Brilio.net - Eid al-Adha is celebrated every 10 Dzulhijah in the Hijri calendar. Before the Eid al-Adha celebration, there are usually various kinds of sunnah fasting services that Muslims can carry out.
The first ten days of the month of Dzulhijjah are an opportunity for Muslims to increase their practice of both obligatory and sunnah worship. The reason is that when done before Eid al-Adha, all the practices will be multiplied and will have priority.
Quoting from the Baznas.go and NU Online pages, there are three types of sunnah fasting that Muslims can do, namely Dzulhijjah fasting, Tarwiyah fasting and Arafah fasting.
If it is related to the hadith of Rasulullah SAW in the story of Hafsah bin Umar bin Khattab ra regarding the practices that were never abandoned by Rasulullah SAW include:
"There are four things that the Prophet never abandoned, namely the Ashura fast, ten days of fasting in the month of Dzulhijjah, three days of fasting every month, and two rak'ahs before dawn." (HR. Ahmad and An-Nasai).
To better understand sunnah fasting ahead of Eid al-Adha, let's look at the complete review reported from various sources on Monday (11/6).
The practice of sunnah fasting before Eid al-Adha
photo: freepik.com
1. Fasting the sunnah of Dzulhijjah.
This sunnah fasting is a noble practice that is full of blessings and is recommended to be done as the Prophet Muhammad did. So, the sunnah fasting of Dzulhijjah can be carried out on the first 10 days of the month of Dzulhijjah, namely 1-7 Dzulhijjah.
In 2024, the Dzulhijjah fast is expected to be carried out on June 8-14. The intentions for fasting are as follows:
"Nawaitu shouma syahri dzil hijjah sunnatan lillahi ta'ala".
It means:
"I intend to fast the sunnah month of Dzulhijjah because of Allah Ta'ala."
2. Tarwiyah sunnah fasting.
Furthermore, the Tarwiyah sunnah fast can be carried out on the 8th day of the month of Zulhijjah. One of the advantages of Tarwiyah sunnah fasting is that the reward is like fasting for a whole year.
"Whoever fasts for 10 days, then each day is like fasting for a month. And, fasting on Tarwiyah day is like fasting for a year, while fasting on Arafah day is like fasting for two years." (HR. Ali Al-Muairi, At-Thibbi, Abu Sholeh, and Ibnu Abbas).
The Sunnah Tarwiyah fasting day this year is estimated to be June 15 2024. So, for your own intentions you can read:
"Nawaitu shouma tarwiyata sunnatan lillahi ta'ala"
It means:
"I intend to fast Tarwiyah, sunnah because of Allah Ta'ala."
3. Sunnah fasting on Arafah.
Lastly, the recommended practice of fasting before Eid al-Adha is on the 9th day of the month of Zuhijjah. This means that exactly 1 day before Eid al-Adha you can carry out this sunnah fast.
Adapting a hadith narrated by Imam Muslim, explaining the virtue of the sunnah fast of Arafah, it can erase the sins of the past year and the coming year. The words of Rasulullah SAW read:
It means:
"The Arafat fast (9 Dzulhijjah) can erase the sins of the past year and the coming year. The Ashuro fast (10 Muharram) will erase the sins of the past year." (HR. Muslim)
So, Arafah's sunnah fast is estimated to fall on June 16 2024. The following is a reading of Arafah's sunnah fasting intention, namely:
"Nawaitu shouma arafata sunnatan lillahi ta'ala"
It means:
"I intend to fast Arafah sunnah because of Allah Ta'ala."
The wisdom of sunnah fasting before the Eid al-Adha holiday.
photo: freepik.com
1. Melt away the sins of the past year and the year to come.
Every good deed always gets a reward from Allah SWT. When carrying out sunnah fasting before Eid al-Adha, it is believed that the sins of the past year and the sins of the coming year will be washed away. However, the practice of fasting must be accompanied by other forms of worship.
Reporting from NU Online, the majority of scholars say that the sins that are forgiven are small sins. Big sins still need to be carried out by repenting nasuha and then promising not to repeat them again.
2. Open various blessings and graces.
There is no practice that is wasted, including sunnah fasting before Eid al-Adha. Allah SWT opens mercy to people who carry out sunnah fasting. Well, my advice is to practice various dhikr or read more verses from the holy Koran.
3. Double the reward.
Doing good deeds in the first ten days of the month of Dzulhijjah, including fasting, will be doubled. As in the hadith of Rasulullah SAW which reads:
"There are no days that Allah prefers more for worship than the first ten days of the month of Dzulhijjah, one day of fasting in it is equivalent to one year of fasting, one night of offering evening prayers is equivalent to prayers on the night of Lailatul Qadar." (HR At-Tirmidhi).
4. Free from the torment of hell fire.
The wisdom of sunnah fasting ahead of another Eid al-Adha is that Allah SWT will free His servants from the torment of hellfire, especially on the day of Arafah. Rasulullah SAW said in a hadith narrated by Muslim, stating:
"There is no day on which Allah frees more slaves from hell than the Day of Arafat, and indeed He approaches and boasts of them before the Angels and says: 'What do they want?' (HR Muslim).