Virtues Of The Day Of Arafah

The day of Arafah falls on every 9th day of
DhulHijjah of Islamic calendar (equivalently, Thursday,
30th of July, 2020 this year). It is recommended that
Muslim Fast and makeup some righteous deeds on
this Day because of the virtues embedded.
Below, we list some virtues of the day excerpted
from IslamQA
1. It is the day on which the religion was
perfected and Allaah’s Favour was completed.
In Al-Saheehayn it was reported from ‘Umar ibn
al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him)
that a Jewish man said to him, “O Ameer al-
Mu’mineen, there is an aayah in your Book
which you recite; if it had come to us Jews, we
would have taken that day as an ‘Eid (festival).”
‘Umar said, “Which aayah?” He said: “This day I
have perfected your religion for you, completed
My favour upon you, and have chosen for you
Islam as your religion.” [al-Maa’idah 5:3 –
interpretation of the meaning]. ‘Umar said, “We
know on which day and in which place that
was revealed to the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him). It was when
he was standing in ‘Arafaah on a Friday.”
2. It is a day of Eid for the people who are in
that place.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: “Yawm ‘Arafaah (the day of
‘Arafaah), Yawm al-Nahr (the Day of Sacrifice)
and Ayyaam al-Tashreeq (the 3 days following
Yawm al-Nahr) are Eid (festival) for us, the
people of Islam. These are days of eating and
drinking.” This was narrated by the authors of
al-Sunan. It was reported that ‘Umar ibn al-
Khattaab said: “It – i.e., the aayah ‘This day I
have perfected…’ was revealed on a Friday, the
Day of ‘Arafaah, both of which – praise be to
Allaah – are Eids for us.”
3. It is a day by which Allaah swore an oath.
The Almighty cannot swear by anything except
that which is mighty. Yawm ‘Arafaah is the
“witnessed day” mentioned in the aayah
(interpretation of the meaning):
“By the witnessing day [Friday] and by the
witnessed day [the Day of ‘Arafaah].” [al-Burooj
85:3].
It was reported from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah
be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The
promised day is the Day of Resurrection, the
witnessed day is the Day of ‘Arafaah, and the
witnessing day is Friday.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi
and classed as saheeh by al-Albaani.
It is the “odd” [i.e., odd-numbered, Witr] by
which Allaah swore in the aayah (interpretation
of the meaning):
“And by the even and the odd” [al-Fajr 89:3].
Ibn ‘Abbaas said: “The even is the Day of al-
Adhaa [i.e., 10th Dhoo’l-Hijjah] and the odd is the
Day of ‘Arafaah [i.e., 9th Dhoo’l-Hijjah] This is
also the view of ‘Ikrimah and al-Dahhaak.
4. Fasting on this day is an expiation for two
years.
It was reported from Abu Qutaadah (may
Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) was asked about fasting on the Day
of ‘Arafaah. He said, “It expiates for the sins of
the previous year and of the coming year.”
Narrated by Muslim.
This (fasting) is mustahabb for those who are
not on Hajj. In the case of the one who is on
Hajj, it is not Sunnah for him to fast on the Day
of ‘Arafaah, because the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not fast on
this day in ‘Arafaah. It was narrated that he
forbade fasting on the Day of ‘Arafaah in
‘Arafaah.
5. It is the day on which Allaah took the
covenant from the progeny of Adam.
It was reported that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah
be pleased with him) said: the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: “Allaah took the covenant from the
loins of Adam in Na’maan, i.e., ‘Arafaah. He
brought forth from his loins all his offspring and
spread them before Him, then He addressed
them, and said: ‘Am I not your Lord? They said,
‘Yes, we testify,’ let you should say on the Day
of Resurrection: ‘Verily, we have been unaware
of this.’ Or lest you should say: ‘It was only our
fathers aforetime who took others as partners
in worship along with Allaah, and we were
(merely their) descendents after them; will You
then destroy us because of the deeds of men
who practised Al-Baatil (i.e., ploytheism and
committing crimes and sins, invoking and
worshipping others besides Allaah)?’ [al-A’raaf
7:172-173 – interpretation of the meaning].”
Narrated by Ahmad and classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani. And there is no greater day than this
and no greater covenant than this.
6. It is the day of forgiveness of sins, freedom
from the Fire and pride in the people who are
there:
In Saheeh Muslim it was narrated from ‘Aa’ishah
(may Allaah be pleased with her) that the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: “There is no day on which Allaah
frees more people from the Fire than the Day of
‘Arafaah. He comes close and expresses His
pride to the angels, saying, ‘What do these
people want?’”
It was reported from Ibn ‘Umar that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: “Allaah expresses His pride to His angels at
the time of ‘Ishaa’ on the Day of ‘Arafaah, about
the people of ‘Arafaah. He says, ‘Look at My
slaves who have come unkempt and dusty.’”
Narrated by Ahmad and classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani.
And Allaah knows best.

https://islamqa.info/en/7284