The Day of Arafah: What It Is and How It Is Observed

The Day of Arafah is the ninth day of Dhul Hijjah, the twelfth and final month of the Islamic year. For the pilgrims it is the pilgrimage itself; the Prophet said plainly, Hajj is Arafah. For the far larger number of Muslims who are at home that day, it is the most significant day of the year outside Ramadan, and almost all of what is recommended on it can be done from anywhere.

What Happens at Arafah

Arafah is a plain about twenty kilometres east of Makkah, unremarkable to look at, with a low rocky hill at one edge called Jabal al-Rahmah. On the ninth of Dhul Hijjah roughly two million people stand there in identical unstitched white cloth from the sun's decline until sunset.

There is no ritual to perform. No circling, no set number of anything. The pilgrims stand, and pray, and ask. The standing is the rite. It is the only obligatory act of Hajj that consists of nothing but being present and asking, and a pilgrim who misses it has missed the Hajj.

The Prophet delivered his farewell sermon from this plain, and the verse This day I have perfected your religion for you was revealed there. Aisha reported that he said: there is no day on which Allah frees more servants from the Fire than the Day of Arafah.

Fasting for Those Not on Hajj

The best-known practice of the day belongs to those who are not there. Muslim records that the Prophet was asked about fasting the Day of Arafah and said it expiates the sins of the year before it and the year after it.

Pilgrims standing at Arafah do not fast. The reports state that the Prophet stood there not fasting, and the day is physically demanding; the fast is for those at home.

The Supplication of the Day

Both the Prophet's practice and the reports point to supplication rather than to any particular ritual. He said: the best supplication is the supplication of the Day of Arafah, and the best that I and the prophets before me have said is — there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner; His is the dominion and His is all praise, and He has power over all things.

That is a good thing to say often on the day. It is not a limit. The reason the day is described as one of supplication and not of ritual is that there is nothing to get right except sincerity, which frees the whole day for asking.

The Takbir

From the dawn of the Day of Arafah until the afternoon of the thirteenth of Dhul Hijjah, Muslims say the takbir after each obligatory prayer: Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, la ilaha illa Allah, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, wa lillahi'l-hamd. This is the takbir muqayyad, tied to the prayers, and it is what makes these days audibly different from the rest of the year.

Why the Date Differs Between Countries

Every year the same question arrives: my local calendar says Arafah is Tuesday, the Saudi calendar says Monday — which one do I fast?

Both positions are held by scholars and both rest on a reading of the same evidence. One view is that Arafah is a place and an event, so the day is the day the pilgrims actually stand, wherever you are. The other is that Arafah is a date in the lunar month, and lunar months begin locally with local sighting, so a country that begins Dhul Hijjah a day later observes Arafah a day later.

Neither position is a mistake, and this page will not choose for you. In practice most people follow the position of the scholarly body or mosque they normally follow, and some fast both days to be certain. What is worth avoiding is spending the day arguing about it.

For Someone Not on Hajj

Nearly everything the day offers is available at home. Fast, if you are able. Say the takbir after the prayers. Set aside real time — an hour, not a moment between other things — for supplication, and use your own language, because a request you actually mean in your own words is the point.

If there is a person you have not forgiven or an apology you have not made, the day is well spent on that. The reports about Arafah are overwhelmingly about being freed and forgiven, and reaching for that while holding on to a grudge is working against the grain of the day.

The day ends at sunset, and the night that follows is the night of Eid al-Adha.