Day of Arafah

The Day of Arafah (Arabic: ‫يوم عرفة‬, romanized: Yawm 'Arafah) is an Islamic holiday that falls on the
ninth day of Dhu al-Hijjah of the lunar Islamic Calendar.[4] It is the second day of the Hajj pilgrimage
and is followed by the holiday of Eid al-Adha.[5] At dawn of this day, Muslim pilgrims will make their
way from Mina to a nearby hillside and plain called Mount Arafat and the Plain of Arafat. It was from
this site that the Islamic prophet Muhammad gave one of his last sermons in the final year of his
life. Some Muslims hold that part of the Quranic verse announcing that the religion of Islam had
been perfected was revealed on this day.[6]

Location

Mount Arafat[7] is a granodiorite hill[8] about 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Mecca on the plain of
Arafat. Mount Arafat reaches about 70 m (230 ft) in height and is known as the "Mountain of Mercy"
(Jabal ar-Rahmah). According to Islamic tradition, the hill is the place where Muhammad stood and
delivered the Farewell Sermon to the Muslims who had accompanied him for the Hajj towards the
end of his life.[9]

Customs

On 9 Dhu al-Hijjah before noon, pilgrims arrive at Arafat, a barren plain some 20 kilometres (12 mi)
east of Mecca,[6] where they stand in contemplative vigil: they offer supplications, repent and atone
for their past sins, seek mercy of God, and listen to Islamic scholars giving sermons from near
Mount Arafat.[10] Lasting from noon through sunset,[6] this is known as 'standing before God'
(wuquf), one of the most significant rites of Hajj.[11][12] At Masjid al-Namirah, pilgrims offer Zuhr
(Dhohr) and Asr prayers together at noon time.[10] A pilgrim's Hajj is considered invalid if they do not
spend the afternoon on Arafat.[6]

Arafah prayer

As Husayn ibn Ali recited the prayer during the Hajj at Mount Arafat on 9 Dhu al-Hijjah, Shia Muslims
during the Hajj recite the Arafah prayer from Zuhr prayer to sunset.[13] This day is called prayer day,
specially for people who stand on Mount Arafat.[14] On the Day of Arafah, those who cannot make it
to Mecca will go to other holy places such as mosques to recite Arafah prayer.[15]
Fasting on the Day of Arafah Day of Arafah

Fasting on the Day of Arafah for non-pilgrims is a

highly recommended Sunnah which entails a
great reward; Allah forgives the sins of two years.
It was narrated from Abu Qatadah that
Muhammad was asked about fasting on the day
of 'Arafah and he replied:
Pilgrims at Mount Arafah in Mecca

It expiates for the past and coming Official name ‫يوم عرفة‬
years.
Also called The Day of
Repentance and
Imam An-Nawawi mentioned in his book al- Acceptance of
Majmu', "With regard to the ruling on this matter, Supplications
Imam As-Shafi'i and his companions said: It is
Type Islamic
mustahabb (recommended) to fast on the day of
Arafah[16] for the one who is not in Arafah. As for Significance Commemoration of
the pilgrim who is present in Arafah, Imam As- Muhammad's
Shafi'i in his book Al-Mukhtasar and his followers Farewell Sermon and

declared 'It is mustahabb (recommended) for him completion of the

message of Islam.
not to fast'."
Second day of the
Prohibiting the pilgrims from fasting on these Hajj pilgrimage.

days is a great mercy for them, for fasting will Muslims who did not
go to Hajj fast to
exert undue hardship on the person performing
repent for their sins.
the hajj. Above all, Muhammad did not fast while
he stood before Allah offering supplications in Observances Prayer, fasting,
Arafah. On the other hand, those who are not repentance

performing their hajj may observe fasting to gain

Date 9 Dhu al-Hijjah
the merits of the blessed day.[17]
2024 date 15 June

Inhadith Frequency once every Islamic

year
Abu Qatada al-Ansari narrated that Muhammad
was asked about fasting on the Day of Arafah, Related to Eid ul-Adha, the
major Islamic
whereupon he said: It expiates the sins of the
festival, which occurs
preceding year and the coming year. Also about
fasting on the Ashura (10 Muharram) he said: It the day after the Day
expiates the sins of the preceding year.[18] of Arafah.

In Sahih Muslim it was narrated from Aisha that

Muhammad said:[19]

There is no day on which Allah frees more people from the Fire than the Day of
Arafah. He comes close and expresses His fulfillment to the angels, saying, "What do
these people want?"

The people would fast on this day to get their bad deeds in the upcoming year, and the past year,
taken away.

See also

Eid al-Fitr

Eid al-Adha

References

1. "First day of Hajj confirmed as Aug. 9" (http://www.arabnews.com/node/1534151/saudi-arabia) . Arab

News. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.

