The merit of the first ten days of Dhul-Hijja
- Categories: Fiqh of Hajj and Umrah -
Allah Almighty is most Merciful. He likes to provide to His
servants opportunities for repentance, and He likes to see His
servants seek nearness with Him by the acts of obedience.
Therefore, Allah Almighty makes to us days of blessing, every year,
in which He multiplies the reward to encourage us to work in
them.
In the days of exams or
presenting projects of work we do our best for achieving the marks
of success and excellence. Hence, why would not we work in these
days to achieve the highest marks of excellence in the exam of
Hereafter? Indeed, working in these days is better than working in
the other days of the year. Allah Almighty says: {That they may
witness things that are of benefit to them (i.e. reward of Hajj in
the Hereafter, and also some worldly gain from trade, etc.), and
mention the Name of Allah on appointed days (i.e. 10th, 11th, 12th,
and 13th day of Dhul-Hijjah), over the beast of cattle that He has
provided for them (for sacrifice) (at the time of their
slaughtering by saying: Bismillah, WAllahu-Akbar, Allahumma Minka
wa Ilaik). Then eat thereof and feed therewith the poor who have a
very hard time.} [Surat Al-Hajj 22:28]
Transliteration:
Liyashhadoo manafiAAa lahum
wayathkuroo isma Allahi fee ayyamin maAAloomatin AAala ma razaqahum
min baheemati alanAAami fakuloo minha waatAAimoo albaisa
alfaqeera
Ibn 'Abbas said: "They are the
ten days of Dhul-Hijja" (Fath Al-Bary
2/457).
Moreover, the Prophet (prayers
and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "No good deeds done on other
days are superior to those done on these (first ten days of
Dhul-Hijja)." Then some companions of the Prophet said, "Not even
Jihad?" He replied, "Not even Jihad, except that of a man leaves
for the sake of Allah (Jihad) with his self and his money and does
not return with any of those things" [Reported by
Al-Bukhari]
In this worldly life, when we
love a person, we do our best to please him and we do what makes us
near to him. In fact, loving Allah Almighty must be the greatest
love in every Muslim's heart. Why not? Actually, Allah Almighty is
the One Who bestows upon us all the boons that we have. Therefore,
we should seek nearness with Him by doing whatever He likes and
abstain from whatever He does not like to gain His
love
The acts which
are desirable to be done in these days:
Fasting:
It is recommended for the
Muslim to fast all these days or some of them, if he can, because
fasting is one of the best deeds. Allah said in the Qudsi Hadeeth:
"Every act of the son of Adam is for him except fasting. It is done
for My sake, and I will give a reward for it" [Reported by
Al-Bukhari]
Moreover, the Prophet (prayers
and peace of Allah be upon him) used to observe fasting in these
days, because fasting for a day for the sake of Allah makes the
Muslim farther from the Hellfire to the extent of seventy years'
distance. The Prophet (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) said
to us: "Every servant of Allah who observes fast for a day for the
sake of Allah, Allah would remove, because of this day, his face
farther from Hellfire seventy years' distance" [Agreed
upon]
Takbir:
It is Sunnah to observe
Takbir, Tahmid, Tahlil and Tasbih in these ten days. It is enough
to know that Allah Glory to Him and Exaltation, accompanies whoever
mentions Him. Takbir could be done by saying "Allahu Akbar, Allahu
Akbar, La Ilaha Illa Allah, Wa Allahu Akbar Wa Lillah Al-Hamd", and
there are many other forms of saying Takbir, all are mentioned in
the Sunnah.
Doing much of
the good deeds in general:
This is because the good deeds
are desirable to Allah Almighty. The good deeds are like observing
prayer, reciting the Qur'an, remembering Allah, invoking Allah,
giving charity, being dutiful to the parents, uniting the ties of
kinship and enjoining the good and forbidding the evil and all
other forms of doing good and observing obedience. Actually, all
these things make you ideal Muslim and increase your faith and your
loving to Allah Almighty; thereupon, Allah will love you more
making you stand firm in the path of the truth and give you sense
of happiness in the heart every person who does not love Allah
misses it. Allah Almighty says: {But whosoever turns away from My
Reminder (i.e. neither believes in this Qur'ân nor acts on its
teachings.) verily, for him is a life of hardship, and We shall
raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection} [Surat Taha
20:124]
Transliteration:
Waman aAArada AAan thikree
fainna lahu maAAeeshatan dankan wanahshuruhu yawma alqiyamati
aAAman
Providing
sacrifice:
The good deeds in these ten
days includes seeking nearness with Allah Almighty by sacrificing
animals and donating third of them to the poor and needy people as
a kind of relieving to their pains and granting them happiness.
Actually, the Prophet (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) said
that charity extinguishes the anger of the Lord. Sacrificing the
animals should be done on the Day of Sacrifice (10th of Dhul-Hijja)
and on the days of Tashriq (11th, 12th and 13th of Dhul-Hijja). It
is the Sunnah of our father, Ibrahim (peace be upon him) when Allah
ransomed his son with a great sacrifice. And it has been narrated
on the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that he
said: "The Prophet sacrificed with his own hands two horned rams
which were white with black markings reciting the name of Allah and
glorifying Him (saying Allahu Akbar). He placed his foot on their
sides (while sacrificing)" [Agreed Upon]
The one who intends to
sacrifice should not get his hair cut or nails trimmed. Umm Salama
(may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that the Prophet (prayers
and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "He who has a sacrificial
animal with him whom (he intends) to offer as sacrifice, and the
month of Dhul-Hijja approaches, he should not take from his hair or
trim his nails until he has sacrificed the animal" [Reported by
Muslim]
Repentance to
Allah:
Among the things that must be
done in these ten days is repentance to Allah Almighty and
abstaining from committing sins. Repentance has three
phases:
- First: to abstain from committing the
sin.
