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From:
Musa Amadu Pembo <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:
Fri, 23 Jan 2004 09:02:40 +0000
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Virtues of the Ten Days of Dhul Hijjah(today is the FIRST
DAY of the Month of Dhul Hijjah).

How do the first ten days of the Month of Dhul Hijjah
differ from other days of the year?

Praise be to Allaah 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, prepare himself for death and
supply himself in readiness for the Day of Judgement.

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 Allaah,
and some kind of blessing though which Allaah bestows His
favour and mercy upon whomsoever 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 Allaah 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 Allaah and persist in doing good deeds until
the moment of death. Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):

"And worship your Lord until there comes unto you the
certainty." [al-Hijr 15:99] The mufassireen (commentators)
said: "‘The certainty’ means death."

Among the special seasons of worship are the first ten days
of Dhu’l-Hijjah, which Allaah has preferred over all the
other days of the year. Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased
with him and his father) reported that the Prophet  (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) 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 nothing." (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 2/457).

Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him and his father)
also reported that the Prophet  (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: "There is no deed more precious
in the sight of Allaah, nor greater in reward, than a good
deed done during the ten days of Sacrifice." He was 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 nothing." (Reported by
al-Daarimi, 1/357; its isnaad is hasan as stated in
al-Irwaa’, 3/398).

These texts and others indicate that these ten days are
better than all the other days of the year, with no
exceptions, not even the last ten days of Ramadaan. But the
last ten nights of Ramadaan are better, because they
include Laylat al-Qadr ("the Night of Power"), which is
better than a thousand months. Thus the various reports may
be reconciled. (See Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 5/412).

You should know, my `dear brothers and sisters in Islaam,
that the virtue of these ten days is based on many things:

Allaah swears an oath by them, and swearing an oath by
something is indicative of its importance and great
benefit. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): "By
the dawn; by the ten nights" [al-Fajr 89:1-2]. Ibn ‘Abbaas,
Ibn al-Zubayr, Mujaahid and others of the earlier and later
generations said that this refers to the first ten days of
Dhu’l-Hijjah. Ibn Katheer said: "This is the correct
opinion." (Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 8/413)

The Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
testified that these are the best days of this world, as we
have already quoted above from saheeh ahaadeeth.

The Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
encouraged people to do righteous deeds because of the
virtue of this season for people throughout the world, and
also because of the virtue of the place - for the Hujjaaj
(pilgrims) to the Sacred House of Allaah.

The Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
commanded us to recite a lot of Tasbeeh ("Subhan-Allaah"),
Tahmeed ("Al-hamdu Lillaah") and Takbeer ("Allaahu akbar")
during this time. ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be
pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "There
are no days greater in the sight of Allaah 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).

These ten days include Yawm ‘Arafaah (the Day of ‘Arafaah),
on which Allaah perfected His Religion. Fasting on this day
will expiate for the sins of two years. These days also
include Yawm al-Nahar (the Day of Sacrifice), the greatest
day of the entire year and the greatest day of Hajj, which
combines acts of worship in a way unlike any other day.

These ten days include the days of sacrifice and of Hajj.
Question: What must the Muslim avoid during these ten days
if he wants to offer a sacrifice?

The Sunnah indicates that the one who wants to offer a
sacrifice must stop cutting his hair and nails and removing
anything from his skin, from the beginning of the ten days
until after he has offered his sacrifice, because the
Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"When you see the new moon of Dhu’l-Hijjah, if any one of
you wants to offer a sacrifice, then he should stop cutting
his hair and nails until he has offered his sacrifice."
According to another report he said: "He should not remove
(literally, touch) anything from his hair or skin."
(reported by Muslim with four isnaads, 13/146)

The Prophet’s instruction here makes one thing obligatory
and his prohibition makes another haraam, according to the
soundest opinion, because these commands and prohibitions
are unconditional and unavoidable. However, if a person
does any of these things deliberately, he must seek
Allaah’s forgiveness but is not required to offer (an
extra) sacrifice in expiation; his sacrifice will be
acceptable. Whoever needs to remove some hair, nails, etc.
because it is harming him, such as having a broken nail or
a wound in a site where there is hair, should do so, and
there is nothing wrong with that. The state of ihraam is so
important that it is permitted to cut one’s hair if leaving
it will cause harm. There is nothing wrong with men or
women washing their heads during the first ten days of
Dhu’l-Hijjah, because the Prophet  (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) only forbade cutting the hair, not
washing it.

The wisdom behind this prohibition of the one who wants to
offer a sacrifice from cutting his hair etc., is so that he
may resemble those in ihraam in some aspects of the rituals
performed, and so that he may draw closer to Allaah by
offering the sacrifice. So he leaves his hair and nails
alone until the time when he has offered his sacrifice, in
the hope that Allaah will save him in his entirety from the
Fire. And Allaah knows best.

If a person has cut his hair or nails during the first ten
days of Dhu’l-Hijjah because he was not planning to offer a
sacrifice, then he decides later, during the ten days, to
offer a sacrifice, then he must refrain from cutting his
hair and nails from the moment he makes this decision.

Some women may delegate their brothers or sons to make the
sacrifice on their behalf, then cut their hair during these
ten days. This is not correct, because the ruling applies
to the one who is offering the sacrifice, whether or not he
(or she) delegates someone else to carry out the actual
deed. The prohibition does not apply to the person
delegated, only to the person who is making the sacrifice,
as is indicated in the hadeeth. The person who is
sacrificing on behalf of someone else, for whatever reason,
does not have to adhere to this prohibition.

This prohibition appears to apply only to the one who is
offering the sacrifice, not to his wife and children,
unless any of them is offering a sacrifice in his or her
own right, because the Prophet  (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) used to sacrifice "on behalf of the
family of Muhammad," but there are no reports that say he
forbade them to cut their hair or nails at that time.

