Inspiration and Spirituality

On The First Day of Dhul-Hijjah, My True Love Gave To Me…

Published

November 29, 2008

(Okay, maybe that’s not such a great idea for a nasheed…)

On a more serious note, I am delighted and pleased to announce to you (a bit late, perhaps) that Saturday the 29th of November, 2008 is also the first of Dhul-Hijjah, 1429 of the Hijri calendar.

Ibn Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allaah than these ten days (of Dhul-Hijjah).” The people asked, “Not even jihaad for the sake of Allaah?” He said, “Not even jihaad for the sake of Allaah, except in the case of a man who went out to fight giving himself and his wealth up for the cause, and came back with nothing.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 2/457).

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Abdullaah ibn Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There are no days greater in the sight of Allaah and in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Him than these ten days, so during this time recite a great deal of Tahleel (“La ilaaha ill-Allaah”), Takbeer and Tahmeed.” (Reported by Ahmad, 7/224; Ahmad Shaakir stated that it is saheeh).

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

Yaa Ayyuhal Muslimeen! Allah Himself swears by these 10 days… will we not give these days their due? Will we not take advantage of them? Verily, they are the best ten days that Allah has designated in the entire year; amongst these days is the blessed day of ‘Arafah, that day when He ‘azza wa jal boasts to His angels of His slaves who turn to Him in humility, that day when He will expiate the sins of the fasting person for two years: the year preceding, and the year to come. They are the days by which our Creator swore, “Wal Fajri, wa layaalin ‘ashr!”

Indeed, our true Love has given us the most precious of gifts… these first ten days of the month of Hajj. Will we not show gratitude and appreciation? Will we not pay heed to the words of our Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), when he advised us to increase in our worship of Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala?

Let us seize the moment, let us recall the beautiful blessed days of Ramadhaan which passed us by only a few months ago, let us revive that spirit of emaan and ‘ebaadah!

Those of us who can, let us fast the first nine days of Dhul-Hijjah (the 10th being ‘Eid al-Adha, when it is haraam for us to fast); if we cannot, then at least make the effort for Yawm al-‘Arafah. Let us raise our voices in Takbeer, Tahmeed, Tasbeeh, and Tahleel! These days, the rewards for obedience to Allah and striving for His Pleasure are multiplied by Allah as many times as He wishes.

Woe unto those who turn their backs on these days! Woe unto those who deny Allah’s favour upon us! Woe unto those who do nothing to grow closer to Allah, and increase only in their evildoing!

Ya ayyuhal-latheena aamanu, think of what you can do to deserve that Pleasure and reward promised to the ones who make the effort! Enjoin the ties of kinship. Give in sadaqah. Perfect your salaah and increase it. Make du’a for the best of this world and the Hereafter. Recite the Qur’an and ponder upon it. Moisten your tongue with the remembrance of Allah! Think of those who are on their way right now towards the most blessed of all places on this earth to Allah, to al-Makkah al-Mukarramah, to BaytAllah al-Haraam, to perform the Hajj – Hajj Mabroor, insha’Allah. Think of them, and what they will be doing, and think of the times you went for Hajj, or beg of Allah that He make it feasible for you to go in the future.

Ya Allah, make easy the affairs of the hujjaaj and accept their Hajj. Ya Allah, make us amongst those who increase in their worship in these blessed days. Ya Allah, accept from us our fasts, our prayers, our deeds, and our intentions. Ya Allah, make us amongst those whose sins are forgiven. Ya Allah, make us amongst your believing, obedient, humble, sincere, striving, repentant slaves! Ameen, thumma ameen, ya Rabb al-‘Aalameen!

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Zainab bint Younus

Zainab bint Younus (AnonyMouse) is a Canadian Muslim woman who writes on Muslim women's issues, gender related injustice in the Muslim community, and Muslim women in Islamic history. She holds a diploma in Islamic Studies from Arees University, a diploma in History of Female Scholarship from Cambridge Islamic College, and has spent the last fifteen years involved in grassroots da'wah. She was also an original founder of MuslimMatters.org.

21 Comments

Joyhamza

November 29, 2008 at 5:17 AM

Khutbah style article! cool!

Reply
Organica

November 29, 2008 at 7:48 AM

Ameen..thuma Ameen.

Here are some links for the proper Takbeer of these blessed Days!

http://trueword.wordpress.com/2007/12/10/revive-a-sunnah-the-takbeer-of-dhul-hijjah/

Reply
moro

November 29, 2008 at 7:56 AM

Labbayk

Wake up and stay awake
-O Heart- and say Labbayk
Say: Labbayk Allahumma Labbayk
Say it with every seed and grain
Say it with every drop of rain
Say it and say it again and again
Say it with the stars in the skies
Say it with the light in your eyes
Say: Labbayk O Lord, O Wise!
Say it and let your tears,
Let them translate your hidden fears—
For only Allah hears
All that are on earth and in the skies.
Say Labbayk to Him Alone
Whose boundless mercy shone
Even in the heart of him
Who once worshipped a stone,
But then heard Labbayk Allahumma Labbayk
And his heart shook as with earthquake
And said: Yes, I made a mistake;
But now I say Labbayk Allahumma Labbayk!

