Why is the Day of Arafah Special? - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

Khutbah Opening

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا

أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

The Prophet on the Plain of Arafah

Over 1,400 years ago, on this very day of Arafah, our Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ stood on the plain of Arafah on the day of Arafah, and after praying the Dhuhr and Asr prayers — shortened and combined — the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ spent the rest of that day until the sun set making du'a to Allah and making dhikr of Allah.

Today, right now, over 1,400 years later, hundreds of thousands of our brothers and sisters are standing on that very plain on the day of Arafah. And that standing on the day of Arafah is the most important rite of Hajj, as the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said:

"Hajj is Arafah." (Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1949; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 889; Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 3016)

That is because the one who stands on the plain of Arafah on the day of Arafah does so in order to seek Allah's forgiveness, to repent to Him, to ask Allah for all of their needs in this life and the next. But one of the most important and crucial elements of standing on the day of Arafah is to renew the covenant that we made with our Lord — each and every single one of us sitting here today, our parents and grandparents before us, and our descendants that will come after us that Allah has decreed for us.

The Covenant of Arafah — The Primordial Pledge

Every single person that Allah created made a covenant with Allah. As is collected in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad on the authority of Abdullah ibn Abbas رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا, that the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said:

(Musnad Imam Ahmad, Hadith 2455; also referenced in Tafsir Ibn Kathir on Quran 7:172)

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said that Allah extracted from the loins of our father Adam عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ in a place called Na'man on the day of Arafah — this very day of Arafah — He took from the loins of our father Adam every single child that would come from him until Yawm al-Qiyamah, and He spread them all out before Him like grains of seed, and then He spoke to them directly and He said:

"Am I not your Lord?" And all of them replied: بَلَى شَهِدْنَا — all of them agreed and they testified to that fact — "lest that you should say on Yawm al-Qiyamah that you were unaware of this."

Or lest that you should say that it was our forefathers who committed shirk and we were only following them as their children.

The Fitrah — Our Natural Inclination

And that is why each and every single one of us is born with what we call the fitrah, as the Prophet said صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:

"No one is born except that he is born upon the fitrah." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1385; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2658)

The natural inclination to worship Allah alone. The covenant that we made with Allah — that this life that we have, these finite years that we have — it's not so that we can gather wealth, it's not so that we can have large families, it's not so that we can enjoy the pleasures of the dunya. It is only for one purpose, and that is the purpose to worship Allah.

And the nature of the dunya with its distractions, the nature of the human with his negligence, is that we are often forgetful of this one very important fact. And so times like today — the day of Arafah, times like the month of Ramadan — are reminders that are timely for us, that we need to realign our priorities, that we need to understand what is important about this life and what is less important in this life.

The Right of Allah Upon His Slaves

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ highlighted this very principle in the hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari, the hadith of Mu'adh ibn al-Jabal رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ. One day he was riding behind the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ and the Prophet said to him: "O Mu'adh, do you know what the right of Allah is upon His slaves, and the right of the slaves upon their Lord?" He said: "Allah and His messenger know best." He said:

"The right of Allah upon His slaves is that they worship Him alone, not making shirk with Him." And the right that the slaves have — that Allah has obligated upon Himself — is that He will not punish those who do not associate anyone with Him in worship.

That is what the people of Arafah seek on this day on the plain of Arafah. They go there to make du'a, they go there to seek Allah's forgiveness, they go there to make tawbah, they go there to realize the many sins that they've committed over the course of their life and how they need to try to do better. And the first step of doing better is to turn to Allah, to repent to Allah, to acknowledge His tawheed.

Allah Frees More People on Arafah Than Any Other Day

And that is why in the hadith in Sahih Muslim of Aisha رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا, the Prophet said صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, speaking about the virtues of this day for the people who make Hajj on the day of Arafah:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1348)

There is not a day upon the face of this earth in which Allah frees more people — emancipates more people — from the fire of Hell than the day of Arafah. And Allah descends on this day in a manner which befits His Majesty and He boasts to the angels: "What do these people want from me?" — meaning the people making Hajj on the day of Arafah — because those people, if they are sincere, if they have ikhlas, if they know the reason why they've made Hajj, they've only come for one reason, and that is to turn to Allah and to seek His blessings.

Arafah in the Quran — Allah Takes an Oath by This Day

That is why this day — the day of Arafah — is important for all of us as a reminder to renew that covenant. It's the reason why Allah mentions it in multiple places in the Quran. Allah takes an oath by the day of Arafah in the Quran.

In Surah al-Buruj, Allah says:

"The day that is a witness and the one that is witnessed" — the day that is a witness is the day of Friday, and the day that is witnessed is the day of Arafah, as is mentioned in the hadith.

