All About Dhul Hijjah
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How to Make the Most of Dhul Hijjah | Webinar
The significance of the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah is the opportunity to sincerely repent, get closer to God, and combine acts of worship in a way that is impossible at any other time of the year. Join Dr. Omar Suleiman to learn more about the virtues of Dhul Hijjah and discover a game plan to make the most of these precious days.
Download our 10-Day Dhul Hijjah Gameplan to stay on track.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Everyone, Bismillah walhamdulillahi wa sahbihi wa man wala. So I want to welcome you all tonight to this very special webinar as we are about to embark on the 10 most important days of the year. And I could probably repeat that like five times until InshaAllah ta'ala, it just settles in our minds. The 10 most important days of the year are around the corner. They start this weekend, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala. And unlike Ramadan, where you have so many Ramadan prep webinars, where you have so much preparation in the month of Sha'ban before you go into Ramadan, these 10 days largely catch us by surprise. And because of the lack of events in the masajid and so many other things, we don't do right by them. And I hope InshaAllah ta'ala that for this particular webinar, we're not just going to go through the virtues of these 10 days bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, but very practically how to make the most of these 10 days InshaAllah ta'ala. And of course, I've done a series on the virtues of Dhul-Hijjah before, but this bi-idhnillahi ta'ala will be a very, you know, a very in-depth and practical way to approach these 10 days InshaAllah ta'ala with a game plan for us to really get close to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-ala and make the most of the barakah, the blessings of these 10 days. With that being said bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, just a reminder before we start, that this Saturday InshaAllah, as Dhul-Hijjah is expected to start on Sunday, this Saturday bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, we will have the first episode released of his Hajj story SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. Last year, we talked about the prayers of Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam. We went through the du'as of Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam. And there was no greater du'a of Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam than the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam fulfilling the mission of Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam in the very place that he made that du'a. So this Dhul-Hijjah bi-idhnillahi ta'ala for 10 episodes InshaAllah ta'ala, we will be going through in the same theme of meeting Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, the connection of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
to Mecca, to Al-Madinah as well, but specifically his Hajj story SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam up close, the episodes will be about 12 to 15 minutes InshaAllah ta'ala. So we hope bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, everyone can tune in on a daily basis with their families and benefit from them InshaAllah. And lastly, before I start to ask you to continue to support the work of Yaqeen as you always do Alhamdulillah Rabbul Ameen. I hope you are seeing the benefit of these free resources InshaAllah ta'ala. The multiple series, the multiple papers, the multiple forms of curriculum, all of this is through the support that you give to Yaqeen Alhamdulillah Rabbul Ameen. So please do continue to support Yaqeen InshaAllah ta'ala in these 10 days. Now, let's get to the topic bi-idhnillahi ta'ala and let's talk for a moment about the virtues of these 10 days before we get into the specific practices that we learned from the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and from the Salaf and from the pious predecessors about how to make the most of these 10 days. The most famous reference to these days is in Surah Al-Fajr where Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, wal-fajr wal-ayal al-ashr Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la swears by al-fajr, he swears by the dawn, and then he swears by these 10 nights. And then Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la goes on to say, wal-fajr wal-ayal al-ashr, wal-shaf'i wal-watr wal-layli itha yasr Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la swears by particularly the day of sacrifice, the 10th of Dhul-Hijjah, as well as al-watr which is the odd day, which is Arafah. And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la swears by the last part of the night. According to some of the scholars, these 10 refer to the last 10 nights of Ramadan and that is a weak opinion or a minor opinion I should say. Another group of scholars, they say that these 10 refer to the 10 of Dhul-Hijjah, but the days of Dhul-Hijjah, the best 10 days of the year are the 10 days of Dhul-Hijjah. The best 10 nights of the year
are the last 10 nights of Ramadan. So again, this is a way of reconciling the virtues of the last 10 nights of Ramadan as the best nights of the year. Whereas when we talk about the best 10 days of the year, they are the first 10 days of Dhul-Hijjah. And some scholars said, actually the 10 days of Dhul-Hijjah are superior to the last 10 of Ramadan, both the day and the night. So pay attention to that. A group of scholars said once again, that the 10 of Dhul-Hijjah are superior to the 10 of Ramadan, the last 10 of Ramadan, both their days and their nights. So what you can derive from that of course, is that this is a special season that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is mentioning to us. And the scholars talk about the way that Allah situates it in these verses, that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is speaking about the most blessed times of the day, the most blessed times of the year, and the most blessed times of the night, so that we can pay attention to these lost opportunities. The best time of the day is Al-Fajr. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam teaches us in multiple narrations that the best Sunnah is the Sunnah of Fajr. The two rak'ahs before Fajr. They're better than the world and everything in it, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, just to pray those two rak'ahs before Fajr. He would not lose the Sunnah of Fajr, even when he was traveling SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. And then if a person wakes up and they pray their Fajr on time, and especially in jama'ah with a good wudu, paying attention to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, paying attention to the recitation, the witnessed recitation, mashhood, that the angels come and witness that recitation at the time of Fajr. The angels of the day and the angels of the night, listening to the long recitation of Fajr. If a person starts off their day with that ibadah, with that act of worship, then the rest of the day is going to be blessed. Okay, so if you start off right,
the rest of it is going to be right, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala. And then the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam taught us, burika li-ummati fee bukooriha. Allah has blessed my ummah in its early hours. That if a person worships Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la in the early hours, and if a person gets to work in the early hours, they will find barakah, they will find blessing in everything that they do early on. So as an ummah of Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, we are morning people, okay? Not morning with a U, morning as in the Subh, as in the early part of the day, that is the best time of the day. And notice that there is a virtue in starting off the day that well, in that it casts blessing on the entirety of the day. Dhul-Hijjah is the last month of the year, and we go into the first month of Muharram, and it casts the goodness of everything that you could have gained of that year to the next year, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala. So Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la emphasizes the blessed part of the day being al-Fajr. And then Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la emphasizes the best 10 days of the year, that if a person makes the most of these 10 days, that it will bring back everything good that was done for the previous year, and bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, it will cast the barakah, will cast the blessing of the year to come as well. And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la mentions the best time of those 10 days, which is al-Shaf'i wal-Watr. The 10th of Dhul-Hijjah being the day of the sacrifice, and then of course al-Watr, the best day of the 10 days, the best day of the year, which is the day of Arafah. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la swears by it. wal-layli itha yasr And then Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la swears by the night as it is departing. If a person misses the entire night in prayer, if they're not able to wake up except for a few moments, if they are not able to remember Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la except for a few moments,
