Not Fasting on the Day of Arafah (for the pilgrim)
Tark sawm yawm 'Arafah (lil-haajj)
Overview
While fasting the Day of 'Arafah is highly virtuous for other Muslims, the pilgrim actually standing at 'Arafah is recommended not to fast — so as to keep full strength for the supplication and exertion of the day.
Qur'an
No direct ayah applies to this specific ruling; it rests on the Sunnah. Omitted as a primary daleel.
Hadith
- •Umm al-Fadl bint al-Harith (RA) (agreed upon) — (Book of Fasting, chapter on fasting the Day of Arafah) and (Book of Fasting; Muslim's chapter heading reads: 'It is recommended for the one performing Hajj at Arafat not to fast the Day of Arafah'): the people around Umm al-Fadl (RA) differed as to whether the Prophet (ﷺ) was fasting on Arafah, so she sent him a vessel of milk which he drank while mounted on his camel at Arafah — publicly showing he was not fasting.References · Sahih al-Bukhari 1988 · Sahih Muslim 1123Grade · Sahih — muttafaq 'alayh (agreed upon)
- •Ibn Umar (RA) — 'I performed Hajj with the Prophet (ﷺ) and he did not fast that day (Arafah); and with Abu Bakr (RA) and he did not fast it; and with Umar (RA) and he did not fast it; and with Uthman (RA) and he did not fast it.'Reference · Jami' at-Tirmidhi 751Grade · Sahih (at-Tirmidhi; al-Albani: sahih)
- •Abu Hurayrah (RA) (via Ikrimah (RH)) — 'The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade fasting on the Day of Arafah at Arafah' — a weak report used only as corroboration.Reference · Sunan Abi Dawud 2440Grade · Da'if (weak, al-Albani); the recommendation rests on the sound reports, not this narration
All Hajj types — Tamattu', Qiran and Ifrad — i.e., any pilgrim performing the wuquf at Arafah. No difference between the types.
No penalty; Hajj is valid. If a pilgrim does fast at Arafah, both his fast and his Hajj are valid — he has simply left the preferable sunnah (and, per those who deem it makruh, done something disliked). No dam and no fidyah are due for fasting or for not fasting.
The Day of Arafah, 9th Dhul-Hijjah — specifically for the pilgrim who is at Arafah performing the wuquf on that day.
Arafah. The recommendation is directed at the pilgrim present at Arafah on the 9th. (A non-pilgrim, or a person not at Arafah, is instead encouraged to fast the Day of Arafah — a separate ruling.)
- •A pilgrim fasting on Arafah in the belief that it carries the same great virtue as for the non-pilgrim, and thereby becoming too weak for the standing and du'a.
- •Confusing the two rulings: fasting the Day of Arafah expiates the previous and coming year's minor sins for the non-pilgrim (Sahih Muslim 1162, Abu Qatadah (RA)), whereas the pilgrim at Arafah is recommended not to fast.
- •Assuming that fasting is haram/forbidden for the pilgrim — it is not (at most makruh per some); the point is simply that breaking it is better.
The four schools agree that not fasting is preferable for the pilgrim at Arafah, but differ in strength:
- •Hanafi: makruh for the pilgrim to fast if fasting would weaken him from the wuquf and du'a (otherwise not disliked).
- •Maliki: mustahabb for the pilgrim not to fast, in order to strengthen himself for supplication.
- •Shafi'i: mustahabb not to fast (al-Nawawi), and a group of the school explicitly held it is makruh for the pilgrim to fast the Day of Arafah at Arafah.
- •Hanbali: preferred/sunnah not to fast (to break it), with some transmitting a ruling of karahah. Net: unanimous that leaving the fast is better; divergence is over 'merely less preferred' versus 'makruh'.
Contrast case (non-pilgrim): 'Fasting the Day of Arafah — I hope from Allah that it expiates the year before it and the year after it' (Sahih Muslim 1162, Abu Qatadah (RA)). Wisdom of the pilgrim not fasting: strength for du'a and open emulation of the Prophet (ﷺ), who ate/drank publicly at Arafah. The weak Sunan Abi Dawud 2440 should not be presented as the main proof; the decisive evidence is the Prophet's (ﷺ) own sound practice. Edge cases (e.g., a pilgrim whose wuquf falls in unusual circumstances) are not covered by this general recommendation.