Hadeeth Study: The Best Supplication for the Day of ‘Arafah

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Ever-Merciful…

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah raise his rank and grant him peace) said:

خير الدعاء دعاء يوم عرفة، وخير ما قلت أنا والنبيون من قبلي: لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك وله الحمد وهو على كل شيء قدير

“The best supplication is the one made on the Day of ‘Arafah. The best thing ever said by me and the previous prophets is: There is no deity worthy of worship other than Allah, who is alone, having no partner. His is the dominion, and to Him belongs all praise. He is, of everything, All-Capable.”

The hadeeth was collected by Imam at-Tirmithee and others, and it has been authenticated by the scholars. [1]

14 Points of Benefit Derived From or Related to the Hadeeth:

1 – The Day of ‘Arafah is the ninth day of the month of Thul-Hijjah. The Day of ‘Arafah this year (1444) is Tuesday, June 27, 2023. The following day is ‘Eed al-Adh-haa, the second of the two annual holidays in Islam. [2]

2 – The best day of the year to supplicate to Allah is the Day of ‘Arafah, while the best night for supplication is Laylat al-Qadr in Ramadhan. The Day of ‘Arafah is found within the best ten days of the year, the first ten of Thul-Hijjah, while Laylat al-Qadr is found in the best ten nights of the year, the last ten nights of Ramdhaan. While supplications in general may be made during both great opportunities, both have a specific supplication that stands out as the very best thing to use.

3 – The previous prophets used to remember Allah with this great supplication.

4 – Allah’s Power and Capability is unlimited, unrestricted, and always in accordance with His perfect and complete Wisdom. Muslims never describe Allah with weaknesses, flaws, or inability. These are attributes He has negated in His Book.

5 – You can practice and review your pronunciation of this supplication by using this short MP3 audio file along with this printable text.

6 – You can review your understanding of the basic meanings of this supplication by reviewing this short MP3 audio file.

7 – A du’aa’ (supplication) does not always include a request. Here, the du’aa’ is entirely words of praise, with nothing being directly requested.

8 – While the pilgrims standing on Mt. Arafah during Hajj are in the best position to have their prayers answered, Muslims should take advantage of the virtuous daylight hours of the Day of ‘Arafah wherever they are by supplicating and remembering Allah, the Most High.

Shaykh Saalih al-Fowzaan concluded that this supplication for the Day of ‘Arafah is for all Muslims everywhere, while of course it is stressed more for the pilgrims on Hajj. [3]

9 – The best way to praise Allah is to mention His Oneness and sole right to be worshipped alone.

10 – Calling upon Allah alone is one of the greatest acts of worship one can offer.

11 – Calling upon others besides Allah is an act of shirk (polytheism), which nullifies all of a person’s deeds. This includes:

  • Asking the dead (prophets, righteous, etc.) to do something for you
  • Asking the dead (prophets, righteous, etc.) to intercede for you with Allah

Allah, the Most High, has said:

وقال ربكم ادعوني أستجب لكم إن الذين يستكبرون عن عبادتي سيدخلون جهنم داخرين
“And your Lord has said: Call upon Me (alone), and I shall respond to you. Verily, those who arrogantly refuse to worship Me (alone) shall enter the Hellfire disgraced.” [4]

12 – Some supplications are better and more beloved to Allah than others, while this is only known through textual evidence, [5] like in this case.

13 – Supplications made on the Day of ‘Arafah shall be accepted by Allah, except when a person transgresses by saying or doing things displeasing to Allah. [6]

Some things which prevent one’s supplications from being answered are: impermissible income or nourishment, hastiness in expecting a response, asking for prohibited things, and saying “in shi’ta” (meaning: “if You will”), or “in shaa’ Allaah” when requesting something.

14 – The additional phrase found in some narrations of the hadeeth: ( بيده الخير ) “In His Hand is all goodness”, after the statement, “To Him belongs all praise,” is not authentic as part of the supplication for the Day of ‘Arafah. [7]

And Allah knows best.

Written by: Moosaa Richardson in 1434.

Revised and updated for the Day of ‘Arafah 1436.

Revised and updated for the Day of ‘Arafah 1437.

Revised and updated for the Day of ‘Arafah 1438.

Revised and updated for the Day of ‘Arafah 1439.

Revised and updated for the Day of ‘Arafah 1440.

Revised and updated for the Day of ‘Arafah 1441.

Revised and updated for the Day of ‘Arafah 1442.

Revised and updated for the Day of ‘Arafah 1443.

Revised and updated for the Day of ‘Arafah 1444.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Imam at-Tirmithee collected the hadeeth in his Jaami’ (#3585), and pointed out a weakness in its chain. However, the hadeeth has other supporting chains which allow the scholars of hadeeth to accept its authenticity. See Silsilat al-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah (#1503).

[2] Thul-Hijjah 1444 began on Monday, June 19, 2023.

[3] From an answer given by Shaykh al-Fowzaan (may Allah preserve him), as found on his official website: http://alfawzan.af.org.sa/node/8980 (Arabic audio) [Arabic text]

[4] Soorah Ghaafir (40:60) and its meaning

[5] As mentioned by al-Haafith Ibn ‘Abdil-Barr in Alistithkaar (2/531).