let it be in those precious minutes before Fajr. wal-layli itha yasr That is the time where those who prayed all night, or those who prayed for a significant portion of the night, seek forgiveness from Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la for any shortcomings that they had in their prayer. And that is the time of the night where those who wake up seek forgiveness from Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la for not praying for a longer portion, but that is the most blessed time of the night. And so Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la swears by these times. And it's very important to also pay attention here, by the way, that a lot of people miss out on these times because these are times where despite their blessing, most people are inactive. Despite their blessing, most people are inactive. And so most people don't do anything after Fajr, right? And if you're not Muslim, you likely sleep through Fajr, right? But most Muslims will go back to sleep after Fajr, for example, right? And that's not inherently sinful, but it's a blessed time to take advantage of, especially the moments after Fajr. It's okay to sleep if you want after that, bismillah ta'ala, but make sure that you pray Fajr right, and that you do the adhkar, the morning remembrances after Salatul Fajr at least. And the last part of the night, of course, most people sleep through that part of the night as well. And when it comes to these 10 days, you know, when Ramadan comes around in particular, we talk about how Sha'ban is lost between two sacred months, or two special months, not sacred in the sense of the sanctified way in which Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la speaks about Ashur Haram, but two special months, months where it's very easy for us to lose sight of things. Rajab being one of the sanctified months, and Ramadan, of course, being the greatest month of the year, and you have Sha'ban that gets lost in between, and people become heedless in regards to it. When it comes to these 10 days, these 10 days are the best 10 days of the year, yet still people do not take full advantage
of these 10 days. And also it's important to mention here, by the way, someone might say, well, how come Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la said the 10 nights, walayal an-ashr, instead of ayyam an-ashr. Why did Allah swear by nights instead of days? And some of the scholars mentioned that in the Quran, ayyam and layal are interchangeable. Days and nights are interchangeable. And we see that in the story of Zakariya Alayhi Salaam, where Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, when he gives him the oath of silence for three days, in one part Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la mentions thalathat ayyam, three days, and in one part Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la mentions three nights to show that they are interchangeable. And some of the scholars, they say that layal refers to, you know, a time of sincerity, right? A time of sincerity. SubhanAllah, this is of course, just some of the wisdoms and the reflections that you'll find from some of the mufassireen that generally speaking, the night refers to secrecy and a time where a person is with their Lord, where they have an opportunity to shine and to connect to their Lord under the cover of the night, whereas ayyam is a time to proudly proclaim the remembrance of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la and to work the deeds that are pleasing to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, especially as they involve society around you. So it is the 10 days of the hijjah, according to the majority of scholars, as we said, and it is of course that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has made it so that Arafah is the best day, and then after Arafah, the 10th day, which is the day of Eid, the day of the sacrifice, is the second best day of these 10 days of the hijjah. Now, we already know that these days connect to Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam. This is a Eid that inherently commemorates Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam, but it also is a time in which Musa Alayhi Salaam was guided to, according to most of the ulama, where Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, Wa waAAadna moosa thalathina laylah
wa atmamnaha biashrin fatamma miqatu rabbihi arba'ina laylah That we made an appointment for Musa Alayhi Salaam for Moses, peace be upon him, for 30 nights, and then we perfected them by the addition of 10, and so the term of his Lord was completed as 40 nights. And what this is speaking about, according to the majority of the scholars, is that Musa Alayhi Salaam's 40 days included the 30 days of Dhul-Qa'dah, and then Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la commanded him to complete another 10, hence it would coincide with the 10 of Dhul-Hijjah. And this is similar to how all of the holy books were revealed in Ramadan, according to the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, whether it was the Torah, or the Injeel, or the Zabur, all of these books were revealed in Ramadan, in a way that coincided with Ramadan. Likewise, in this situation, while it might not have been called Dhul-Hijjah, it was a time that coincided with Dhul-Hijjah in regards to Musa Alayhi Salaam's blessed extra 10 days. And the day that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la spoke to Musa Alayhi Salaam was Yawm Al-Nahr, was the day that we commemorate as well. And of course, when we go to, you know, through the process of Hajj, may Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la allow us to go through that process in our lifetimes once again, or for the first time, and let it be accepted and sincere, Allahumma ameen, that we are commemorating, of course, the time where Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la took the covenant from Adam Alayhi Salaam, and the time that Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam prayed to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, and the time that Allah spoke directly to Musa Alayhi Salaam once again, and the time that our Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam was blessed with so much, and we can connect to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la and go back to our origin. So this is a time that brings us to the prophets of Allah as well, brings us to Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam, and it brings us to Musa Alayhi Salaam.
Now, before we get to the best good deeds to do in these days, the best good deeds to do in these days, I want us to pay very close attention to the warning of Al-Hafidh Ibn Rajab Rahimahullah Ta'ala, where he says, ihdharul ma'asi fil ashhuril haram. Be careful when it comes to committing sins in the sacred months, the sacred months being Rajab, Dhul-Qa'dah, Dhul-Hijjah, and Muharram, the sacred months. Be careful from committing sins in these times because verily it prohibits or it hinders, it deprives one of receiving the maghfirah of Allah, the forgiveness of Allah fi mawasimur rahma in the times of mercy from Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. When Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is descending this much mercy upon us, and especially in the sanctified months, and what makes these months sanctified, where the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, fa-inna dima'akum wa-amwalakum wa-a'aradakum haramun alaykum ka hurmati yawmikum hadha fee shahrikum hadha That the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, your blood, your money, your honor are sacred to one another, more sacred to one another, meaning they are forbidden to one another in the same way that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has sanctified this month, this day, and this place, right? They are sanctified months. So be very careful from undertaking any type of venture or doing anything or saying anything that would violate the sanctified places and the sanctified honor and the sanctified things of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, because that could deprive you of all of the rahma, all of the mercy that comes in these times. And so just like when we talk about Ramadan, where when Allah gives you a great opportunity and the good deeds are multiplied, the sins in those times are also multiplied.
