MAKKAH, Sept 26 (Bernama) — Muslims in Malaysia are recommended to perform voluntary fasting on the Day of Arafah on 9 Zulhijjah 1435H which falls on Oct 4 on local calendar instead of on Oct 3 as according to the Ummul Qura Calendar of Saudi Arabia.
Haj expert Datuk Fadzil Awang said this when asked to clarify the confusion among Muslims on whether the voluntary fasting on the Day of Arafah should be performed according to the date on local calendar or the Saudi Arabian calendar.
He was met while accompanying Head of the Malaysian haj delegation Datuk Syed Saleh Syed Abdul Rahman who visited the Malaysian pilgrims’ areas in Arafah, Mudzalifah and Mina and attended the Yasin recital and thanksgiving prayer in Arafah.
Last Wednesday, the Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court announced that, this year, the Day of Arafah, also known as Wukuf, which is the peak of the Haj pilgrimage, would be on Oct 3 and Aidiladha the following day after several people sighted the new Zulhijjah crescent moon on Wednesday.
The court also announced that Thursday would be the first day of Zulhijjah.
In Malaysia, the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal, Datuk Syed Danial Syed Ahmad on Tuesday announced that Muslims in the country would celebrate Aidiladha on Sunday, Oct 5 as 1 Zulhijjah fell on Friday, Sept 26.
Fadzil said Muslims who were not performing the Haj pilgrimage this year were recommended to perform the voluntary fasting on 9 Zulhijjah as this was a meritorious act which would result in abundant reward.
“Based on the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad, fasting on the Day of Arafah absolves the sins for two years; the previous year and the coming year,” he said.
However, he said those performing the haj were not encouraged to fast on the Day of Arafah for fasting would exert hardship on them while they were concerned with their obligatory haj rituals.
— BERNAMA
