“Arafa tomorrow? I don’t think I’m that guy”
For anyone who feels they wasted the past few days, read carefully:
You have not missed the train. In fact, not only is the door still wide open, but the most precious day is still ahead of you. Tomorrow is the Day of ʿArafah.
This is the day about which the Prophet ﷺ said:
صِيَامُ يَوْمِ عَرَفَةَ، إِنِّي أَحْتَسِبُ عَلَى اللَّهِ أَنْ يُكَفِّرَ السَّنَةَ الَّتِي قَبْلَهُ وَالسَّنَةَ الَّتِي بَعْدَهُ
“Fasting the Day of ʿArafah: I hope from Allah that it will erase the sins of the year before it and the year after it.”
One day = Two years of sins vanish, by His mercy.
And the Prophet ﷺ said:
خَيْرُ الدُّعَاءِ دُعَاءُ يَوْمِ عَرَفَةَ
“The best Du’a is the Du’a of the Day of ʿArafah.”
So bring your entire life to Allah tomorrow.
The worries you keep replaying in your head, bring them. The duʿāʾ you have almost given up on, the marriage issue, the family tension, the child you are worried about, the debt, the scandal, the illness, the fear of the future, the guilt of the past, the private sin, the hard heart, the dreams that feel too far away, your pain that no one knows of, bring them all.
Tomorrow is ʿArafah: a day on which, quite literally, a new beginning may be written for you, provided you do not treat it like an ordinary day.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
مَا مِنْ يَوْمٍ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ أَنْ يُعْتِقَ اللَّهُ فِيهِ عَبْدًا مِنَ النَّارِ مِنْ يَوْمِ عَرَفَةَ
“There is no day on which Allah frees more servants from the Fire than the Day of ʿArafah.”
Therefore, it makes perfect sense that the day after ʿArafah is ʿEid, a day of celebration after a day of forgiveness, a day of joy after a day of pleading and healing.
Lastly, in Ramaḍān, Laylat al-Qadr — the greatest night of the year — is hidden from us, so we search for it across the last ten nights. But ʿArafah — the greatest day of the year — has been named for you, dated for you, and placed clearly before you.
So do not let Shayṭān tell you, “Ah, you’ve been lazy. You’ve wasted the first days. You’re not spiritual enough. People like you don’t suddenly become close to Allah.”
That’s one of his oldest doors, weaponizing your guilt to keep you away from the One who forgives guilt.
So fast if you are able to, and make the intention if you can’t. Guard your tongue. Give something in charity. Make a list of your duʿāʾs. Sit alone for a while. Raise your hands before Maghrib. Beg Allah like someone who is drowning, who knows that the King is generous and the door is open.
As you do so, do not forget your siblings in Islam in Gaza, Palestine, Sudan, and everywhere the Ummah is bleeding. Ask Allah to relieve them, strengthen them, protect them, honour them, and use you in their support in a way that removes from you the shame of abandonment.
O Allah, grant me and my global Muslim family the ability to do good tomorrow.