Think about the person that is in Hajj, right? A person fighting in Ihram, okay? In the area of tawaf, right? We know, you know, just imagine a person Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la doing something that might be, you know, acceptable social practice, but they're in Hajj, okay? They're sitting in Arafah or they're in Minah or they're doing tawaf around the Kaaba. And these things would bother anybody, right? Because we'd say, don't you know where you are? Because we see the physical dimensions of where they are, okay? We can see the Ihram, we can see the Kaaba, we can see Arafah and so on. Someone starts being foul, when people start arguing and fighting, then it automatically, you know, causes everyone else to pause and say, whoa, calm down. You know, don't you realize where you are? Because we see the physical dimensions. But the spiritual dimensions of this time period, right? Are also overbearing to a point that, you know, we should be very careful and imagine ourselves constantly in this place to not do anything that would deprive us of the mercy of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la So just as the good deeds are multiplied, the sins could also be multiplied if we don't pay attention, especially the sins that involve what Allah has sanctified of other people. So social media, you know, you can either stay on it or not stay on it, whatever it may be. And that could be your WhatsApp, that could be your chat groups, whatever it may be. Be very careful, your conversations, the things that you are saying. And just like when we talk about Ramadan, that the number one way to ensure that you get the blessings of Ramadan is to not do the things that would cause your Ramadan to be invalidated. So when you think about your fasting, right? What's the first thing when you think about fasting? It's restraining yourself from food, drink and from desire or from intimacy specifically, right? And that's so that your fasting can just be valid. Then of course, restraining yourself from backbiting and gossip and from doing sinful things, right?
So the same way that we approach Ramadan, let's approach Dhul Hijjah as well. Okay, in these sacred months, which by the way, even now it's Dhul Qa'dah, it is a sacred month, but the most sacred of the sacred months is coming, which is Dhul Hijjah. So be very careful not to do anything to deprive yourself of the reward of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la before you start thinking about the best good deeds to do. So the best good thing that you could do in Dhul Hijjah is to not sin and particularly to not harm anyone else because that's where the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam specifically warned us. Now, let's get to the best good deeds InshaAllah Ta'ala. So all of that is an introduction to the Hadith that we will be speaking about today InshaAllah Ta'ala and constructing a plan for ourselves InshaAllah Ta'ala as to the best good deeds that we could do. The most famous Hadith in this regard is the Hadith of Abdullah ibn Abbas RadiAllahu Ta'ala Anhuma, that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, ma min ayyam al-amalu s-salihu fihinna ahabbu ilallah min hadhihi al-ayyam al-ashr that there are no days in which good deeds are more beloved to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la than these 10 days. Fa qalu ya Rasulullah, wala al-jihadu fee sabeelillah They said, Oh, messenger of Allah, not even jihad fee sabeelillah. And, you know, think about the context. These are people who, you know, are sitting with the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and every single one of them has some wounds from a battle that they served alongside the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, right? So, you know, or they've lost people that they love. So everyone sitting with the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam when he says this is a veteran of Badr or a veteran of Uhud or has at least, you know, strove in the khandaq, you know, where their lives were put on the line for the sake of Allah and the messenger SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. So he said, ya Rasulullah, wala al-jihadu fee sabeelillah Not even all this that we've been through and what our families have suffered as a result of it. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says, wala al-jihadu fee sabeelillah
illa rajulun kharaja binafsihi wa malihi falam yarji' min dhalika bishayt Except for, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, not even al-jihadu fee sabeelillah except for a person who goes out with their self and with their wealth and does not return from that with anything. Now the short version of this or to understand this is that the answer of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam is saying, not even al-jihadu fee sabeelillah surpasses the deeds that are done in these 10 days. But what we go through when we actually start to dig deep into what the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam is telling us with this hadith. You know, there are multiple hadith where the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says that doing such and such is better than the world and everything in it. So for example, we mentioned the sunnah of Fajr that khairu min ad-dunya wa ma feeha it is better than the dunya and everything in it. Meaning if all you got from this dunya in terms of al-kasib, in terms of earning is these two rak'ahs of Fajr and you did not earn any other wealth in this life except to sustain yourself. Then what you earned of those two rak'ahs of Fajr on top of your obligations is better than the dunya and everything that is within it. Similarly, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam mentioned that if Allah guides someone on your hand, da'wah fee sabeelillah, calling to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. If Allah guides someone on your hand, then that is better than the dunya and everything that is in it. And there are other hadith where the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam will talk about the superiority of certain adhkar, of certain forms of remembrance. So khairu min ad-dunya wa ma feeha, better than the dunya and everything in it. Meaning if that is all that you attain of reward, then that is enough. That's enough of a portfolio to meet Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la with and no wealth in the world would be more beloved. So when the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says, not even al-jihad fee sabeelillah, except for a person who literally lost everything, everything in the process, right?
All of their wealth, all of their lives, everything, then that is similar to the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam saying better than the dunya and everything that is within it. So these deeds are better than the other deeds and everything within them. And so that is, you know, a very special way of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam alluding to this hadith and some of the scholars say, you know, the fact that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has legislated hajj in these times, I'm gonna keep on saying it, may Allah grant us an accepted hajj, Allahumma ameen, is so blessed in and of itself. That's a mercy in and of itself from Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la because when you go to hajj, what are you doing? You're remembering Allah, you're in Medina or Mecca, especially for the first 10 of Dhul-Hijjah, you're in a state of remembrance of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la and so Allah is multiplying your deeds because you're in the best place at the best time, may Allah grant that to us, Allahumma ameen. So these deeds are more beloved to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la than any other deeds. There is a chapter in a Tirmidhi, ba'd ma ja'a fi al-'amali fi ayyam al-'ashr, the chapter of that which has come in regards to al-'ayyam al-'ashr, in regards to the 10 days. And I wanna mention the other hadith that is narrated here because it gets spread around sometimes. And that is the hadith that a Tirmidhi actually puts in this chapter, where Abu Huraira radiAllahu ta'ala anhu narrated that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, ma min ayyam ahabbu ila Allahi an yuta'abbada lahu feeha min ashri dhul-hijjah, that there are no 10 days more beloved to Allah that He be worshipped in them than the 10 days of dhul-hijjah. And then the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam in this narration goes on to say, ya'diru siyamu kulli yawmin minha bi siyami sana wa qiyamu kulli laylatin minha bi qiyami laylatil qadr. That fasting every day of them is equivalent to fasting an entire year and standing every night of them
is equivalent to laylatil qadr, is equivalent to the night of al-qadr. Now this hadith, though it is narrated by a Tirmidhi in this chapter, it is a weak hadith, it has a weak chain. So I mention it to say that it has a weak chain. However, why would Imam Tirmidhi Rahimahullah Ta'ala put it here and why would the scholars still mention it? To just talk about the virtues of these days and of these nights, of course, but we know that other evidences point to the superiority of laylatil qadr as the greatest night of the year. But just to say, SubhanAllah, how emphasized these days were and these nights were to the Muslims. And an authentic hadith, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, as narrated from Abdur Rahman ibn Abi Bakrah, from his father, radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, shahra, the two days, the two months of Eid, la yanqusan, that are never reduced in their reward, even if they are only 29 days, Ramadan with Dhul-Hijjah, the month of Ramadan and the month of Dhul-Hijjah. So these two months, there is a reason why Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la put the Eids in these two months. Of course, the Eid of Ramadan, it is still the month of Eid, even though Eid is technically the ushering in of Shawwal, because the Eid of Shawwal commemorates the month of Ramadan. Likewise, the Eid of Dhul-Hijjah commemorates the first 10 days. Fabi tharika fal yafrahu And that is where the believers find their goodness. And so these are the months in which we celebrate the mercy of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. Now, Ibn Hajar Rahimahullah Ta'ala, he points to something that's very powerful here, that all of the good deeds are combined in these 10 days. And that is not the case for any other 10 days of the year. Meaning what? The five pillars of Islam. All of them are emphasized in these 10 days. And you cannot say that about any other 10 days of the year. What is it? La ilaha illAllah, Muhammadun Rasulullah.
