Dought & clear, - Virtues of the Day of Arafaah

What are the Virtues of the Day of Arafaah ?
Praise be to Allaah.
1.It is the day on which the religion was perfected and Allaah's
Favour was completed.
InAl-Saheehaynit was reported from 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah
be pleased with him) that a Jewish man said to him, "O Ameer
al-Mu'mineen, there is an aayah in your Book which you recite; if it
had come to us Jews, we would have taken that day as an 'Eid
(festival)." 'Umar said, "Which aayah?" He said: "This day I have
perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and
have chosen for you Islam as your religion." [al-Maa'idah 5:3 –
interpretation of the meaning]. 'Umar said, "We know on which day and
in which place that was revealed to the Prophet(peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him). It was when he was standing in 'Arafaah on a
Friday."
2.It is a day of Eid for the people who are in that place.
The Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Yawm
'Arafaah(the day of 'Arafaah),Yawm al-Nahr(the Day of Sacrifice)
andAyyaam al-Tashreeq(the 3 days followingYawm al-Nahr) are Eid
(festival) for us, the people of Islam. These are days of eating and
drinking." This was narrated by the authors ofal-Sunan. It was
reported that 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab said: "It – i.e., the aayah 'This
day I have perfected…'was revealed on a Friday, the Day of 'Arafaah,
both of which – praise be to Allaah – are Eids for us."
3.It is a day by which Allaah swore an oath.
The Almighty cannot swear by anything except that which is mighty.
Yawm 'Arafaah is the "witnessed day" mentioned in the aayah
(interpretation of the meaning):
"By the witnessing day [Friday] and by the witnessed day [the Day of
'Arafaah]." [al-Burooj 85:3].
It was reported from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him)
that the Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The
promised day is the Day of Resurrection, the witnessed day is the Day
of 'Arafaah, and the witnessing day is Friday." Narrated by
al-Tirmidhi and classed as saheeh by al-Albaani.
It is the "odd" [i.e., odd-numbered,Witr] by which Allaah swore in the
aayah (interpretation of the meaning):
"And by the even and the odd" [al-Fajr 89:3].Ibn 'Abbaas said: "The
even is the Day of al-Adhaa [i.e., 10thDhoo'l-Hijjah] and the odd is
the Day of 'Arafaah [i.e., 9thDhoo'l-Hijjah] This is also the view of
'Ikrimah and al-Dahhaak.
4.Fasting on this day is an expiation for two years.
It was reported from Abu Qutaadah (may Allaah be pleased with him)
that the Messenger of Allaah(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) was asked about fasting on the Day of 'Arafaah. He said, "It
expiates for the sins of the previous year and of the coming year."
Narrated by Muslim.
This (fasting) is mustahabb for those who are not on Hajj. In the case
of the one who is on Hajj, it is not Sunnah for him to fast on the Day
of 'Arafaah, because the Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) did not fast on this day in 'Arafaah. It was narrated that he
forbade fasting on the Day of 'Arafaah in 'Arafaah.
5.It is the day on which Allaah took the covenant from the progeny of Adam.
It was reported that Ibn 'Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him)
said: the Messenger of Allaah(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: "Allaah took the covenant from the loins of Adam in
Na'maan, i.e., 'Arafaah. He brought forth from his loins all his
offspring and spread them before Him, then He addressed them, and
said:'Am I not your Lord? They said, 'Yes, we testify,' let you should
say on the Day of Resurrection: 'Verily, we have been unaware of
this.' Or lest you should say: 'It was only our fathers aforetime
whotook others as partners in worship along with Allaah, and we were
(merely their) descendents after them; will You then destroy us
because of the deeds of men who practised Al-Baatil (i.e., ploytheism
and committing crimes and sins, invoking and worshipping others
besides Allaah)?' [al-A'raaf 7:172-173 – interpretation of the
meaning]." Narrated by Ahmad and classed as saheeh by al-Albaani. And
there is no greater day than this and no greater covenant than this.
6.It is the day of forgiveness of sins, freedom from the Fire and
pride in the people who are there:
InSaheeh Muslimit was narrated from 'Aa'ishah (may Allaah be pleased
with her) that the Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: "There is no day on which Allaah frees more people from the Fire
than the Day of 'Arafaah. He comes close and expresses His pride to
the angels, saying, 'What do these people want?'"
It was reported from Ibn 'Umar that the Prophet(peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: "Allaah expresses His pride to His angels
at the time of 'Ishaa' on the Day of 'Arafaah, about the people of
'Arafaah. He says, 'Look at My slaves who have come unkempt and
dusty.'

