In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious the Most Merciful.
Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, Allah has presented to us a new year that contains more than fifty Fridays, in each one of them, there is an hour in which He answers invocations. And we 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.
Praise be to Allah Who has created Time and has made some times better than others, some months and days and nights better than others, when rewards are multiplied many times, as a mercy towards His slaves. This encourages them to do more righteous deeds and makes them more eager to worship Him, so that the Muslim renews his efforts to gain a greater share of reward, pre-pare himself for death and supply himself in readiness for the Day of Judgment.
This season of worship brings many benefits, such as the opportunity to correct one’s faults and make up for any shortcomings or anything that one might have missed. Every one of these special occasions involves some kind of worship through which the slaves may draw closer to Allah, and some kind of blessing though which Allah bestows His favour and mercy upon whom-soever He will. The happy person is the one who makes the most of these special months, days and hours and draws nearer to his Lord during these times through acts of worship; he will most likely be touched by the blessing of Allah and will feel the joy of knowing that he is safe from the flames of Hell. (Ibn Rajab, al-Lataa’if, p.8).
The Muslim must understand the value of his life, increase his worship of Allah and persist in doing good deeds until the moment of death. Allah says: “And worship your Lord until there comes unto you the certainty.” [al-Hijr 15:99].
Among the special seasons of worship are the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah, which Allah has preferred over all the other days of the year. Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (p.b.u.h) said: “There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allaah than these ten days.” The people asked, “Not even jihaad for the sake of Allaah?” He said, “Not even jihaad for the sake of Allaah, except in the case of a man who went out to fight giving himself and his wealth up for the cause, and came back with noth-ing.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 2/457).
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 Sunnah to fast on the ninth day of Dhu’l-Hijjah, because the Prophet (p.b.u.h) urged us to do good deeds during this time, and fasting is one of the best of deeds. Allah has chosen fasting for Himself, as is stated in the Hadeeth Qudsi:
“Allah says: ‘All the deeds of the son of Adam are for him, except for fasting, which is for Me and I am the One Who will reward him for it.’ ” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 1805) .
The Prophet (p.b.u.h) used to fast on the ninth of Dhu’l-Hijjah. Hu-naydah ibn Khaalid reported from his wife that some of the wives of the Prophet (p.b.u.h) said:
“The Prophet (p.b.u.h) used to fast on the ninth of Dhu’l-Hijjah, on the day of ‘Aashooraa´, on three days of each month, and on the first two Mondays and Thursdays of each month.” (Reported by al-Nisaa’i, 4/205 and by Abu Dawud; classified by al-Albaani as saheeh in Saheeh Abi Dawud, 2/462)
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].
Takbeer:
It is Sunnah to say Takbeer (“Allaahu akbar”), Tah-meed (“Al-hamdu Lillaah”), Tahleel (“La ilaha ill-Allaah”) and Tasbeeh (“Subhaan Allaah”) during the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah, and to say it loudly in the mosque, the home, the street and every place where it is permitted to remember Allah and mention His name out loud, as an act of worship and as a proclamation of the greatness of Allaah, may He be exalted. Men should recite these phrases out loud, and women should re-cite them quietly.
‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (p.b.u.h) said: “There are no days greater in the sight of Allah and in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Him than these ten days, so during this time recite a great deal of Tahleel (“La ilaaha ill-Allaah”), Takbeer and Tahmeed.” (Reported by Ahmad, 7/224; Ahmad Shaakir stated that it is saheeh)
The Takbeer may include the words:
“Allaahu akbar, Allaahu akbar, la ilaaha ill-Allaah; wa Al-laahu akbar wa Lillaahi’l-hamd (Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great, there is no god but Allah; Allah is Most Great and to Allah be praise)…”
Takbeer at this time is an aspect of the Sunnah that has been for-gotten, especially during the early part of this period, so much so that one hardly ever hears Takbeer, except from a few people. This Takbeer should be pronounced loudly, in order to revive the Sunnah and as a reminder to the negligent. There is sound evi-dence that Ibn ‘Umar and Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with them) used to go out in the marketplace during the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah, reciting Takbeer, and the people would re-cite Takbeer when they heard them. The idea behind reminding the people to recite Takbeer is that each one should recite it individually, not in unison, as there is no basis in Sharee‘ah for doing this.
Reviving aspects of the Sunnah that have been virtually forgotten is a deed that will bring an immense reward, as is indicated by the words of the Prophet (p.b.u.h):
“Whoever revives an aspect of my Sunnah that is forgot-ten after my death, he will have a reward equivalent to that of the people who follow him, without it detracting in the least from their reward.” (Reported by al-Tirmidhi, 7/443; this is a hasan hadeeth because of cor-roborating asaaneed)
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
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: to abstain from committing the sin, to regret and to intend not to return to committing this sin again.
“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
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].
O you whose hard heart is as dark as the night, is it not time that your heart was filled with light and became soft? Expose yourself to the gentle breeze of your Lord’s mercy during these ten days, for Allah will cause this breeze to touch whomever He wills, and whoever is touched by it will be happy on the Day of Judgment.
May Allah bless our Prophet Muhammad and all his Family and Companions.
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