Which day did Ibn Taymiyyah regard as the best of the year?
2026-10-14
T197 · Ibn Taymiyyah
Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah
شيخ الإسلام أحمد بن تيمية
Original Q&A · Complete source question and answer
Complete original question and answer, 25/288. ‘The day of settling’ translates yawm al-qarr, the day following the day of Sacrifice. The comparison and preference are Ibn Taymiyyah's.
النص العربي
السؤال الأصلي
سئل شيخ الإسلام: أيما أفضل: يوم عرفة، أو الجمعة، أو الفطر، أو النحر؟
الجواب
الحمد لله، أفضل أيام الأسبوع يوم الجمعة باتفاق العلماء، وأفضل أيام العام هو يوم النحر، وقد قال بعضهم: يوم عرفة، والأول هو الصحيح؛ لأن في السنن عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال: "أفضل الأيام عند الله يوم النحر ثم يوم القر"؛ لأنه يوم الحج الأكبر في مذهب مالك والشافعي وأحمد، كما ثبت في الصحيح عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال: "يوم النحر هو يوم الحج الأكبر".
وفيه من الأعمال مالا يعمل في غيره، كالوقوف بمزدلفة، ورمى جمرة العقبة وحدها، والنحر، والحلق، وطواف الإفاضة، فإن فعل هذه فيه أفضل بالسنة، واتفاق العلماء. والله أعلم.
English translation
English translation prepared for SalafAlSalih.com from the cited Arabic source. It is not an official translation.
Original question
Shaykh al-Islām was asked: Which is better: the day of ʿArafah, Friday, the day of Fiṭr, or the day of Sacrifice?
Answer
Praise be to Allah. The best day of the week is Friday, by scholarly agreement, and the best day of the year is the day of Sacrifice. Some have said that it is the day of ʿArafah, but the first view is correct, because the Sunan collections report that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “The best days before Allah are the day of Sacrifice, then the day of settling.” It is the day of the greater pilgrimage according to Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī and Aḥmad, as is established in the Ṣaḥīḥ from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “The day of Sacrifice is the day of the greater pilgrimage.”
It contains acts not performed on other days in this way: standing at Muzdalifah, stoning Jamrat al-ʿAqabah alone, sacrificing, shaving the head, and performing Ṭawāf al-Ifāḍah. Performing these on that day is better according to the Sunnah and scholarly agreement. Allah knows best.
Source and editorial notes
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 25/288
مجموع الفتاوى
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā
Arabic checked against the cited source and adjacent question boundaries. Diacritics and display marks omitted; honorific glyphs expanded. Titles and scope notes are editorial.