If a person was planning to offer a sacrifice, then he
decides to go and perform Hajj, he should not cut his hair
or nails if he wants to enter ihraam, because the Sunnah is
only to cut hair and nails when necessary. But if he is
performing Tamattu’ [whereby he performs ‘Umrah, comes out
of ihraam and enters ihraam anew for Hajj], he should trim
his hair at the end of his ‘Umrah because this is part of
the ritual.

The things that are described above as being prohibited for
the person who is planning to offer a sacrifice are
reported in the hadeeth quoted above; the person is not
forbidden to wear perfume, have marital relations, wear
sewn garments, etc.

Concerning the types of worship to be performed during
these ten days: one must understand that these days are a
great blessing from Allaah to His slave, which is
appreciated properly by the actively righteous. It is the
Muslim’s duty to appreciate this blessing and make the most
of the opportunity, by devoting these ten days to paying
more attention to striving hard in worship. Among His
blessings to His slaves, Allaah has given us many ways in
which to do good and worship Him, so that the Muslim may be
constantly active and consistent in his worship of his
Lord.

Among the good deeds which the Muslim should strive to do
during the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah are:

Fasting. It is Sunnah to fast on the ninth day of
Dhu’l-Hijjah, because the Prophet  (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) urged us to do good deeds during this
time, and fasting is one of the best of deeds. Allaah has
chosen fasting for Himself, as is stated in the hadeeth
qudsi: "Allaah 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  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
used to fast on the ninth of Dhu’l-Hijjah. Hunaydah ibn
Khaalid reported from his wife that some of the wives of
the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: "The Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) 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).

Takbeer. It is Sunnah to say Takbeer ("Allaahu akbar"),
Tahmeed ("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 Allaah 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
recite them quietly.

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

"That they might 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
Allaah on appointed days, over the beast of cattle that He
has provided for them (for sacrifice)..." [al-Hajj 22:28]

The majority of scholars agree that the "appointed days"
are the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah, because of the
words of Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him and
his father): "The ‘appointed days’ are the first ten days
(of Dhu’l-Hijjah)."

The Takbeer may include the words "Allaahu akbar, Allaahu
akbar, la ilaaha ill-Allaah; wa Allaahu akbar wa
Lillaahi’l-hamd (Allaah is Most Great, Allaah is Most
Great, there is no god but Allaah; Allaah is Most Great and
to Allaah be praise)," as well as other phrases.

Takbeer at this time is an aspect of the Sunnah that has
been forgotten, 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 evidence 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 recite
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  (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him): "Whoever revives an
aspect of my Sunnah that is forgotten 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 corroborating asaaneed).

Performing Hajj and ‘Umrah. One of the best deeds that one
can do during these ten days is to perform Hajj to the
Sacred House of Allaah. The one whom Allaah helps to go on
Hajj to His House and to perform all the rituals properly
is included in the words of the Prophet  (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him): "An accepted Hajj brings
no less a reward than Paradise."

Doing more good deeds in general, because good deeds are
beloved by Allaah and will bring a great reward from Him.
Whoever is not able to go to Hajj should occupy himself at
this blessed time by worshipping Allaah, praying (salaat),
reading Qur’an, remembering Allaah, making supplication
(du’aa’), giving charity, honouring his parents, upholding
the ties of kinship, enjoining what is good and forbidding
what is evil, and other good deeds and acts of worship.

Sacrifice. One of the good deeds that will bring a person
closer to Allaah during these ten days is offering a
sacrifice, by choosing a high-quality animal and fattening
it, spending money for the sake of Allaah.

Sincere repentance. One of the most important things to do
during these ten days is to repent sincerely to Allaah and
to give up all kinds of disobedience and sin. Repentance
means coming back to Allaah and foregoing all the deeds,
open and secret, that He dislikes, out of regret for what
has passed, giving it up immediately and being determined
never to return to it, but to adhere firmly to the Truth by
doing what Allaah loves.
If a Muslim commits a sin, he must hasten to repent at
once, without delay, firstly because he does not know when
he will die, and secondly because one evil deed leads to
another.

Repentance at special times is very important because in
most cases people’s thoughts turn towards worship at these
times, and they are keen to do good, which leads to them
recognizing their sins and feeling regret for the past.
Repentance is obligatory at all times, but when the Muslim
combines sincere repentance with good deeds during the days
of most virtue, this is a sign of success, in sha Allaah.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): "But as for
him who repented, believed and did righteous deeds, then he
will be among those who are successful." [al-Qasas 28:67]

The Muslim should make sure that he does not miss any of
these important occasion, because time is passing quickly.
Let him prepare himself by doing good deeds which will
bring him reward when he is most in need of it, for no
matter how much reward he earns, he will find it is less
than he needs; the time of departure is at hand, the
journey is frightening, delusions are widespread, and the
road is long, but Allaah is ever watchful, and to Him will
we return and render account. As the Qur’aan says
(interpretation of the meaning):

"So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom,
shall see it,

And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom,
shall see it."

[al-Zalzalah 99:7-8]

There is much to be gained, so make the most of the
opportunity afforded by these invaluable and irreplaceable
ten days. Hasten to do good works, before death strikes,
before one can regret one’s negligence and failure to act,
before one is asked to return to a place where no prayers
will be answered, before death intervenes between the
hopeful one and the things he hopes for, before you are
trapped with your deeds in the grave.

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 Allaah will cause this breeze to
touch whomever He wills, and whoever is touched by it will
be happy on the Day of Judgement. May Allaah bless our
Prophet Muhammad and all his Family and Companions.

The very best of good wishes,
Musa Amadu Pembo,



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