Sh.Kamal Elmekki

The Blessed Ten Days of Dhul Hijjah

أَمَّا بَعْد، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ، وَأَحْسَنَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ.

The Best Days of the Year

Brothers and sisters in Islam, today we're talking about the ten days of Dhul Hijjah. Since we're in the second day of Dhul Hijjah already, we begin by saying that Allah, from His blessings upon us, is that He did not create all the times equally — the days and the months. He preferred some over others.

And He then guided us to these preferred times and these preferred dates. Because otherwise, we would absolutely have no way of knowing. Meaning, if someone told you, take a guess — which day of the week is the most beloved to Allah? And there's no revelation. There's no way you would know.

So Allah guided us to the best month of the year — that's the month of Ramadan. He guided us to the best day of the week — and that is the day of Al-Jumu'ah. He guided us to the best nights of the year — and these are the last ten nights of Ramadan. And He guided us to the best ten days of the year — and these are the ten days of the month of Dhul Hijjah.

And when Allah tells us about these preferred times, it is so that we are encouraged to do more righteous deeds, and that we become more eager to worship Him. And it is an opportunity to repent from sins and to make up for shortcomings.

The Virtue of the Ten Days — The Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ

As for the ten days of Dhul Hijjah, the Prophet ﷺ said in this famous hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 969)

So the Prophet ﷺ is saying there are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten days — the ten days of Dhul Hijjah. The companions wanted to know the extent of this, so they said: Not even jihad for the sake of Allah? And the Prophet ﷺ said, not even jihad for the sake of Allah — except in the case of a man who went out to fight, giving himself and his wealth up for the cause, and he came back with nothing. The exception is the one who went out for jihad and actually got martyred. Beyond that, righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah during these ten days, even more so than jihad.

In another hadith, the Prophet ﷺ begins by saying there is no deed more precious in the sight of Allah, nor greater in reward, than a deed done during the ten days of Dhul Hijjah. And they asked again, not even jihad for the sake of Allah? And he gave the same answer.

The scholars said this indicates that these ten days are better than all the other days of the year. But the last ten nights of Ramadan are the best nights, because they have Laylatul Qadr in them.

Virtues and Features of the Ten Days

The first is that the Prophet ﷺ testified that these are the best ten days of the year. And the Prophet ﷺ encouraged people to do righteous good deeds because of the virtue of the season — for everyone in the world — and as for the hujjaj, also because of the virtue of the place, since they are in the sacred house of Allah.

The Prophet ﷺ also instructed that we make a lot of takbeer. Abdullah ibn Umar reports that the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 5446)

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 make a great deal — recite a great deal of tahleel (لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ), takbeer (اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ), and tahmid (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ).

From the great things about these ten days is that it includes the day of Arafah. Fasting the day of Arafah expiates the minor sins of two years. And it also includes the day of An-Nahr — the day of sacrifice. These are the things that make these ten days special.

Fiqh Points: What to Do During the Ten Days

1. Refraining from Cutting Hair and Nails

The first thing: the sunnah indicates that whoever wants to offer a sacrifice must stop cutting hair and nails, and must refrain from removing or picking anything — scabs or what have you — from the skin. The Prophet ﷺ said in Sahih Muslim:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1977)

When you see the new moon of Dhul Hijjah, if any of you wants to offer a sacrifice, then he should stop cutting his hair and nails until he has offered the sacrifice. And in another narration, he should not remove anything from his hair or skin.

The exception to this is if you have a broken nail or a hangnail that keeps getting snagged or will create more harm — in that case you are allowed to remove it. But washing, shampooing, and bathing is completely fine for both men and women.

The wisdom behind this is that you are now trying to resemble those who are in hajj and in ihram, because they don't remove or pick skin and so on. Just as you resemble them in other acts of worship — specifically the sacrifice — you are trying to resemble them as much as possible.

If you have already cut your nail or hair and then you change your mind and decide you are going to sacrifice — some money comes in, whatever it is — then from that moment on you stop cutting hair and nails. Sometimes women will delegate their son, brother, or a relative here or overseas to perform the sacrifice on their behalf. So she thinks, because she has delegated someone, she can start to cut hair and nails. No — it applies to the person offering the sacrifice. Similarly, in a family where the father is going to sacrifice, the wife can cut her hair and nails, and children can do the same. It applies specifically to the one offering the sacrifice.