The best dhikr, the best form of remembrance on the day of Arafah, which we'll talk about in some detail. La ilaha illAllah, right? So the shahada. The salah is emphasized in this time, of course, as well. We find that siyam, fasting, is emphasized in this time as well. We find that as-sadaqah, charity, is emphasized in this time as well. And of course, it is the only time where hajj is legislated, right? There are no other times of the year where you can do hajj. This is the only time that you could do hajj. And of course, it was in these 10 days that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, al-yawma akmaltu lakum deenakum, that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la perfected our religion for us, right? And completed his favor upon us. It was within these 10 days. And so, Ibn Hajar Rahim Allah Ta'ala is saying, there are no 10 days of the year where all five pillars, right? Come into conversation with one another, come into practice of one another, and all of the good deeds are combined within these 10 days. So then comes the question, which good deeds should we do? And notice that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam left the hadith very general for us. It's very general, right? In Ramadan, you immediately know, okay, I need to do, you know, or try to attempt a khatm of Quran or some sort of recitation, recital of a large portion of the Quran and some reflection upon the Quran. I know that I have taraweeh at night, right? Along with the fasting. I know that sadaqa is going to be emphasized. You know, you're gonna see all of the fundraisers, even if they're virtual within Ramadan. So Ramadan has a lot more structure to it. But the good deeds here are left general. And as we said, most people, because of the lack of the ceremonious type of feeling around the 10 days of the Dhul Hijjah, will neglect these days, right? The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam left them general. And that is where the ulama say, the mercy of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
is in that it is left general in this regard. Okay? Any good deeds. Any good deeds that you can do. Diversify your good deeds within these 10 days. Number one, don't lose your obligations. Okay? So al-amil as-salih, first and foremost, the good deeds include your obligations. Your fajr. Don't miss fajr in those days. If you can pray fajr and jama'a every single day of those 10 days, then do so. If you can do, you know, the remembrance of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la after fajr, until salatul duha in those 10 days, do so. Don't miss isha and jama'a in these 10 days in particular. So the obligations that are to be undertaken in these 10 days are greater than the obligations that are undertaken throughout the year. It's a time to increase in your nawafil, a time to increase in your good deeds in general, your voluntary good deeds. And really, you know, the first advice that I want to give here is capture your Ramadan goals again. We made all of these promises in Ramadan. We made all of these Ramadan resolutions. And we definitely, you know, to some extent have missed some of it, right? A lot of us, you know, made these promises to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la or promises to ourselves that we're going to start doing certain things. And we slacked off perhaps after Ramadan. The hijjah is close enough to Ramadan to where you still have an element of that where you can recapture it. And so if you are sad over what you missed in Ramadan, this is the best time to make tawbah to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la the best time to repent to Allah, the best time to say, you know what? That obligation that I struggled with that I was going to start doing in Ramadan and I was not able to do so, I got weak. Let me try to do it again in the hijjah and let me try to make it permanent this time. This is the time if your Quran has collected dust since or your Quran app has not been reopened since Ramadan, this is the time to say, you know what? Let me get back to my recitation of the Quran. So use the hijjah to recapture Ramadan. Use the hijjah to recapture Ramadan.
Go right back to your Ramadan goals, go back to what worked, go back to what didn't work and adjust yourself for these 10 days as well. So, you know, one easy way to think about the recitation of the Quran for example, is to actually take a third of your Ramadan recitation and set that as a goal for your 10 days of the hijjah. So if you did a khatm of the Quran in Ramadan, then say that I'm going to do one third, I'm going to do 10 juz of the Quran inshallah ta'ala in these 10 days, or whatever it may be. Maybe you want to do more than that. But the point is, is that use Ramadan to launch your dhul-hijjah bi-idhnillahi ta'ala especially since it's not that far away. What are some other things that we take from the Salaf in this regard, from the pious predecessors in this regard? So let's think very practically. Sa'eed ibn Jubair radiAllahu ta'ala anhu who narrates from ibn Abbas radiAllahu ta'ala anhuma the famous hadith about the 10 of dhul-hijjah. The one where the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said that there are no 10 days in which the deeds are more beloved to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la than these 10 days. Sa'eed ibn Jubair says that ibn Abbas radiAllahu ta'ala anhuma used to become so busy in these 10 days with good deeds that no one would see him until the day of Eid. Now, what does this speak to? Khalwa, being secluded with Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. He became inaccessible in these 10 days. Ibn Abbas radiAllahu ta'ala anhuma who was a very accessible person, the scholar of this ummah, for these 10 days, he intentionally became very inaccessible because he was busy with Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. Now I know SubhanAllah, as Ramadan comes around, you always have people talking about, I'm gonna log off of social media for the next 30 days, see you after Ramadan, or I'm going to reduce it significantly. That cancel certain invitations, that cancel certain things that would require them to spend too much time away from those periods of seclusion. These are 10 days of long seclusion.
