The spreading of the earth
Dahw al-Ard, the twenty-fifth of Dhu l-Qa'da, is named in Shia hadith as the day on which the dry land was spread out from under the waters at the creation, beginning from the site of the Ka'ba. The Qur'anic phrase that God "spread the earth" is read as a reference to it, and the hadith add that on this day divine mercy was sent down to the earth and, in some reports, that the Prophet Ibrahim (a) and Jesus (a) were born on it.
What the tradition recommends
The manuals count it among the four days of the year on which fasting is most strongly urged, with a reward likened to seventy years, and prescribe the ghusl, a two-unit prayer at noon and the long supplication of the day. Because it falls in the month of Imam al-Rida's (a) birth, his ziyarah is also recommended.
In the calendar
The day is a quiet devotional occasion rather than a public festival: it is kept by fasting and prayer in Iran and Iraq and among observant families elsewhere, and prepares the way for the month of Hajj that follows.
Written for Shia Online Community. Dates and facts are checked against the references listed under Research & books; where the tradition records more than one date, all are given.