2. Fasting During the Ten Days

It is narrated in Sunan Abi Dawood that the Prophet ﷺ used to fast the nine days of Dhul Hijjah, the day of Ashura, and then a number of other days are listed. The nine days of Dhul Hijjah — because it is forbidden to fast on the tenth day, which is the day of Eid. There is never a circumstance where you fast the day of Eid. So if you can fast all nine, do so.

Then we have the ninth day — the day of Arafah. The Prophet ﷺ used to fast that day, and he would engage in du'a from Asr all the way until Maghrib. He would keep his hands up making du'a. And if he needed to do something, he would keep one hand up in du'a and do it with the other hand.

There are people who make sure they free up their entire schedule for the ninth day of Dhul Hijjah — they pray Asr and make sure no one disturbs them, making continuous du'a until Maghrib. So as not to miss out on the season and the great opportunity. Focus very much on fasting the ninth day — the day of Arafah.

3. Abundant Remembrance of Allah

The sunnah is to make, as we said, a lot of takbeer and tahleel — saying لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ, اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ, and الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ. The men recite this out loud and the women recite it quietly.

Allah says in Surah Al-Hajj:

And the majority of scholars say that this is referring to the ten days. These appointed days of remembrance of Allah are the ten days of Dhul Hijjah. And this is a sunnah that is now forgotten. But Abdullah ibn Umar رضي الله عنهما and Abu Hurairah used to purposely go out to the market during these days and make takbeer out loud to remind people — and then the people would start to make takbeer as well. So we are to make takbeer, make it out loud, make it continuously and constantly during these ten days.

4. Increasing in Good Deeds and the Sacrifice

The scholars mention doing more good deeds in general — from extra salawat, to reciting extra Qur'an, to making extra remembrance of Allah, extra dhikr, giving more in charity, honoring parents, and so on and so forth. And of course, the sacrifice — if one is able and capable, making the sacrifice is one of the great acts of worship to be performed in these days.

Ask Allah for His forgiveness. Indeed, those who ask for His forgiveness shall prosper.

Do Not Forget the Heart — Maintaining Ties of Kinship

A lot of times we are very much focused on the acts of worship and actions, and we might forget the heart. So let us examine three scenarios together.

The first scenario: the angel of death sends you a note — a message, a letter — saying I am going to take your soul at Asr prayer today. But Allah will extend your life another 20 years if you do one thing: go to your cousin, your sibling, or that relative that you are not speaking to and make peace with them. If that were the case, you could die after two hours — or you can live years longer. All you have to do is make peace with the family member that you are refusing to make peace with.

And we say this a lot, but sometimes you will find in the community people who have not spoken to their siblings for the longest time. If you make peace with them, it will extend your life. Would you do it? And everyone obviously would absolutely run to them — and even if they were the one who was mistaken, they would beg forgiveness, apologize, kiss their head, kiss their feet, and ask for their forgiveness.

The second scenario: you will be given a million dollars but you die tomorrow at Dhuhr. A lot of money, but a short life. The third scenario: you will live the life of Nuh — a thousand years — but it will be a thousand years of extreme poverty.

The second wasn't nice. The third wasn't nice either. As they say:

الأُمُورُ لَا تُجَمَّلُ إِلَّا بِالْغِنَى، وَالْغِنَى لَا يُجَمَّلُ إِلَّا بِالْعُمُرِ

What beautifies a long life? Wealth. And what beautifies wealth? A long life. If someone gave you a billion dollars and said die tomorrow? No thank you. They said live for 500 years but you'll be in extreme poverty? Again, no thank you. They both work together and beautify each other.

So all of these three scenarios — extending your life, having wealth — come back to this one point. The point we are trying to make is for those people who have problems with family members and have not spoken for years or months.

The Prophet ﷺ said — and this is in Sahih al-Bukhari:

Whoever would love for his sustenance to be expanded and for his life — his term of life — to be prolonged, let him maintain the ties of kinship. Whether it is a relative you are quarreling with, or simply a relative you do not talk to, communicate with, or connect with at all — reach out to them, connect with them, and Allah will expand your rizq and prolong the term of your life. That is what we get from doing that.

And you find some people — there are no words to describe their level of righteousness and their level of care for the prayers — but they do not talk to family members and actually have a very bad relationship with them. The Prophet ﷺ also said:

The person who breaks the ties of kinship will not enter al-Jannah. So it is like a schizophrenia of religiosity — the person is being so religious in one area, and then neglects something that is extremely important in another area.

Conclusion

So with that, these are some of the things that we are supposed to pay attention to during these blessed ten days — the ten days of Dhul Hijjah. And on the ninth day we will be having an iftar here at the masjid as well, insha'Allah.