I'tikaf, in your own home, perhaps, right? In the masjid or in your own home. But these are 10 days of seclusion. If there are any 10 days that you want to sort of cut off, disconnect from others so that you can focus b'idhnanaya ta'ala until the moment of Eid, these are the 10 days to do so. Because the most powerful manifestation of a hadith is to look at the companion who narrated the hadith, how they acted upon that hadith. So this is the first thing, disconnect, right? That is the most prominent feature of the narrator of the hadith that will be on all of the infographics and that will go around on all the images throughout the next few days. Disconnect, so that you can connect to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. Then we go into the next ibadah, fasting. Not just fasting the day of Arafah, but fasting some of the first nine days other than Arafah. So you have the first to the eighth. Obviously you can't fast on the day of Eid. Fasting some of those days as well. There's a narration that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam it's an authentic narration. He used to fast the first nine days of Dhul Hijjah and the day of Ashura and three days each month and the first Monday of the month and two Thursdays as well. This is a hadith that's narrated by An-Nasai Abu Dawood. It's an authentic hadith. And there's a narration from Aisha radiAllahu ta'ala Anha that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would not fast all of the first nine days, okay? And the reconciliation of that is that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam did not fast all of the first nine days, but he fasted a significant portion of them. So how can you approach that? Combine the intentions of Monday and Thursday, for example. And if you can do more, then do more bi-idhnillahi ta'ala. And SubhanAllah just so happens that this year in particular, that the day of Arafah likely falls on a Monday as well. So think about what are three or four days that I can take or even two days other than Arafah
that I will fast in these first 10 of Dhul Hijjah and implement that bi-idhnillahi ta'ala if you can. So that's something that we also take from the practice of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and the early Muslims. And of course, the fasting of the day of Arafah and Ashura in particular equal three years of fasting because the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, he taught us that when a person fasts the day of Arafah, then it equals a year of fasting before and a year after. And when a person fasts the day of Ashura, then it is in regards to that present year. So what we find is that one of the blessings of this is that Muharram is the first month after Dhul Hijjah. And so if you think about a person fasting Arafah, the year before and the year after counted, then that would refer to the year before that Dhul Hijjah, okay, and the year after. And so that's two years. And then you move into the next year of Ashura. And what that will cover is the previous year of Dhul Hijjah. Okay, so if you're in 1444 Arafah and you fast, then you have the reward of 1443 and you have the reward of 1445. And then if you move into 1445, which is Muharram, the first month of the year and you fast Ashura and the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said that expiates the sins of the previous year, then that takes care of 1444 as well. So it spans three years of fasting within those two days. And for those sisters in particular, or brothers that might be ill, that cannot fast that day for any reason whatsoever, Rasulullah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, whoever misses a good deed that they would have normally done due to a illness or due to some sort of travel, which of course means anything that is out of their hands, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la will write it down for them as if they performed it in full.
So if you can't fast that day and you would have fasted that day, then take comfort in knowing that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has written down that day for you bi-idhnillahi Ta-A'la and instead use the day in dua and use the day in still doing the other forms of honoring that day bi-idhnillahi Ta-A'la. So fasting is something that is legislated throughout the first nine days of Dhul-Hijjah. Now, as for the forms of dhikr, in one narration, which is also sahih, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, there are no days in which good deeds are greater. la a'adhamu AAinda Allah wa la ahabbu ilayhi There is no days in which good deeds are greater or more beloved to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la min hadhihi al-ayyami al-ashr from these 10 days of Dhul-Hijjah. So the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says, fa-akthiru fee hinna min at-tahleel wa at-takbeer wa at-tahmeed So increase within these 10 days of takbeer and tahmeed or tahleel and takbeer and tahmeed, saying la ilaha illAllah, Allahu Akbar, alhamdulillah and SubhanAllah. Now the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam here is stressing quantity. Of course, quality is important, but the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam here is stressing quantity in the sense of, keep yourself engaged with these forms of dhikr. You can't do that if you're engaged too much with other people. And so take the advice of Ibn Abbas radiAllahu ta'ala anhuma and carve out some personal time for yourself. And even if you're around people, lots of dhikr and the athkar that are familiar to us. When you're walking between places, when we talk about the last 10 nights of Ramadan, we always tell people that even when you're getting up to go get your suhoor or to do something else, keep yourself in a state of dhikr. When I have my hujjaj in Arafah, I always tell them like, look, the lines are long for the bathrooms in Arafah, okay? Even when you're standing in line, keep yourself in dhikr. Don't just take a break, say, all right, let me go ahead and just start having a conversation. No, those are precious hours. Keep yourself engaged and busy in dhikr.
