Dhu al-Hijja (the twelfth month: the pilgrimage, the first ten days and the day of 'Arafa)

Dhu al-Hijja is the twelfth and last month, the third of the consecutive sacred months, named because the Arabs make the pilgrimage to God's house in it. ¹

The first ten days of Dhu al-Hijja are the best days of the year: no days are more beloved to God for righteous work than these, and the tahlil, takbir and tahmid are multiplied in them. ¹

The day of 'Arafa is the ninth of Dhu al-Hijja; its fast for the non-pilgrim expiates the year before and the year after. The day of sacrifice is the tenth, the feast of the sacrifice and the greatest rites of the hajj. ²

The days of Tashriq are the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth — days of eating, drinking and remembrance of God — whose fast is unlawful save for one without a sacrificial animal in tamattu'. ¹