The virtue of fasting on the day of Arafah, the prohibition of fasting at the place of Arafat, and the virtue of fasting in the month of Muharram

① Sayyiduna Abu Qatada (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that when the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was asked about fasting on the day of Arafah, he (peace be upon him) said:

يكفر السنة الماضية والباقية

“Fasting on this day expiates the sins of the previous year and the coming year.”

② It is also narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Qatada (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:

صيام يوم عرفة إني أحتسب على الله أن يكفر السنة التى قبله ، والسنة التى بعده

“Regarding fasting on the day of Arafah, I hope from Allah that it expiates the sins of the previous year and the coming year.”

① It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) forbade fasting on the day of Arafah (9th Dhu al-Hijjah) in the plain of Arafat.

① Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

أفضل الصيام بعد رمضان شهر الله المحرم ، وأفضل الصلاة بعد الفريضة صلاة الليل

“After Ramadan, the fasting of the month of Muharram is the most virtuous, and after the obligatory prayers, the Tahajjud prayer is the most virtuous.”

② Sayyiduna Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that a man asked him: After Ramadan, which month’s fast do you command me to observe? He said: I was in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) when I heard a man asking the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), saying: O Messenger of Allah! After the month of Ramadan, which month’s fast do you command me to observe? He (peace be upon him) said:

إن كنت تريد صياما بعد شهر رمضان فصم المحرم فإنه شهر الله فيه يوم تاب فيه على قوم ويتوب فيه على قوم آخرين

“If you want to fast after the month of Ramadan, then fast the days of Muharram, for it is the month of Allah, in which there is a day on which He accepted the repentance of a people, and He accepts the repentance of others in it.”