And SubhanAllah, what we find is an authentic hadith that Ibn Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhuma and Abu Huraira radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, that they used to go through the marketplace throughout the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah. This is a lost sunnah. And they would shout out takbeer. They would shout out Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, prompting the people, even as they were in the marketplace to say Allahu Akbar. Please don't walk into a shopping mall and start shouting Allahu Akbar. This is a sunnah that we take the best from inshAllah for ourselves to remind the Muslims, to remind the believers throughout these 10 days. So when you're about to get into an argument with your spouse or you're in your home, remind them Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. These are days of takbeer. These are days of tahreel. These are days of tahmeed. These are days of praising Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. Not just the day of Eid, but throughout the first 10 days, the sahabah would prompt one another and remind one another. If you wanna make this a time, if you are with your family, bid'Allahi ta'ala, or even with friends, whoever it may be. And of course, I know some are still isolated due to COVID, but reminding people inshAllah ta'ala, hey, let's do this inshAllah ta'ala. Let's prompt one another to remember Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la and imagine, I always like to cast this time on hajj because it's just the easiest way again to take the physical dimensions of hajj and to think about the spiritual dimensions of the hijjah since they're so connected. When you're in a bus that is on its way to the Kaaba and you're in a Haram and there are people that are doing talbiyah throughout, labbayk Allahumma labbayk, that is a game changer. That keeps everyone engaged and reminded to keep on doing so. It's just Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la a natural function of us that, even if I'm half asleep and I see someone next to me and they're going labbayk Allahumma labbayk, labbayk Allah, sharika laka labbayk, then I'll start doing it as well because that's how we are as human beings. And so the sahabah were prompting one another
with dhikr within these first 10 days. And Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, you know, we find that this was the gift that Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam taught our Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam for our Ummah. When Rasulullah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam met Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam, since we're commemorating both of them, Alayhimus SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, in these days, when Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam met Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam and Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam said to him, Ya Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, give my Salaam to your Ummah. Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam sent Salaam to us. Wa Alayka Salaam Ya Nabi Allah. He sent Salaam to us. And he said, and tell them that Jannah has this vast plain and pure soil and sweet water. So Jannah is a beautiful, plain leveled land. Its soil is pure. Its water is sweet. And you grow plants in that soil by saying what? SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, La ilaha illallah, Allahu Akbar. Every time you say that, your land in Jannah is increasing in real estate and in value because the trees are popping up in Jannah for you. Every time you say, SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, La ilaha illallah, Allahu Akbar. That's in normal times. What about then in the best 10 days of the year where they are days of Barakah, days where deeds are multiplied. So keep yourself busy. SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, La ilaha illallah, Allahu Akbar. SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, La ilaha illallah, Allahu Akbar. Look, the simplest way that I can give you InshaAllah is take a number for each one of those adhkar. And of course the things that are done on regular days. So for example, a hundred times each one of these forms of dhikr, right? If you can do a hundred, do a hundred. If you can make it 200, do 200. If for the sake of these days, you say I'm going to make them a thousand each InshaAllah ta'ala. But I'm going to put a number on myself and then I'm going to try to do even more
than that number bi'idhnillahi ta'ala. Then do so because these are the best days of the year to do so bi'idhnillahi ta'ala. SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, La ilaha illallah, Allahu Akbar. Keep on doing so bi'idhnillahi ta'ala. Now, when we get to the day of Arafah in particular, wal hajj wa arafah, hajj is arafah. Just like, you know, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, an-nadmu tawba, wa-du'a hu-l-'ibada. That regret is repentance and supplication is worship. Arafah is the core of dhikr. Hajj and Arafah is the core of the dhikr. So Arafah is the best day of hajj. It is the most fundamental and most important pillar of the hajj and it is the most important day of the days of the dhikr. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la gives us eight days to prepare ourselves for that day. And just like the hajjaj go out to Mina for Yawm al-Tarwiyah to rest even their camels, to rest everything for that momentous day of Arafah, the eight days prior are to get our souls ready, rested, rejuvenated for that day of Arafah. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says to us that there's no day in which Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la sets free more souls from the fire than on the day of Arafah. On that day, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la draws near to the earth in a way that befits him and he exhibits his benevolence and he remarks to the angels. He boasts to the angels. What is it that these servants of mine desire when they're coming out to make du'a to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la in this regard, the people are calling upon Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la in different languages, all in one valley. And of course, around the world as well. And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la calls the angels to bear witness that he has forgiven them. May Allah make us all amongst those that are forgiven. SubhanAllah, the benefits of the hajj and the du'as at Arafah are for the whole ummah. They're for the whole ummah, right?
Allah forgives everyone as a result of that and the barakah of those du'as reaches the entire ummah. And so this is a time for us to remember our brothers and sisters in Palestine, to remember our brothers and sisters in Syria and Yemen, to remember our brothers and sisters from the Uyghurs and from the Rohingya, to remember our brothers and sisters in Ethiopia, to remember our brothers and sisters that are struggling all around the world, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala. This is the time for us to remember them inshaAllah ta'ala in our du'as as we always should remember them, but the benefits of this day reach everyone. So this is a day of du'a. What is it to be found within that du'a? Well, first and foremost, a tawbah, renew your covenant with Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. The day of Arafah is a day of covenants, okay? It's the day of the initial covenant with Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. So renew your covenant with Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. And that's why the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said it's the worst day of the year for Shaitaan. Shaitaan has on his calendar mark the day of Arafah, it is the most humiliating day of the year for him, the worst day. He tries to take you away from Allah, and on that one day Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la draws you near. And all of the effects of Shaitaan, all of the sins that he stains you with, it is gone on that day in particular. So it is the worst day of the year for Shaitaan, which means it's the best day of the year for the believers as they cling close to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. Now, the ulama they say that all of the virtues, and this is from the virtues of the day of Arafah, all of the virtues of the last 10 nights of Ramadan specifically and Ramadan in general are found in this one day in Arafah, which is pretty incredible. What do we mean by that? Well, first and foremost, it's a day of fasting, right? For those that are not in Arafah, it's a day of fasting. So just like the month of Ramadan is a month of fasting, Arafah is a day of fasting. Secondly, it's a day of du'a. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam taught us
to spend the entirety of the day in calling upon Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la until the sun sets, until Maghrib, every moment is precious on that day of Arafah. The third thing is that the prize of Ramadan is what? Allahumma innaka AAafoon tuhibbu alAAafwa faAAafoo AAanna Oh Allah, you pardon, you love to forgive and pardon. So forgive and pardon us. And that is to be freed from the fire. And there is no day of the year where Allah frees more people from the fire than that day. So the prize of Ramadan is embedded within that one day as well, Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. So the day of Arafah combines the virtues of Ramadan, the virtues of the last 10 nights within just a few hours. How important are those hours, Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. And by the way, just on a very practical level, if there's a possibility for you to take a day off of work, if you can, then that's the day to do so, InshaAllah Ta'ala. Just if you're thinking about vacation days or sick days or whatever it may be, then bi-idhnillahi Ta'ala take a day off and let that be a day that you extend yourself. And if you can't, then still use it as a day of dhikr even as you're doing everything else. So what is the best du'a of Arafah? And what was the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam saying that entire time? Okay, this is perhaps Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la one of the most beautiful understandings of du'a that can be extracted from the du'a of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam made du'a on the day of Arafah, all the way from Dhuhr to Maghrib without pause. He prayed Dhuhr and Asr, shortened and combined. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam made du'a all the way from Dhuhr to the time of Maghrib. And we don't have anything of his du'a except for one. Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. When the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would go on As-Safa wal-Marwah, and he would do his sa'i and he would make du'a SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam between La ilaha illa Allah wahdahu la sharika la ilaha
