The Day of Arafah

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Allah has created all the days of the year, and He favoured the best day which is the Day of Arafah - the day before Eid ul Adha.

A Jewish man came to the companion of the Prophet (saw), Umar ibn Khattab (ra), and said to him, “O leader of the believers, there is a verse in your Book which you recite. If this verse were to be revealed to us (Jews), we would take that day as a holiday and festival.” Hazrat Umar (ra) asked, “Which verse are you talking about?” 

He said, The verse where Allah says, This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion. Surah Maaidah – Verse 3.

Hazrat Umar said to him, I know exactly when and where this verse was revealed. This verse, which completed the Shariah (law) of Islam, was revealed on the Day of Arafah on a Friday.

This shows the value of the Day of Arafah.

In another hadith, the Prophet (saw) said, “Allah took the covenant from the back of Prophet Adam (as) in Na’maan.” What is Na’maan? It is Arafah.

“And from his back, from his loins, He extracted his offspring”. All the human beings to ever exist were there.

Allah addressed all of us, and said, “Am I not your Lord?” and we all replied, “Yes Allah, we testify that you are our Lord”. This has been mentioned in the Quran.

Allah valued the Day of Arafah so much that he took this important covenant from us on that day. So, how should we treat this day?

The Prophet (saw) said, “The best time you can ever make dua is on the Day of Arafah”.

 Allah will accept our duas at any time and any place, but on this day it’s an extra special time. Prepare yourself and make a list of the duas you want to make, and ask Allah for the Hereafter especially. Make as much dua as you can because Allah gets angry when we don’t make dua to Him. 

When the Prophet (saw) was asked about the fast of this day, he said: “It compensates for the minor sins of the previous year and the forth coming year”. (Muslim)

 Can you imagine that? A scholar said if our sins had a smell, no one would want to sit next to us! Here, we have a guarantee from Allah that our sins of two years will be forgiven – grab hold of this opportunity, and make a good intention for it! 

The spirit of the Day of Arafah is repentance. When the Haajis in Arafah leave, they will have been forgiven by Allah.

On this day, Allah comes down to the first heaven and says, “On this day, even if you bring so many sins, as much as raindrops, as much as the sand particles and the leaves on the trees, even then today your Allah is ready to forgive you. Repent, and I am your Friend”.

The real action of Arafah is to repent to Allah. Repentance is the journey back to Allah. When we leave Arafah, we should know that we have been forgiven.

To repent, doesn’t mean that we are never going to sin again – we can’t expect that from humans. It means that if we do sin again, then we will ask Allah for forgiveness!

It was the Day of Arafah when the Prophet Muhammad (saw) gave his famous final sermon. It’s a sermon which is admired by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Wasalaam!