بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
A day of ‘Īd
Ibn Abbās recited: ‘This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion‘ (5:3). And a Jew was with him who said: ‘If this verse was revealed to us then we would have taken that day as a day of celebration.’ So Ibn ‘Abbās said: ‘Indeed it was revealed on two ‘Īds: On Friday, and on the Day of ‘Arafah.’ (Al-Tirmidhī 3044. Mishkāt 1368, declared Sahīh by Al-Albānī)
The prophet (ﷺ) said:
إنَّ يومَ عرفةَ ويومَ النَّحرِ وأيَّامَ التَّشريقِ عيدُنا أَهْلَ الإسلامِ ، وَهيَ أيَّامُ أَكْلٍ وشربٍ
The day of ‘Arafah and the day of sacrifice and the day of At-Tashrīq are our ‘Īd, the people of Islām, and they are days of eating and drinking. (Al-Nasāī 3004. Declared Sahīh by Al-Albānī and Al-Arnāūt)
The standing at ‘Arafah is from the greatest pillar of Hajj rites
Ibn Rajab said: If a Muslim completes their Hajj, they will be forgiven. And indeed, Hajj is completed on the Day of ‘Arafah, and standing at ‘Arafah is the greatest pillar of Hajj, as the prophet (ﷺ) said:
الْحَجُّ عَرَفَةَ
The Hajj is ‘Arafah. (Musnad of Imām Ahmad 335, al-Tirmidhī 2975, Mishkāt 2714. Declared Sahīh by Al-Albānī, Ibn Khuzaymah, Al-Arnāūt and others)
(Latāif al-Ma’ārif pg. 371)
A day of being freed from the hellfire
The prophet (ﷺ) said:
ما مِن يومٍ أكثر مِن أنْ يُعْتِقَ اللهُ فيه عبدًا مِن النارِ، مِن يومِ عرفة
There is no day on which Allāh sets free more of His slaves from Fire than the Day of ‘Arafah. (Sahīh Muslim 1348)
Ibn Rajab said: Allāh frees from the Fire those who stand at ‘Arafah and those who do not stand there, from among the Muslims across the different regions. (Latāif al-Ma’ārif pg. 372)
It is a day by which Allāh swore an oath
The prophet (ﷺ) said regarding Allāhs verse:
وَشَاهِدٍ وَمَشْهُودٍ
“By the witnessing day [Friday] and by the witnessed day [the Day of ‘Arafah].” [Sūrah al-Burūj 85:3]
الْيَوْمُ الْمَوْعُودُ يَوْمُ الْقِيَامَةِ وَالْيَوْمُ الْمَشْهُودُ يَوْمُ عَرَفَةَ وَالشَّاهِدُ يَوْمُ الْجُمُعَةِ
Al-Yawmul-Maw’ūd (the Promised Day) is the Day of Resurrection, and Al-Yawmul-Mashhūd (the Witnessed Day) is the Day of ‘Arafah, and Ash-Shāhid (the Witness) is Friday. (Al-Tirmidhī 3339. Declared Hasan by Al-Albānī)
It is the best of days
The prophet (ﷺ) said:
وَمَا مِنْ يَوْمِ أفضلُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ مَنْ يَومٍ عَرَفَةَ
No day is better to Allāh than the day of ‘Arafah. (Ibn Hibbān 3853. Declared Sahīh by Shu’ayb al-Arnāūt)
A day of attaining Allāhs forgiveness
The prophet (ﷺ) said:
إذا كان يوم عرفة إن الله ينزل إلى السماء الدنيا ،فيباهي بهم الملائكة فيقول : انظروا إلى عبادي أتوني شعثا غبراً ضاحين من كل فج عميق ، أشهدكم أني قد غفرت لهم ، فتقول الملائكة : يا رب ، فلان كان يرهق . ( أي : يغشى المحارم ، ويرتكب المفاسد ) ، وفلان وفلانة ؟ ! قال :يقول الله عز وجل : لقد غفرت لهم ، قال : قال رسول الله ﷺ : فما من يوم أكثر عتيق من النار من يوم عرفة
When it’s the Day of ‘Arafah, Allāh descends to the lowest heaven. Then he boasts about them [the people at ‘Arafah] to the angels and says: ‘Look at my servants who came to me dishevelled and dusty, from every deep valley. I bear witness that I have forgiven them.’ Then the angels say: ‘O Lord, so-and-so is al-haraq (meaning: one who is covered in sin, and commits corruption), so-and-so and so-and-so?!’
Allāh says: ‘I have forgiven them.’
The Messenger of Allāh said: ‘There is no day on which Allāh sets free more of His slaves from Fire than the Day of ‘Arafah.’
(Ibn Hibbān 3853, checking by Shu’ayb Al-Arnāūt, Ibn Khuzaymah 2840)
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