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
Applies to
All Hajj types — Tamattu', Qiran and Ifrad — i.e., any pilgrim performing the wuquf at Arafah. No difference between the types.
If missed
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.
Timing & place
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.)
Common mistakes
- •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.
Across the madhabs
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'.
Notes
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.