إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ ,نَحْمَدُهُ ,وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ , وَنَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا ,مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ , وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ , وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
My brothers and sisters:
Today, we are going to address the blessings the first 10 days of Zil Hajj. These days are so precious that ALLAH SWT in the Holy Quran swore by these 10 days, saying: وَٱلۡفَجۡرِ (١) وَلَيَالٍ عَشۡرٍ۬
By the Dawn (1) And ten nights. The books of tafseer mentioned that these are the first 10 days of Zul Hajja.
Rasool ALLAH SAW said about these 10 days in Hadees, used words about these 10 days that he didn’t use about other days.
مَا مِنْ أَيَّامٍ الْعَمَلُ الصَّالِحُ فِيهَا أَحَبُّ إِلَى اللَّهِ مِنْ هَذِهِ الأَيَّامِ ” . يَعْنِي الْعَشْرَ . قَالُوا: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ! وَلاَ الْجِهَادُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ قَالَ: ” وَلاَ الْجِهَادُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ. إِلاَّ رَجُلٌ خَرَجَ بِنَفْسِهِ وَمَالِهِ فَلَمْ يَرْجِعْ مِنْ ذَلِكَ بِشَىْءٍ ” .
There are no days during which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these days,” meaning the (first) ten days of Dhul- Hijjah. They said: “O Messenger of Allah! Not even Jihad fe Sabeel il Allah?” He said: “Not even Jihad in the cause of Allah, unless a man goes out with himself and his wealth and does not bring anything back.”
Another reason why these 10 days are so precious: The only time in the whole year we can observe all 5 pillars of Islam all together [ Iman (which is obvious), Salah (5 times a day), Saum (it is recommended to fast the first 9 days of Zil Hajj whenever possible), Zakah, and Hajj only comes in these 10 days]
Another Hadees mentions that yaum al Nahr is the best day of the year, which is 10th of Zil Hajj.
For these 10 days, we must plan our activities. Make good intentions towards one another , forgive the people that you are not content with. Pray every salah on time in Masjid. Try to do salah other than Fard, try to do as many sunnah and nawafil as possible. That on the day of Qiyamah, if there are impurities in the fard salah, are filled with Nawafil salah. In terms of saum, if we cannot fast all 9 days, at least fast on the 9th of Zil Hajj. Hadees says , whoever fasts 9th of Zil Hajja, his sins of 2 years are forgiven. Try to get as many Hasanaat as you can in these 10 days.
May Allah the Most Merciful, bless us with rewards on these 10 days, and grant us his favors and Rahmah.