Reply
Muslim007

November 29, 2008 at 8:22 AM

we can’t fast on 10th of Dhul Hajj? Arn’t hujjaj the only people who celebrate Eid-ul_adha on this day and rest of the people following day? I started fasting from Friday 28th and intend to fast for 1st ten days of Dhul Hajj. May Allaah azza wa jal make it easier for me and all those who intend to fast and may Allaah accept it from us with right intention. Ameen

Reply
Amatullah

November 29, 2008 at 9:14 AM

Ameen! MashaAllah I enjoyed the ‘khutbah style’ as joyhamza said :) Jazaakum Allahu khayran.

Muslim007, taken from IslamQA: “With regard to fasting on the day of Eid, this is haraam, as is indicated by the marfoo’ hadeeth of Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (may Allaah be pleased with him): “He [the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)] forbade fasting on the day of (Eid) al-Fitr and the day of al-Nahr (the day of sacrifice, i.e., Eid al-Adha).” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, no. 1992; Muslim, 827. The scholars are unanimously agreed that it is haraam to fast on these days.

Righteous deeds on these ten days are better than on others. With regard to fasting, that should only be done on nine of them; the tenth day is the day of Eid when it is haraam to fast.

Based on this, what is meant by the virtue of the ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah is fasting nine days only, even though they are called ten days.”

I believe it’s the other way around, the people celebrate eid on this day while the hujjaj are still completing their hajj (stone, slaughter, trim, tawaf, sa’ee).

Reply
Nahyan

November 29, 2008 at 2:40 PM

Ameen to the dua.

the title’s funny…and it was nice article mashaAllah.

Reply
Osman

November 29, 2008 at 4:24 PM

we can’t fast on 10th of Dhul Hajj? Arn’t hujjaj the only people who celebrate Eid-ul_adha on this day and rest of the people following day? I started fasting from Friday 28th and intend to fast for 1st ten days of Dhul Hajj. May Allaah azza wa jal make it easier for me and all those who intend to fast and may Allaah accept it from us with right intention. Ameen

The hujjaj dont really celebrate Eid-ul-Adha, they spend the day completing the Hajj. The rest of us will celebrate Eid the day after Arafah(which is on the 9th).

Reply
Ameera

November 29, 2008 at 5:02 PM

Jazakillah! My Quran teacher reminded us students today with these same Ahadith! :)

Reply
ali Colak

November 29, 2008 at 7:02 PM

Assalamu alaykum,

How do we know that the nights referred to in sura al-fajr, refer to the first 10 days and nights of dhul hijja? Since the word nights was used, I would have thought that the sura would have been referring to the last 10 nights of ramadhan. I know that the first ten days are holy, but if I had to bring the proof to someone else I’d much rather know that this particular proof is valid before I use it. Could someone please clarify?
Sister AnonyMouse, Jazzak allahu khayrun for the article.

Ali

Reply
abu abdAllah, the Houstonian

November 29, 2008 at 8:45 PM

bismillah. wherever you are, whoever you are, there are two days when you may not fast — Eid ul Fitr and Eid ul Adha. whatever day you celebrate each of those Eids, that is the day you are forbidden from fasting. and may Allah accept from all the Hujjaj and bring them home safely, and may He accept from all of you and from us. ameen.

Reply
AnonyMouse

November 29, 2008 at 9:21 PM

@ Ali Colak
The aayah “wa layaalin ‘ashr” being explained as referring to the first ten days of Dhul Hijjaah, is something which is found in the classical tafseer.
http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=89&tid=58174

The Explanation of Al-Fajr and what comes after it

Concerning Al-Fajr, it is well known that it is the morning. This was said by `Ali, Ibn `Abbas, `Ikrimah, Mujahid and As-Suddi. It has been reported from Masruq and Muhammad bin Ka`b that Al-Fajr refers to the day of Sacrifice (An-Nahr) in particular, and it is the last of the ten nights. `The ten nights’ refers to the (first) ten days of Dhul-Hijjah. This was said by Ibn `Abbas, Ibn Zubayr, Mujahid and others among the Salaf and the latter generations.

W’Allahu ta’aala a’lam.

Reply
Ali Colak

November 29, 2008 at 9:43 PM

Jazzak allahu khayrun, that was helpful.

Reply
Anisa

November 29, 2008 at 9:48 PM

BarakAllahu Feeki for the reminder

Reply
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Omar

November 30, 2008 at 4:08 PM

barak Allahu fik ya akhi!

is it sunnah to do takbirat during the first ten days of dhul hijah or only during eid?

Reply
RimzaAW

December 1, 2008 at 12:53 AM

Short video about the topic by Yasir Qadhi (hafidhahullah): should help answer some of these questions Insha’Allah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t2Z718TW-4

Reply
Umm_Ukashah

December 1, 2008 at 1:28 AM

May Allah reward you lots for the reminding. Ameen.

Reply
sacbutteredtoast

December 1, 2008 at 8:20 PM

what day is the day of Arafat?

Reply
AnonyMouse

December 1, 2008 at 8:41 PM

Insha’Allah December 7 (Sunday) will be the day of ‘Arafah.

Reply
UmA

December 3, 2008 at 12:28 AM

Host an iftar for friends/family on Sunday to encourage fasting.

Reply
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