Imam Hassan Askari (as) and the knowledge of hidden things:

Ismail says, "I was sitting on the way of our 11th Imam, Imam Hassan
Askari (as) so that I may stop him while he passes that way and ask
him for help."
Prior to that, I had hidden two hundred (200) golden coins with me as
a future provision for myself.
Suddenly, when I was lost in my ideas, Imam Hassan Askari (as) passed
by me. I rushed after him, stopped him and told him about my poverty
and misery and swear that I had nothing from the material sources.
Imam Hassan Askari (as) was very much annoyed with my swearing. He
told his servant to give me what was available with him. The servant
put hand in his pocket and brought out a sack of gold and gave it to
me.
Then Imam Hassan Askari (as) addressing me said, "We do not deprive
anybody from our help but you took a false oath and made Allah (SWT)
angry. You must never do that again and not deny the blessings of
Allah (SWT) in future and depend upon Allah (SWT) and have hope from
him, make use and benefit of the boon which He has given to you. You
have concealed two hundred golden coins in a corner so that it may be
of use and benefit to you on your rainy day. But beware, you will not
have an approach and lay your hands upon them, while you need them."
Ismail says, Imam Hassan Askari (as) made me aware and conscious about
my fault by his words. What he had said did occur.
One day when I extremely needed those coins, I rushed towards the
place I had buried them. But when I dug the place I was surprised to
see that there was no sign of the coins.
I came to know that my son got informed about them and did an ugly act
by picking them up without my permission and running away. Exactly the
way Imam Hassan Askari (as) said, that I would not lay my hand upon
them at the time of need.
There after, I decided to control myself and put a restraint upon my
faults and be a chaste and pious person before Allah (SWT).
Moral:You should trust in Allah (SWT) to look after you. You should
thank Allah (SWT) for whatever He has given you. You should never lie,
as you will be found out. Even if no-one finds out, Allah (SWT) knows.

Imam Hassan Askari (as) and helping poor:

The Abbasids court poet Abu Yousef says: "My hard life, coupled with
the birth of a son in this state of poverty, made me write a plea to
the Abbasid government for financial help, but I was spurned.
When I got disappointed I remembered the Holy Prophet Muhammad's
(peace be upon him and his pure progeny) descendant Imam Hassan Askari
(as). I went to him. I hesitated in informing him of my problem, for I
feared that he might not help me because of my reputation as the court
poet of the Abbasids.
I wandered around the Imam Hassan Askari's (as) house for sometime,
before knocking at his door. The door opened and to my surprise a
companion of Imam Hassan Askari (as) came out and put in my hand a
purse, saying: 'Take these 400 dirhams. My master says cover the
expenses of your newborn child with this amount. May God bless you and
the child.'"
Abu Yousef said: "I was astounded. I had neither met him as yet nor
disclosed the request I entertained at heart, and here I was given the
money. I thanked Allah (SWT) for blessing the earth with the presence
of such great and generous person.

Imam Hassan Askari (as) and the wild animals:

Mu'tamid, the Abbasid Caliph is just like his forefathers he too was
an open enemy of the Ahlul Bayt (as). He declared that Imam Hassan
Askari (as) should be imprisoned and that no mercy should be shown to
Him. And hence Mu'tamid, the Abbasid Caliph went to Salih bin Wasif
and told him to treat Imam Hassan Askari (as) harshly. Salih bin Wasif
sent for two of the evilest men he could find to take charge of the
Imam, but the men changed into men of worship, prayer and fasting to
an amazing extent. When Salih bin Wasif interrogated them about their
change in character, they said: "What can we say about a man who fasts
through the day and stands (in prayer) through the night, who does not
speak and occupies himself with nothing except worship? When he looks
at us, our limbs shake and within us is (a feeling) which we have
never had."
Then Imam Hassan Askari (as) was handed over to a man named Nahrir,
the Jailer who was a very cruel man was once advised by his wife who
said to him: "Fear Allah (SWT), have you no idea of who is imprisoned
in your prison? He is a pious man and a great worshipper of Allah
(SWT). I am afraid that Allah (SWT) will curse you." Her husband said:
"O' really. Just watch me; I am going to send him inside the cage of
the wild animals."
Nahrir, the Jailer got the permission from his Abbasid Caliph and
carried out his plan.
Imam Hassan Askari (as) was sent to this cage and the people thought
that this was the end of Imam Hassan Askari's (as) life. But when they
returned to look what had happened instead they all witnessed that
Imam Hassan Askari (as) was praying surrounded by the wild animals
which all were prostrating before Him. Now the order was given to take
Imam Hassan Askari (as) out from there.