2. Bentley, David (9 August 2019). "When is the Day of Arafah 2019 before the Eid al-Adha celebrations?" (htt
p://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/eid-al-adha-2016-what-11862345) .
Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 9 August 2019.

3. "Eid ul Adha 2021 – when is the Day of Arafah and what does it mean?" (https://www.birminghammail.co.
uk/news/uk-news/day-arafah-2021-what-mean-21041480) . Birmingham Mail. 16 July 2021.

4. Sheikho, Mohammad Amin (1783). Pilgrimage Hajj: The Fifth High Grade of Al-Taqwa: Volume 5 (https://bo
oks.google.com/books?id=2PcFIf3nxL8C&q=Day+of+Arafah&pg=PA57) . CreateSpace Independent
Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1-4827-8324-7.

5. Bentley, David. "Eid al-Adha 2016 – What is the Day of Arafah before the Eid celebrations and why is it so
important?" (http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/eid-al-adha-2016-what-1186234
5) . birminghammail.co.uk. Retrieved 11 September 2016.

6. Long, David E. (1979). The Hajj Today: A Survey of the Contemporary Pilgrimage to Makkah (https://books.g
oogle.com/books?id=2Uk3Gh6xrUUC&pg=PA19) . SUNY Press. p. 19. ISBN 0-87395-382-7.
 7. Peters, F. E. (1994). The Hajj: The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places (https://archive.org/deta
ils/hajjmuslimpilgri0000pete) . Princeton University Press. p. 355 (https://archive.org/details/hajjmuslim
pilgri0000pete/page/355) . ISBN 978-0-691-02120-1.

8. Qureshi, A. A.; Sultan, A.; Rashid, A.; Ali, M.; Waheed, A.; Manzoor, S.; Baloch, M. A.; Matiullah; Batool, S.;
Khan, H. A. (September 2012). "Geological and radiological studies of the Mount Arafat, Mekkah, Saudi
Arabia". Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry. 293 (3): 955–963. doi:10.1007/s10967-012-
1776-0 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs10967-012-1776-0) . ISSN 0236-5731 (https://www.worldcat.org/is
sn/0236-5731) . S2CID 95942060 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:95942060) .

9. Caudill, Mark A. (2006). Twilight in the Kingdom: Understanding the Saudis (Praeger Security International)
(https://books.google.com/books?id=ACBMspvyiGwC&q=Jabal+al-Rahmah+Mohammad+muslim&pg=PA
51) . Praeger. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-275-99252-1. Retrieved 30 June 2006.

10. Adelowo, E. Dada, ed. (2014). Perspectives in Religious Studies: Volume III (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=ma-QBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA403) . Ibadan: HEBN Publishers Plc. p. 403. ISBN 978-9780814472.

11. Nigosian, S. A. (2004). Islam: Its History, Teaching, and Practices (https://archive.org/details/islamitshistor
yt0000nigo) . Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 111 (https://archive.org/details/islamitshistoryt0000ni
go/page/111) . ISBN 0-253-21627-3.

12. "ihram" (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/282481/ihram) . Encyclopædia Britannica. 2014.

Retrieved 6 October 2014.

13. William C. Chittick; Mohammed Rustom; Atif Khalil (2012). In Search of the Lost Heart: Explorations in
Islamic Thought (https://books.google.com/books?id=3hfR_Er8dKMC&pg=PA39) . SUNY Press. p. 39.
ISBN 978-1-4384-3935-8.

14. Staff Writer. "Day of Arafah" (http://www.hawzah.net/fa/occation/view/44928/%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B2-

%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%81%D9%87) . Hawzeh.

15. Staff Writer. "people prayed at places called Karbala of Iran" (http://www.farsnews.ir/printable.php?nn=13
900815000768) . Farsnews.

16. day of Arafah (https://muslim.sg/articles/193)

17. "4 Sunnah Acts for Zulhijjah, Especially the Day of Arafah" (https://muslim.sg/articles/196) . muslim.sg.
Retrieved 26 September 2019.

18. Zulfiqar, Muhammad (2011). Fast According to the Quran and Sunnah (https://books.google.com/books?id
=sDWZBQAAQBAJ&q=Day+of+Arafah&pg=PT97) . Dar-us-Salam. ISBN 978-6035001618.

19. "The Virtues of the Day of Arafat" (http://www.jannah.org/articles/dayofarafat.html) . www.jannah.org.

External links

What is the Day of Arafah? (https://muslim.sg/articles/193)

4 Sunnah Acts for Zulhijjah, especially the Day of Arafah (https://muslim.sg/articles/196)

The Virtues of the Day of Arafa (http://www.jannah.org/articles/dayofarafat.html)

Article on "The day of Arafa" (http://lasjan.page.tl/Arafa.htm)

Arafah : The Day Before Eid (https://kashmirpatriot.com/2022/07/09/arafah-the-day-before-ei

d/)