Virtues of the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah

Among the great seasons of worship are the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah, which Allah has favoured over other days. It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said: “There are no days on which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten days.” They said: “Not even jihad for the sake of Allah?” He said: “Not even jihad for the sake of Allah, unless a man goes out himself for jihad taking his wealth with him and does not come back with anything.” (Reported by Bukhari)

This year, the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah will inshaAllah start on Wednesday the 17th of October, thus Eid will inshaAllah be on Friday the 24th of October.

 

The previous hadith, along with others indicates that these ten days are better than all other days of the year, with no exception. They are  even better than the last ten days of Ramadhan, but the last ten nights of Ramadhan are better than the first ten nights of Dhul-Hijjah, because they include Laylat ul-Qadr, which is better than a thousand months.

 

Virtues of these ten days include:

• Allah swears by things to signify      their importance, and Allah has sworn by these ten days in the holy      Qur’an, where He says in surat Al-Fajr, {By the Fajr, And the ten      nights} [89:1-2] Early scholars which include Ibn Abbaas have stated      that these 10 nights mentioned in the Qur’an are indeed the first ten days      of Dhul-Hijjah.
• The Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi      wasallam) has said that these 10 days are the best 10 days of the year, as      mentioned in the hadith above.
• They are the best days to make      remembrance of Allah in. It was narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar (may      Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam)      said: “There are no days that are greater before Allah or in which good      deeds are more beloved to Him, than these ten days, so recite a great deal      of tahleel, takbeer and tahmeed during them.” (Reported by Ahmad)
• They include the day of ‘Arafah (9th      of Dhul-Hijjah), in which Allah completed this religion on. Fasting this      day erases the sins of the previous year and the following year (minor      sins only. Major sins require repentance too). The day of ‘Arafah will inshaAllah      fall on Thursday 15th of October so make sure to fast that day.
• They include the day of “The big      Hajj”, which is Eid day (10th of Dhul-Hijjah), and this day is      the greatest day of the whole year

 

So the Muslim should start these days with sincere repentance to Allah, then he should do a lot of righteous deeds in general, and he should pay attention to doing the following deeds:

 

1 – Fasting

It is recommended for the Muslim to fast on the first nine days of Dhul-Hijjah, because the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) encouraged us to do righteous deeds in the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah, and fasting is one of the best of deeds as mentioned in the hadith qudsi: “Allah says: ‘All the deeds of the son of Adam are for him, except fasting, which is for Me and I shall reward for it.” (Reported by Bukhari).

 

2 – Reciting tahleel, takbeer and tahmeed a great deal

As mentioned previous, it is from the sunnah to recite tahleel (saying Laa ilaaha ill-Allah (There is none worthy of worship but Allah)), takbeer (saying Allahu akbar (Allah is most great)), tahmeed (saying al-hamdu Lillah (praise be to Allah)), and tasbeeh (saying Subhan-Allah (Glory be to Allah)), during the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah. We should say these words out loud in the mosques, homes, streets and every place in which it is permissible to remember Allah so that we can perform this act of worship openly and proclaim the greatness of Allah.

Allah says in surah Al-Hajj {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), and mention the Name of Allah on appointed days..} [22:28]

The majority of scholars are of the view that the “appointed days” are the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah, because it was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the appointed days are the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah.

The way of doing takbeer in these days is as follows:

Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, laa ilaaha ill-Allah, Allahu akbar, wa Lillaah il-hamd (Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great, there is none worthy of worship but Allah; Allah is Most Great and to Allah be praise). There are also other ways of saying this.

 

This takbeer has become a forsaken sunnah nowadays, especially at the beginning of these ten days. You can hardly hear it except from a few. It should be recited out loud, so as to revive the sunnah and remind the heedless. It was proven that Ibn ‘Umar and Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with them both) used to go out to the marketplace during the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah, reciting the takbeer our loud, and the people would recite takbeer when they heard them, i.e., the people would remember the takbeer and each one would recite it by himself. This does not mean that they recited in unison – that is not prescribed in Islam.

Reviving sunnahs that have been forgotten brings a great deal of reward, as is indicated by the words of the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam): “Whoever revives one of my sunnahs that has died out after I am gone, will have a reward like that of everyone who does it, without that detracting from their reward in the slightest.” (Reported by Tirmidhi)

 

3 – Doing Hajj and ‘Umrah

One of the greatest deeds that can be done during these ten days is Hajj to the sacred House of Allah. Whoever Allah helps to go on Hajj to His House and do the rituals in the required manner will – inshaAllah – be included in the words of the Messenger of Allah (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam): “An accepted Hajj brings no less of a reward than Paradise.” (Reported by Bukhari)

 

4 – Udhiyah (sacrifice)

One of the righteous deeds that bring a person closer to Allah in these ten days is to slaughter the sacrifice and to look for a good, fat animal and to spend money on it for the sake of Allah. Remember that if you intend to slaughter, then you should not clip your nails or cut your hair during the first ten days so hurry up and do so before Tuesday Maghrib! One of the reasons for such is that we are resembling the people in Hajj by sacrificing an animal so we are allowed to share one of their conditions of not being allowed to cut their hair or nails.

 

5 – Read more Quran

6 – Pray all the Sunnah prayers

7 – Pray the night prayers

8 – Give charity

9 – Spread knowledge

10 – Repent to Allah and seek forgiveness from previous sins

11 – Increase in asking for forgiveness by saying, “Astaghfirullah”

12 – Fast with your body too, i.e don’t look at haram, don’t speak haram, don’t listen to haram, etc

13 – Make Dua’a for the Muslims worldwide

 

Let us hasten to make the most of these great days, before the time is too late.