ARAFAH- A DAY OF FORGIVING

Arafah – a day of forgiving

Arafah is the 9th day of Dhulhijjah.

Arafah also refers to the place where Adam and Hawa met after being sent down to earth from heaven.

Hujjaj also will perform Talbiyah and will repeat this doa:

رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوْبَنَا، وَ كَفِّرْ عَنَّا سَيِّئَاتِنَا، وَ تَوَفَّنَا مَعَ الْأَ َبْرَار، فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوْبَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ يَا غَفَّار

Oh Allah, forgive us our sins, and expiate our sins from us, and we died with the righteous, for sins are not forgiven except you, you are the Forgiver

الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا ۚ -القرآن ٣:٥

This day, those who disbelieved have given up all hope of your religion, so fear them not, but fear Me. This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. (Quran 5:3)

عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ قَالَ ‏ “‏ مَا مِنْ أَيَّامٍ أَحَبُّ إِلَى اللَّهِ أَنْ يُتَعَبَّدَ لَهُ فِيهَا مِنْ عَشْرِ ذِي الْحِجَّةِ

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, ‘There are no days greater and more beloved to Allah than these ten days of Dhul Hijjah’ (Tirmidhi)

What do the Hujjaj do on the day of Arafah?

1. They will combine their Zuhur and Asar prayers and spend the entire day making dua.

2. They will stand until sunset facing the Qiblah and seeking forgiveness for their sins. This is the most important ritual of Hajj.

أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ قَالَ ‏: خَيْرُ الدُّعَاءِ دُعَاءُ يَوْمِ عَرَفَةَ -الترميذي

“The best of supplication is the supplication of the Day of Arafah.” (Tirmidhi)

What can we do from home on the Day of Arafah?

1. Make dua

The day of Arafah is the pinnacle of the first ten days of Dzul Hijjah, upon which millions of Muslim gather to seek repentance

There are many ways how we can ask for forgiveness. We can do it after each prayer, we can wake up for qiyam and do sunnah prayers such as Tahajjud and taubah prayer as well. What we can do too is write down all the things we would like to ask from Allah SWT from this dunya and the Hereafter. 

The importance of making a dua on the Day of Arafah was mentioned in this Hadith:

أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَالَ ‏:‏ مَا مِنْ يَوْمٍ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ أَنْ يَعْتِقَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فِيهِ عَبْدًا أَوْ أَمَةً مِنَ النَّارِ مِنْ يَوْمِ

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, ′There is no day on which Allah (swt) frees people from the Fire more so than on the day of ‘Arafah’. (Muslim)

2. Fast

It is sunnah for those who are not doing Hajj to fast on this day.

قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ: صِيَامُ يَوْمِ عَرَفَةَ إِنِّي أَحْتَسِبُ عَلَى اللَّهِ أَنْ يُكَفِّرَ السَّنَةَ الَّتِي قَبْلَهُ وَالَّتِي بَعْدَهُ ‏

‏Prophet (ﷺ) said, ’It (fasting on the Day of ‘Arafah) expiates the sins of the past year and the coming year (i.e. those sins will be forgiven)’. (Muslim)

3. Make Zikir

Saying Allahu akbar, SubhanAllah and Alhamdulillah on this day would benefit you from its blessings. Zikir is a form of purification and we need to purify our hearts daily and especially on the day of forgiving as Allah swt mentioned, we should take this chance to start incorporating this habit into our daily routine.

So we hope that you will take the benefit of the month of DhullHijjah to remember Allah, to be grateful and to continuously make good deeds in our daily life.