The Sacred Month of Dhul Hijjah (with British Sign Language) - Shaykh Mustafa Abu Rayyan

The Sacred Month of Dhul Hijjah

The first ten days of Dhul Hijjah are the single greatest days that will ever come in the year. They are so great and so special that Allah swore by them — and Allah only swears by the greatest of His creations, and indeed these are among the most virtuous of His creations.

Allah swears by the Fajr, the dawn, and by the ten nights. The scholars of Tafsir agree that these ten nights Allah swore by are the nights and the days that we are in right now — the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah.

The Prophet ﷺ, teaching us how blessed and how special these days are, said:

(Sahih Ibn Hibban, Hadith 3853; also reported by al-Bazzar)

The most virtuous days in the world are the ten days — the ten days of Dhul Hijjah. In another narration, he says there are no times, no days, where good deeds are more beloved to Allah and better than these ten days.

The Sahabah — whose lives and seerah you all know, who would do the most incredible things for the sake of Allah, who would put in danger their own lives in battle for the sake of Allah, who would fight for the greatest of causes and lose their lives — they asked: "Ya Rasulullah, are good deeds in these ten days even better than jihad فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ — fighting for the sake of Allah, where you put your nafs, your soul, your life in harm's way?"

The Prophet ﷺ said: Yes. Good deeds in these ten days are even better than that — except for someone who gave his wealth and his life and became a shaheed for the sake of Allah. So except for that person, the salah that is prayed, the charity that is given, the Quran that is recited — the good deeds that are done in these ten days are of that caliber.

This is extremely important to understand, my brothers and sisters. So now the only question left is: there are many good deeds that can be done — which ones should we be doing?

I would like to focus on some of the specific acts of worship that are special for this blessed time, and then some of the general acts of worship that one can do. And insha'Allah I would like to share with you some principles that will aid you in figuring out what are the ways we can ensure we get the maximum reward for our good deeds.

Specific Acts of Worship for Dhul Hijjah

1. Hajj

The first thing that comes to mind, my brothers and sisters, is Hajj — this is the time of Hajj, where people perform the blessed pilgrimage. What I want for you, my brothers and sisters, for the sake of Allah: Hajj is something that we should all aim for. If you have not done Hajj yet, then you must be planning for it. You must be asking Allah to make you among those who are honored to visit His house and perform the blessed pilgrimage. Why? Because Hajj has no reward except Jannah. The Prophet ﷺ said:

It is literally your ticket to paradise. So if you're not saving for Hajj, start saving for Hajj. If it wasn't in the forefront of your mind, let it be so, and let us ask Allah to allow us to be among the hujjaj next year — if not next year, the year after. Ask Allah to make you among them.

In fact, the great scholar Ibn Rajab رحمه الله, when he was talking about the feelings of the believers who don't get to do Hajj — and that is us here right now, and many Muslims — he said that the feelings of the believers who don't get to do Hajj is not one where they don't care, "if I go I go, if I don't I don't." He said that they feel the pain, the sorrow, the sadness of missing out on being among those in Arafah, those making tawaf, those earning that great ajr. They feel it.

And as a compensation, Allah gifted the Muslim ummah with the ten days of Dhul Hijjah and the opportunity it provides. Allah gifted them with the Day of Arafah, where if they fast on that day — when everybody else is in Arafah making du'a, being showered with the mercy of Allah and His forgiveness, and Allah is praising those in Arafah — the rest of the world has been gifted the Day of Arafah where we can fast. And if you fast on the Day of Arafah, which is on the 9th, your sins from the previous year and the coming year will be forgiven.

2. Dhikr — Tahleel, Tahmeed, and Takbeer

Another act of worship that should be happening all over the world, by all Muslims, is adhkar. Specifically, the Prophet ﷺ said that when these ten days come, you should increase your tahleel, your tahmeed, and your takbeer — that means saying لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ, saying اللهُ أَكْبَرُ, and saying الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ. Increase that.

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 5446)

That's what the Sahabah would do — they would be very loud and very frequent in their dhikr, especially in these ten days. In fact, two great companions of the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Huraira and Abdullah ibn Umar, used to go into the town square where everybody was and raise their voices in takbeer — اللهُ أَكْبَرُ، اللهُ أَكْبَرُ — and then the other people would join in. And that is throughout the ten days: a lot of dhikr, a lot of takbeer, a lot of tahleel — لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ — and a lot of tahmeed, more than any other time.