[6] Alistithkaar (2/531)

[7] Dha’eef al-Jaami’ as-Sagheer (#4464)

17 thoughts on “Hadeeth Study: The Best Supplication for the Day of ‘Arafah

  1. Assalaamu alaikum, it wasn’t entirely clear to me from the article (specifically point #8), but is it legislated for those who are not making Hajj to specify Yaumul-Arafah with this specific duaa? Or is that only for the people in Arafah? Jazaakallaahu khayr

  2. To facilitate reading the du’aa:

    (( خَيْرُ الدُّعَاءِ دُعَاءُ يَوْمِ عَرَفَةَ، وَخَيْرُ مَا قُلْتُ أَنَا وَالنَّبِيُّونَ مِنْ قَبْلِي:

    لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، لَهُ المُلْكُ وَلَهُ الحَمْدُ وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ ))

  3. Assalamu-Alaikum,

    Brother Moosaa, A bit unrelated but I was wondering if you could answer, or direct me to the response of a scholar regarding those who claim Eid ul-Adha has nothing to do with Hajj and that Hajj was made obligatory 7 years after Eid was given to the Muslims. I saw this on a picture being circulated on twitter by barelvis. I do not want to respond to this question with my limited knowledge and thought you will be able to provide me with a more in depth and better answer in sha Allaah.

    • wa ‘alaykas-salaamu wa rahmatullaah. I do not understand the goal or intended result of this “distinction”, sorry. Obviously, the Day of ‘Eed al-Adh-haa is in the middle of the days of Hajj. Did it land there by chance or was this planned by the All-Wise and All-Knowledgeable One? May Allaah protect us from arguing about silly things.

    • Jazaakallaah khair. Forgive me for the wording of my initial post, it does not convey my desired intent and should not have been posted. The picture read “Eid ul Adha was given to the Muslims in the second year of Hijri and 7 years later Hajj was made obligatory. How did the companions celebrate Eid for 7 years if there was no hajj? It’s so simple but common sense isn’t common. You follow the moon sighting of your own realm, you don’t follow the house of Saud. Eid is on Wednesday.” As you are probably aware in the UK there is always a differing on when Eid al-Fitr starts, this year the barelvi masjids also differed on the start of Eid al-Adhaa and some said “You [Salafis] follow Saudi blindly”. It was not my intention to deliberately get into a debate with the people who made the claim, I wanted the correct response if I get asked such questions; the majority of my family are barelvi and I expected that they would have seen the post being circulated and later directed those questions towards me. In sha Allaah if asked I will keep the response short and end with Allaah knows best.

    • Regarding the “blind following” of Saudi Arabia: The Religion of Allaah is upheld by the Muslim rulers. They have set up councils to report moonsightings and people to carefully research each claimed moonsighting. All of this is so that the Sunnah of the Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) can be established, that the moonsighting is established by at least one credible Muslim witness. This is not called “blind following”; this is called the Deen of Allaah, and whoever is displeased with it, should not busy the Muslims with it, but rather take their objection directly to Allaah and His Messenger on the Day of Judgment. As for the Muslims, we are pleased with Allaah as our Lord, Muhammad as our Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace), and Islam as our Religion.

      Additionally, it is very difficult to believe that the true Day of ‘Arafah is NOT actually the day when all the Muslim pilgrims – MILLIONS – from all over the world are actually standing on ‘Arafah, but rather it is the day before or after that day, when NO ONE is standing on ‘Arafah. Subhaan Allaah, look how the Muslims are united in their Hajj rituals! For many people, this tips the scales in favor of one global sighting. And Allaah knows best.

  4. السلا عليكم
    Is it permissible for one to make this dua at other favorable times, such as when it rains or between adthan and iqama?

  5. as salaam alaykum wa rahmatullah my dear ustadh moosa Richardson

    as to the issue of arafah and eidul adha, is that eidul adha can’t hold except if the hujjaj have stood on arafah, so it is mentioned that eidul adha had been legislated before the the institution of Hajj. meaning one can establish eid even when the Muslims are on arafah especially when the moon was sighted before it was sighted in Saudi…..in such a case such place will be a day ahead of Saudi, this happened in Nigeria some years back. in conclusion, in such circumstances you don’t have to wait for the standing on Arafat before the eid is established. Allah knows best. barakallahu feekum for the enlightenment have gained from you from classes, to your tweets and so on.

    • wa ‘alaykas-salaamu wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. This is a strong argument to support the correctness of one global sighting and one unified Ummah upon one calendar – It is that people are claiming that the Day of Arafa is other than the Day of Arafah where all of Allaah’s servants there are united and none of them differ. And Allaah knows best.

  6. Asalam alakium rahmatullahi wa barakatu aki
    Can u explain a little bit moreon point 13 ??and saying “in shi’ta” (meaning: “if You will”), or ”in shaa’ Allaah” when requesting something

    • In a hadeeth reported by Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him), collected by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim:

      إذا دعا أحدكم فليعزم المسألة، ولا يقولن: اللهم إن شئت فأعطني، فإنه لا مستكره له
      “When one of you supplicates, let him be resolute in his request, and let him not say: “O Allaah, if you wish (‘in shi’ta’), give me (such-and-such),” as there is none who can force Allaah (into giving anyone anything).”

      ‘In shi’ta’ is in the second person, when you directly address Him.
      ‘In shaa’ Allaah’ is in the third person, when you ask by saying the likes of, “I ask Allaah to give me such-and-such, ‘in shaa’ Allaah’.”

      And Allaah knows best.

  7. Assalamo alaikum…

    Jazakallaho khair for this valuable expalanation May Allah subhana wa taala give u reward…

    Point no 13 is not clear to me…”saying In sha Allah” with supplication.
    Is it probibited ?

  8. Assalaamu Alaikum dear brother Moosa,
    Is there any authenticity to the claim of some people that, of the daylight hours on the Day of Arafah, the last hour is the most virtuous for making du’a?
    Jazaakallaahu khairan

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