And Allah takes an oath by this day in Surah al-Fajr, when He says:

In the position of a number of the scholars of tafsir, Allah takes an oath by the dawn, and by the ten nights, and by the even, and by the odd. A number of the scholars of tafsir — including Ibn Abbas رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا — were of the position that the even and the odd refer to these two days: today and tomorrow — the day of Arafah and the day of Eid al-Adha. Those are the days that Allah has taken an oath by. Why? Because this day is important for the Muslim, to understand that the reason why Allah created us was to worship Him alone.

The Verse Revealed on the Day of Arafah

And that is why in the hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, when the Jewish man came to Umar ibn al-Khattab رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ and said to him: "O leader of the Muslims, there is a verse in your Quran — were it to be revealed to us, the Jewish community, we would have taken that day as a day of Eid, the day of celebration, the day of worship." He said: "What is that verse?" He said: the statement of Allah:

"Today I have completed your religion for you, perfected My favor upon you, and chosen for you as your way of life, Islam."

Umar رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ replied: "By Allah, I know when and where that verse was revealed. It was revealed during the farewell Hajj of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ on the day of Arafah." This is that day — that Allah has honored and chosen. He has honored it for the people of Arafah, because they go there and they worship Allah in what is the greatest rite of Hajj.

But Allah also honored it for me and you — for those of us who were not blessed enough, were not honored enough, were not chosen to go and perform Hajj this year. For us it is also a blessed day — not least because of the reminder that it should serve, not least because we should stop and pause especially on this day to think about what Allah has obligated upon us, to think about what the purpose is of our creation, where we're going in life, how short and how finite our life may be, how today we're living and enjoying the blessings of Allah and today we may be in our graves. That reminder is a reminder that is pertinent.

Actions for Those Not Performing Hajj

And that is why the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ used those few hours of the day of Arafah in du'a and in the dhikr of Allah. But there are a number of actions that we can also perform as people who are not performing Hajj — actions that are extremely important and rewarding for us.

1. Fasting on the Day of Arafah

The first of them is to fast on this day. The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, in the hadith in Sahih Muslim of Abu Qatadah رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ, when he was asked about the fasting of the day of Arafah, he said:

"I hope that Allah will expiate for the year that comes before it and the year that comes after it." (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1162)

Two years of sins for fasting a single day — and that is because of the virtue of this day, the importance and significance of the day of Arafah. To fast on this day is something which is extremely rewarding.

2. Du'a and Dhikr on the Day of Arafah

But if fasting was not something that you were able to do — you had an excuse, you are unable to fast — then from the most virtuous acts on this day is to turn to Allah in making du'a and the dhikr of Allah. In the hadith of al-Tirmidhi of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ, the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: "The best du'a that you can make is the du'a that you make on the day of Arafah, and the best statement that I and the prophets before me made is:

"None has the right to be worshipped except Allah alone, with no partner. To Him belongs all dominion and all praise, and He has power over all things." (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3585)

To repeat that statement, to make the dhikr of Allah — this is something which is extremely rewarding on the day of Arafah. And the scholars differed: is that something only specific for the people of Arafah, or is it general for every Muslim on the day of Arafah? And the strongest position — and Allah knows best — is that it is general. Every person on the day of Arafah can make du'a and it is the du'a that is virtuous, the du'a that is more likely to be accepted.

Especially this year, because the day of Arafah happens to also be a Friday, which in and of itself is a day of virtue. And that is why it was the practice of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ during Hajj to make du'a until the sunset, and it was the practice of the Salaf who didn't make Hajj in those years to spend this day in making du'a and the dhikr of Allah.

To make du'a to Allah on this day — especially between the time of Asr and Maghrib — is something which is extremely virtuous. Abdullah ibn Abbas رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا, another companion by the name of Amr ibn Hurith رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ, and scholars from amongst the Salaf such as Yahya ibn Ma'in رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ would take the time between Asr and Maghrib and they would spend it making du'a. Some of them would come to the masjid and they would find a place and they would spend that time making du'a.

Make the Most of This Blessed Day

This is a day that Allah has made virtuous and rewarding. Yes, it is more virtuous if you are making Hajj, but even if you are not, it is still a day of reward and virtue and excellence. So to use these few hours that we have remaining of this day is something which all of us should bear in mind — these few hours especially of the time of Asr. Those few hours that we have are precious, and Allah only knows whether we will see another day of Arafah. Use this time wisely, asking Allah for the good of this life and the next, making du'a to Allah that He forgives us for our sins and showers His mercy upon us.

The Virtue of Dhikr in the First Ten Days of Dhul-Hijjah

From the most virtuous acts that we can perform on this day — the day of Arafah — is a specific type of dhikr of Allah. The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ told us that there are no days in which actions are more beloved to Allah than the days of the ten — meaning the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah. These actions — anything that you do in these days — all of it is more virtuous, all of it is more rewarding. But from the most virtuous acts that you can perform on this day is the act of dhikr of Allah.