Remember, all good deeds are amplified to a degree that only Allah knows. So what should you be doing? An increase in your tahleel, your tahmeed, and your takbeer — making a lot of dhikr.

3. The Udhiyah — The Sacrifice

Another act of worship that is very specific to these times is the udhiyah — the slaughter, the sacrifice. This is something we should not sleep on; it is something we should do. It is something extremely encouraged. In fact, Allah says in Surah al-Kawthar:

"Pray to your Lord and sacrifice." So these two acts of worship that are mentioned in Surah al-Kawthar — pray and slaughter. Sheikh al-Islam mentioned that this teaches you that the greatest act of worship you can do with your body is salah, and the greatest act of worship you can do with your wealth is to buy cattle and slaughter it for the sake of Allah, and then distribute it to the needy.

So the udhiyah, my brothers and sisters, is something that is extremely and heavily encouraged. We should do it. If you can afford to do it locally, this is better. If not — if you can afford to pay and have it slaughtered elsewhere on your behalf — then do so as well.

4. Fasting — Especially the Day of Arafah

I mentioned earlier another specific act of worship, which is the fasting of the Day of Arafah. That being said, don't only aim to fast on the Day of Arafah — try and fast throughout the ten days. This is encouraged. The Prophet ﷺ said all good deeds are encouraged, and the Sahabah and many of the Salaf would fast the whole ten days — but of course not on Eid. So the rest of the nine: they would fast Arafah and the eight days before. Some scholars say you should fast some of them. In any case, fasting — the Prophet ﷺ said:

Whoever fasts one day for the sake of Allah, Allah will put a distance between him and the Fire equal to seventy years. So among the things you should do, my brothers and sisters, is fasting.

General Acts of Righteousness

There are also general acts of righteousness required from you, my brothers and sisters.

Increase in Salah

Increase in your salah — not just in the quantity, but also the quality. Increase the presence in your salah. Increase the khushu in your salah. Increase the salah that you pray in the masjid. In these ten nights, pray the night prayer. If you're not doing it before, then start. Treat these days differently, because wallahi they are different. Whether that is that you are praying more, or that you are praying better — ensure that you benefit from these special days as it relates to your salah.

Charity and Sadaqah

Similarly with charity and sadaqah — give a lot of sadaqah, my brothers and sisters. Charity extinguishes your sins like water extinguishes fire. Charity is the shade that you will enjoy on the Day of Judgment. Give sadaqah — especially nowadays when we know there are many of our brothers and sisters in desperate need. May Allah alleviate their difficulty and give us the tawfiq to give as much khair and charity as possible.

Reading the Quran

Read the book of Allah. Spend time reading the Quran. Re-familiarize yourself with the book of Allah. If you did really well in Ramadan and now the hustle and bustle of life — the nine-to-five, the earning, family, and responsibilities — made you so busy, this is a very good time for you to re-familiarize yourself with the book of Allah and read more Quran than you were doing before.

Increase everything, my brothers and sisters — the amount of Quran that you do, the amount of dhikr that you do, the amount of salah that you do, the amount of sadaqah that you do. Everything should be increased.

Spread the Word

The Prophet ﷺ said: the one who shows others a path to goodness is like the one doing it. In other words, show others and tell others that they should also increase their ibadah in these special days — starting with your family members, your spouses and your children, your brothers and your sisters, your cousins and your family. Whether it is in WhatsApp groups, family meetings, or whatever the case may be — spread the word. Dhul Hijjah should look different. Dhul Hijjah should be different. These ten days, everyone should behave differently. We should sin less and worship more. This is what it means to be a true Muslim who benefits from the opportunities that Allah gives us.

Do not miss out, my brothers and sisters. I am speaking mainly to myself and of course to all of you — do not miss out. And if you felt — and you should feel — that you haven't done enough in Ramadan, here is another opportunity Allah gave you. Benefit from this opportunity.

This reminds me of a hadith where the companion Abdullah ibn Umar did not know the reward of attending a janazah and following a janazah — that it earns you two qirat, which are two huge amounts of reward. He wasn't aware of this. And when he found out from Abu Huraira that following a janazah you get one qirat, he said: "We need to verify this information — are you sure?" Then they asked Aisha, and she agreed. They looked at Abdullah ibn Umar and he was visibly upset. He said: "How many mountains of reward did I lose out on!" And he was upset about this.

