Question:
Is there any athar from the Prophet PBUH pertaining the greatest day in the sight of Allah SWT?
Answer:
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
The worship of Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and an obligation for those who are capable to perform it. Among the dalil on the obligation of Hajj are:
وَلِلَّـهِ عَلَى النَّاسِ حِجُّ الْبَيْتِ مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلًا ۚ وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ اللَّـهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنِ الْعَالَمِينَ
And [due] to Allah from the people is a pilgrimage to the House - for whoever is able to find thereto a way. But whoever disbelieves - then indeed, Allah is free from need of the world
Surah Ali Imran (97)
Referring to the above question, indeed, there is sahih hadith on this.
As narrated by Abdullah bin Qurth RA, the Prophet PBUH said:
إِنَّ أَعْظَمَ الأَيَّامِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى يَوْمُ النَّحْرِ ثُمَّ يَوْمُ الْقَرِّ
The greatest day in Allah's sight is the day of sacrifice and next the day of resting which Isa said on the authority of Thawr is the second day
Sunan Abi Dawud (1765) and Musnad Ahmad (19075) [Syeikh Syu’aib al-Arna’outh evaluated this hadith as sahih]
This hadith indicates that among the greatest days in the sight of Allah in a year after the day of Arafah is the Eidul Adha. This is because, there are many hajj activities done on that particular day like the stoning in Jamrah al-Aqabah, doing korban (sacrifice), tahallul, tawaf ifadhah and etc. Due to this, it is named as hajj al-akbar as mentioned in the Quran. [Refer: Jawahir al-Bihar, 1/148]. Furthermore, it is named as the day of al-Qar due to that day, the pilgrims stay in Mina after performing tawaf al-ifadhah, korban and it is also their time to rest. [Refer: Aun al-Ma’bud, 5/127].
Closing
To conclude, the day of al-Nahr or Eidul Adha is among the greatest and supreme days in the sight of Allah SWT. Hence, we are highly encouraged to do many good deeds on these days including the ten days in Zulkaedah. Pertaining the status of the above hadith, it is thabit and sahih from the Prophet PBUH. Lastly, may Allah give us strength in practicing good deeds on these days. Ameen.
Wallahua’lam.