- Second: to regret.
- Third: to intend not to return to
committing this sin again.
Indeed, repentance in these
times is a great thing, because Allah Almighty provides these times
to make the repentant people repent and go to the way of Allah
Almighty. How great is He! Does not He deserve to be worshipped and
loved? He Almighty says: {But as for him who repented (from
polytheism and sins), believed (in the Oneness of Allâh, and in His
Messenger Muhammad prayers and peace of Allah be upon him), and did
righteous deeds (in the life of this world), then he will be among
those who are successful} [Surat Al-Qasas 28:67]
Transliteration:
Faamma man taba waamana
waAAamila salihan faAAasa an yakoona mina almufliheena
And He Almighty says: {Say: "O
'Ibâdî (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by
committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allâh:
verily, Allâh forgives all sins. Truly He is Oft-Forgiving, Most
Merciful} [Surat Az-Zuma 39: 53]
Transliteration:
Qul ya AAibadiya allatheena
asrafoo AAala anfusihim la taqnatoo min rahmati Allahi inna Allaha
yaghfiru alththunooba jameeAAan innahu huwa alghafooru
alrraheemu
We ask Allah Almighty to make
us among the intelligent people who take advantage of these great
opportunities.
Fasting the
day of 'Arafa:
Abu Qatada Al-Ansary (may
Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah
(prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) was asked about fasting
the day of 'Arafa (9th of Dhul-Hijja), whereupon he said: "It
expiates the sins of the preceding year and the coming year"
[Reported by Muslim]
The status of
the righteous forefathers on the mountain of 'Arafa:
The status of the righteous
forefathers on the mountain of 'Arafa was various; some of them
were dominated by fear and hope. Mutraf Ibn Abdullah Ash-Shakhir and Bakr
Al-Muzany stood on the mountain of 'Arafa, then one of them
said: "O Allah, do not forsake those who are on the mountain
because of me", and the other one said: "What an honorable stopping
place and what a blessed place for its people with the exception of
my being among them."
• Al-Fudail stood on 'Arafa while
people were invoking Allah, and he wept like a woman bereaved of a
child to degree made him unable to invoke; then, when the sun
became near setting, he raised his head to the sky and said: "I am
ashamed of facing You, even if you forgave me."
• Al-Fudail said to Shu'aib Ibn Harb in the
pilgrimage: "If you thought that there is someone worse than
me and you in this place, you had thought badly."
• One of the righteous people
invoked Allah in 'Arafa by saying: "O Allah, if You did not accept
my Hajj, fatigue and exhaustion, then I invoke you not to prevent
me the reward of the calamity of not accepting my
deed."
• Ibn Al-Mubarak said: "I went to
Sufyan Ath-Thawry at the evening of 'Arafa and I found him kneeling
on his knees and his eyes tear, and he turned his head toward me,
whereupon I said to him: "Who is the worst one among this
gathering?" so, he replied: "The one who thinks that Allah does not
forgive their sins."
Did you
prepare the preceding year's statement of account?
When the year comes to its
end, the owner of the company reviews its records then puts future
plans to avoid repeating the losses or to increase the
gains.
The same is applied to states,
whether they are great or small, when a year passes, they prepare
their balance sheets to correct their mistakes in the preceding
year. However, why many of us let the years of life go one after
another without thinking or reviewing their records. In fact, if he
thought and checked his records, he would think only in what he
gained and lose from the debris of the worldly life, and he does
not pay attention to the real balance sheet that leads him to
Hellfire or send him to Paradise.
By this way, years go by
without contemplating on ones affairs. If he thought, in some
night, in doing so, he would be overwhelmed by solicitude, because
of the graveness of his negligence, and his chest would be narrowed
and Satan would launch war against him by all his power to spoil
that stop. When someone of us loses money, he turns the whole world
upside down. And when he loses a dear person, many days of his life
turn to be grievous. However, what if his loss part of his life
cannot be compensated and there is no solace to him except good
deed provides to him benefit when no money or children could
provide benefit.
I feel astonishment and
confusion because of some people. Some people let the hours of the
first day of the New Year pass away without doing anything;
moreover, they escape from holding themselves to account! Did the
feelings become sluggish and there is no place for looking-out or
sound for the alarm bell of the conscience to awaken in them
feeling of nonfeasance makes them get up out of their
inattentiveness!
The worst people are those who
invest these hours in celebrating the New Year with things that do
not include good deed to meet their Lord with it. They live in
inattentiveness and ignorance, because the one who loses something
does not make ceremonies and parties because of joy, rather he shed
tears of blood instead.
At the end of every year, we
get closer to Hereafter, and if you lose a year, you still have a
new year, so do not lose it. How would you know, it may be the last
of your years! The Prophet (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him)
said: "Allah will not accept the excuse of any person whose instant
of death is delayed till he is sixty years of age" [Reported by
Al-Bukhari]
Dear Muslim brother, Allah has
presented to you a new year that contains more than fifty Fridays,
in each one of them, there is an hour in which He answers
invocations. And you have the month of Ramadan in which there is
Lailatul-Qadr which is better than one thousand month. Also, there
is 'Ashura and the ten days of Dhul-Hijja in addition to many other
days you could fill them with remembering Allah. Therefore, you
should invoke Allah to grant to you life in these days to invest
them the investment of the pious believers.
Al-Alamatayn
series
Translated by
Wathakker.net website
en.wathakker.net