We should be upset when we miss out on opportunities — but we should also try to prevent it by educating ourselves about these opportunities and benefiting from them.

May Allah allow us to benefit from these special days.

Maximizing Your Rewards: Key Principles

I conclude by highlighting a very important point — and perhaps this point in itself deserves its own khutbah and its own lesson. That is: appreciating what are some of the things that can ensure we are maximizing the rewards we can get from an act of worship, and what are the acts of worship that are more preferred than others at certain times. So that you have a better map and a better understanding of what you should be doing.

Principle 1: Sincerity — Ikhlas

The first thing to look at is: am I sincere in my act of worship? Because if you're not sincere, Allah will not accept it. So ikhlas and sincerity are essential.

Principle 2: Following the Sunnah

Another thing you need to look at is: am I following the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ? My brothers and sisters, the more you try to follow the Sunnah, the more reward Allah gives you. And sometimes following the Sunnah requires ilm and knowledge. Let me give you an example. We all know that before Fajr there is a Sunnah prayer — a nafl — that we pray, which is two raka'at. Someone might think: "I have some time, I'm going to pray my two raka'at and I will lengthen it. I will read a lot of Quran." That is actually against the Sunnah. The Prophet ﷺ used to shorten them and read Surah al-Kafirun and Surah al-Ikhlas. That's the Sunnah. So sometimes less is more — but you only know that if you know what the Sunnah is.

I'll give you another example. Your instinct might be that when you give an udhiyah — especially if you're doing it locally — you give all of your udhiyah away. You might think: "Well, isn't that great? I'm giving charity — all the meat, I'm giving it away." But the Sunnah is that you eat from it. The Sunnah is that you keep some and eat from it. So which person gets more reward — the one who gave every single piece of meat away, or the one who kept a portion and ate from it? The one who followed the Sunnah.

This is extremely important in your salah as well. If you try and follow the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ as accurately as possible, this will increase your reward. So always ask yourself: how did the Prophet ﷺ do it? And always try to do it as closely to his way as possible — this will give you more reward.

Principle 3: Impact

Another thing to look at, my brothers and sisters, is impact. Impact has an impact on the ibadah that you do. Right now, we know how desperate our brothers and sisters are all over the world — one example being Palestine and what is going on. So right now, sadaqah — although it may not be the specific act of worship required in Dhul Hijjah, it is a general khair — but because of the impact it will have, and because of the desperate need that arises from it, it can go to the top of things that need to be done.

There was a great man from among the Salaf, Abdullah ibn Mubarak, who was on a journey to do Hajj. He had paid for many people to do Hajj with him on their journey, and he had a lot of camels and cattle that he was going to slaughter at Hajj. As they were traveling, they came across a family whose father had died — orphaned girls who were so hungry they were eating carcasses. That is how hungry they were.

He stopped the whole group that was traveling, gave all of the wealth to this family, and said: "We're going back." Of course, the caveat is that they had done Hajj before, so it was a Sunnah Hajj. So which comes first — a second or third Hajj, or feeding those who are desperate and in need? Feeding those who are desperate and in need comes first.

Once you understand these things, you will see acts of worship differently. So among the things you need to ask yourself: How closely am I following the Sunnah? Am I doing it sincerely for Allah? Is this the act of worship I should be doing at this particular time?

A simple example: the adhan is going off and you are reading Surah al-Kahf on Jumu'ah. Reading Surah al-Kahf is recommended on Jumu'ah. But the adhan is going off — do you continue reading, or do you stay quiet and listen and repeat after the mu'adhin? Which act of worship is more virtuous at that moment? The Sunnah of listening to the mu'adhin and repeating after him. Is there anything wrong with reading the Quran? No — but this requires understanding.

So my brothers and sisters, what is the point I am trying to make? In Dhul Hijjah there is a lot of khair we can do. My advice to all of you: there are specific acts of worship we should be doing. We are not at Hajj, but we can fast the Day of Arafah. We can make a lot of dhikr throughout these days. We can do the udhiyah and plan for it.

And of course, if you are doing the udhiyah, my brothers and sisters, then do not take from your hair and nails — you should have done that yesterday — but now you can only do so after it has been slaughtered. And then when it comes to the general acts of worship, look at impact, look at following the Sunnah, and think about what acts of worship are best for you to do. This will increase your reward, insha'Allah.

This is a larger discussion — I hope one day to do a full khutbah on understanding the fiqh of rewards. May Allah forgive our shortcomings.