il-mulk wa la ilhamd, wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadeer la ilaha illa Allah wahda, anjala wahda wa nasara abda wa hazama al-ahzaba wahda. These three du'as of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. Between those du'as, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would make long du'as, long du'as. Every single circuit. So every time he stood on Safa, every time he stood on Marwah, between those du'as, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would lengthen his du'a. We don't have any narration about what he would say. When the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would stone the Jamarat, Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, look how du'a is embedded in Hajj. When he would stone the Jamarat, between the Jamarat, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would face towards the Ka'bah and raise his hands and make du'a. And he would take a long time SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam We don't have anything narrated from that du'a. The day of Muzdalifah, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would pray Fajr and he would remember Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la and he'd make du'a until the sunrise. We have nothing narrated of that du'a. Why? Because the point of du'a is not to be on script. The point of du'a is to be sincere and connect to your Lord. Sincere supplication. And so we have the du'as from the Sunnah which are undoubtedly blessed, but we also have the example of du'a from the Sunnah, which is also blessed, which is that raw emotion connecting to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la in your own language, in your own way, in those moments. And so what do we have from the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam about the day of Arafah? The best du'a. One narration the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said La ilaha illAllah. Just La ilaha illAllah. And another narration, the more famous one, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said the best of what I and the Prophets have said on this day. So when Musa Alayhi Salaam stood before Allah on this day, when Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam stood before Allah on this day, when Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam stood before Allah on this day, what did they say? La ilaha illAllah wahdahu la sharika lah. Lahul mulk wa lahul hamd wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadeer. La ilaha illAllah wahdahu la sharika lah. Lahul mulk wa lahul hamd wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadeer. None has the right to be worshipped Allah. He alone,
who has no partners, to him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. Wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadeer. And all praise. And he has power over all things. La ilaha illAllah wahdahu la sharika lah. Lahul mulk wa lahul hamd wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadeer. Now I want you for a moment to just stay with me InshaAllah Ta'ala about how beautiful this du'a is. And this is something that I want us to try for this year in particular with InshaAllah Ta'ala and hopefully it can become a practice that we take on beyond InshaAllah Ta'ala. There's an authentic narration where the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, whoever says this du'a on a normal day, 100 times. A hundred times. La ilaha illAllah wahdahu la sharika lah. Lahul mulk wa lahul hamd wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadeer. Whoever says this 100 times in one day, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, the reward of that is, it's as if he freed 10 slaves. As if, and 100 good deeds will be written for him. And 100 bad deeds will be wiped out from his accounts. And on that day, he will be protected from the morning until the evening from the shaytan. And no one will be superior to that person except for one who increased in that which he has done. Meaning one who even did more than 100. Okay? This is on a normal day. To say, la ilaha illAllah wahdahu la sharika lah. Lahul mulk wa lahul hamd wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadeer. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, the reward of freeing one person from slavery is that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la would free every part of your body from the fire. What then of the reward of freeing 10 people from slavery? The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam mentions, the good deeds being written for you. The sins being wiped out and you being protected from the shaytan. And no one is superior to you except for one who did more than you. So here's a very basic prescription for the day of Arafah. If this is on a normal day to say this a hundred times, then on the day of Arafah, make sure you say this du'a at least a hundred times. And the barakah only Allah knows. How much mercy, how much blessing will be written for you as a result of it.
If that's the best thing that you could say on the day of Arafah, then make sure that you say it at least a hundred times bi-idhnillahi ta'ala on that day. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la allow us to attain that reward and so much more beyond what we can comprehend. Allahumma ameen. Then comes the day of Eid. And this is a very important part. Don't tune me out yet because a lot of us don't see Eid as ibadah. And the Eid of Dhul Hijjah is specifically a day of worship. And it is the second best day of the 10 days. So when we talk about Eid al-Fitr, it comes after Ramadan. Eid al-Adha is actually part of the 10 days. There's a big difference between the two in that regard, right? Like this is significant because Eid is usually a day that's marked by heedlessness, right? It's usually a day where people kind of forget themselves. In this situation, Eid al-Adha is a day of ibadah. So what is the ibadah of Eid al-Adha? What is the ibadah of the Eid of the sacrifice? Well, first and foremost, obviously the sacrifice itself is a very important ibadah. And that's why Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, He puts sacrifice next to salah. Qul inna salati wa nusuki wa mahyaya wa mamati lillahi rabbil alameen. Say that verily, my prayer and my sacrifice. Sacrifice in the general sense, no doubt, but here is sacrifice in the specific sense. My life and my death are all for Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. And people used to sacrifice in the name of their idols. And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la made it so that it is purely for Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. The sacrifice is purely for Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. And what is it called? Qurbani, right? Qurb, qurb, you come close to Allah. You draw near to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. Think about the person clinging onto the cloth of the Kaaba, right? You're drawing near to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la with this sacrifice. And it is a time where, you know,
you have a very specific ibadah with a very special reward. Ibn Umar radiAllahu ta'ala Anhuma said that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam lived in Medina for 10 years. And every one of those years, he sacrificed SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. So he didn't miss it. Alayhi Salatu Wasallam. And the ibadah of that sacrifice is first and foremost, what the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, Itha dakhalal ashru wa arada ahadukum an yudhahi when the 10 days enter and one of you wants to offer a sacrifice, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, fala yamassa min sha'rihi wala basharihi shai'a do not let anyone remove anything from their hair or from their skin in that time period. And so the intention of offering the sacrifice is in the beginning of the hijjah and it extends all the way until the Eid. And so the one who is offering a sacrifice should avoid removing from their hair or from their nails. And this is the sunnah of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and Imam Al-Shawkani Rahimahullah Ta'ala he said, this makes one resemble the person that is in ihram. And so Al-Shawkani Rahimahullah says, it's like a person who is in ihram and that every part of their body is freed from the hellfire. Every part of their body is freed from the fire as a result of abstaining from cutting from their nails and cutting from their hair until the sacrifice is offered. So keep that in mind, because I know obviously that, many of us when the time of when Salatul Eid comes, if your sacrifice has not yet been done, then a person removes from their hair and removes from their nails and that's any part of their hair, by the way, their hair, their beard, their body hair, their mustache, their nails, whatever it may be. And that would be contradicting with the guidance of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam is in this regard, when a person wants to offer the sacrifice and obviously we want that sacrifice to be accepted. Unless of course the sacrifice is offered before Salatul Eid, which is possible because some people might offer the sacrifice
or delegate the sacrifice in another country where the time zone is different. And so the sacrifice is already done. And at that time, a person can then remove from their hair and they can remove from their nails. So that's part of the Ibadah of it as well. Now, just a technical point here, the ruling applies to the one who is offering the sacrifice, not the delegated person, okay? So most of us will delegate someone else to offer the sacrifice on our behalf. The ruling is to the one who is offering the sacrifice, not the one who is physically delegated to do so. And the ruling applies only to the one who is offering the sacrifice on behalf of their family. So let's say for example, that I'm offering the sacrifice on behalf of my spouse and on my children. Then that ruling does not apply to my spouse and my children nor does it apply to the person that I've delegated to offer the sacrifice. Rather, it just applies to me. And this would be the same, by the way, for men or for women. So that's part of the Ibadah as well of the sacrifice of Eid. Eid is of course a time where following the Sunnah is in and of itself a blessing. It's a time of Sadaqah, right? You wanna give charity from your sacrifice. And of course, in the situation of most of us, the entirety of the sacrifice goes towards Sadaqah and that's something that's blessed, right? That a person offers their sacrifice, especially in one of the distressed countries where some people don't eat any proper food until the day of Eid, SubhanAllah. It's their day where they have a chance to actually eat properly. And so that's one of the blessings as well. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam marked the day of Eid, whether it was Eid al-Fitr or Eid al-Adha with his Sadaqah. So it's a day of Sadaqah. So make sure that you are plentiful in giving charity on the day of Eid as well. Now, the last thing that I will say in this regard, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, which is very, very important. Is Siratur-Rahm.
