sunnahfastEvery year, while the pilgrims stream toward Makkah, a door opens for everyone who stayed home. The first ten days of Dhul Hijjah are — by the Prophet’s ﷺ own description — the best days of the year for good deeds of every kind:
“There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these [first ten] days.”
Ten days, every good deed amplified
Notice the wording: righteous deeds, not only fasting. Charity, Quran, dhikr, kindness to parents, an apology you have been postponing — everything weighs more in these ten days. Fasting is simply one of the most complete deeds available, and the first nine days are all open for it (the 10th is Eid al-Adha, when fasting is forbidden).
Fast what you can. All nine days is a mountain; a few days, or even just one, is still a deed done in the most beloved days Allah made.
The 9th: Arafah
And then there is the 9th — the Day of Arafah, when the pilgrims stand on the plain and the rest of us are offered the most valuable fasting day on the calendar:
“Fasting the Day of Arafah, I hope, expiates for the year before it and the year after it.”
Two years — one behind, one ahead — for a single day of fasting. The fast is for those not performing Hajj; the pilgrims themselves do not fast at Arafah, following the Prophet’s ﷺ example, because their day of standing and dua is work enough.
If you set one fasting alarm all year, set it for Arafah.
Do not let the ten days surprise you
Dhul Hijjah arrives on lunar time, and its first days are easy to miss in an ordinary work week. sunnahfast sends a nudge each evening of the first nine days, with Arafah flagged as the big one — or you can see the exact dates ahead of time on our upcoming fasting days page and calendar feed.