sunnah for
him to fast on the Day of ‘Arafaah, because the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not fast on
this day in ‘Arafaah. It was narrated that he forbade
fasting on the Day of ‘Arafaah in ‘Arafaah.

5.It is the day on which Allaah took the covenant from the
progeny of Adam.

It was reported that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased
with him) said: the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah took the
covenant from the loins of Adam in Na’maan, i.e., ‘Arafaah.
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,’ let 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 aforetime who took others as partners in
worship along with Allaah, and we were (merely their)
descendents 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 Allaah)?’ [al-A’raaf 7:172-173 –
interpretation of the meaning].” Narrated by Ahmad and
classed as saheeh by al-Albaani. And there is no greater
day than this and no greater covenant than this.

6.It is the day of forgiveness of sins, freedom from the
Fire and pride in the people who are there:

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

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

 And Allaah knows best.



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