The connection with family as a form of Ibadah, as a form of worship. Here's the problem. A lot of us think about the time that we spend with family as taking a break from our worship, whereas it's the greatest that you could do in terms of worship, SubhanAllah, on that day, is Siratur-Rahm. Is connecting with the ties of the womb. And Siratur-Rahm does not just refer to your immediate family, though that is who is immediately implied, okay? And included. So your parents, if they're alive, if they're not alive, maybe you give Sadaqah on their behalf. You call their friends, you call their relatives. That's one of the Ibadah that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam taught us to maintain the ties with the loved ones of our deceased loved ones, right? So you call, you know, who would your parents typically have called if they were alive, if they were still with you this Eid. You call them instead and say, you know, I know that my mother or my father used to keep up with you on the day of Eid. Send them something, greet them, whatever it may be. That's a form of Siratur-Rahm as well. But Siratur-Rahm with your parents who are living, with your spouses, you know, connecting, making that a time where you connect with your spouse, with siblings, with children, with your uncles, with your aunts, with even cousins and people that are extended relatives. Why? Because they are the ties of the womb. So this is a time of community and a time of family and seeing that as Ibadah. And so I mentioned this Hadith because I know that many people have not heard this Hadith before. It's an authentic Hadith where the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, Ar-Rahimu, that when it comes to the ties of the womb, Mu'allaqatun bil arsh. The ties of the womb are tied to the throne of the most merciful. The ties of the womb are tied to the throne of the most merciful. And the Arsh speaks. The throne speaks. Taqool man wasalani wasalahullah waman qata'ani qata'ahullah
So the ties to the throne, just like the ties of the womb, they say, whoever connects me, then Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la will connect with that person. And whoever cuts me off, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la will cut me off. Okay? This is very, very severe, but it has a great reward in it as well. A time of reconciliation, a time to establish the ties of kinship and to see that as ibadah, to spend time with family InshaAllah Ta-A'la, to reach out to your relatives, to reconnect with people, to seek forgiveness from people, to spend upon people. All of these InshaAllah Ta-A'la are forms of ibadah, are forms of worship, and we should see it as such. And so that takes the mindset of the day of Eid as a day of fun, which it is a day of farah, it's a day of joy. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam taught us how to have fun as an ummah as well, that we should enjoy and celebrate the mercy of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. SubhanAllah, you know, one of the beauties of the spirit of salvation in Islam is that our holidays, our two Eids, are not a commemoration of someone else's good deeds or someone else's sacrifice, but it's Allah's mercy, a commemoration of Allah's mercy and letting us worship Him, opening to us these seasons of khair, these seasons of good, and having hope in Him, accepting our sacrifices and our deeds, whether it is the time we push ourselves in Ramadan or in the first 10 of Dhul-Hijjah. But, you know, beyond that, you have joy, you have moments of joy with your family. See that as part of the ibadah of Eid as well. That's part of the worship of Eid as well, and reach out to those that you have not reached out to for some time as well. And bismillah ta'ala, that will all be blessed. So dear brothers and sisters, don't limit the mercy of Allah upon you. Don't limit the good deeds that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has given to you. Exert yourself on the day of Arafah in du'a. Exert yourself throughout these 10 days in recapturing Ramadan, in the recitation of the Quran, in the remembrance of Allah. Prompt others to remember Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la as well. Exert yourself in sadaqah. Give charity.
Again, every single day of the 10 days, give charity bi-idhnillahi ta'ala and push yourself to give charity. And then offer a sacrifice if you can, and find joy with your family bi-idhnillahi ta'ala. Connect with long lost relatives inshaAllah ta'ala, or the relatives and loved ones of those that you have lost, and bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, that will all be a form of blessing. I pray that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la accept these 10 days from all of us, that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la accept the hajj of those that have been blessed to make hajj this year, that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la count the intention of all of those who intended to make hajj this year or the previous year and were not able to. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la write down a full hajj for them. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la allow us to go to hajj soon bi-idhnillahi ta'ala and accept it from us. So may Allah accept our intention for the next hajj around the corner, if we live to see it, and if we don't live to see it, may Allah write down the full reward for us. May Allah grant us the companionship of our beloved Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, and our beloved father and Prophet Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la allow us to be in their presence. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la allow us to implement what they taught us in these blessed days. May Allah forgive us for any shortcomings in these days. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la allow us to become more determined to follow that which he has obligated us to do in these 10 days. And may Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la increase us in khair, increase us in all voluntary good deeds, and protect us from the evil of ourselves, from the whispers of the shaitan, in these 10 days and beyond. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la forgive us and write us down amongst al-utaqa, amongst those who are freed from the fire, and amongst those who dwell in al-firdaws al-a'la for all of eternity. Allahumma ameen. JazakumAllahu khayran I look forward to inshAllah Ta'ala seeing you. Through the series, I hope that bi-idhnillahi Ta'ala you enjoy it with your families and that you reconnect to the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and on behalf of the entire Yaqeen team, jazakumAllahu khayran once again for your support throughout the year.
WasallAllahu wa sallim wa baraka wa nabiyyina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in wasallamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh
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