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These ten days are among Allah’s graces granted to His
servants as Allah created in the souls of the believers the longing to see
the Holy Mosque in Makkah and no one can see it every year, He obligated
Hajj on those who have the ability to perform it only once in their lifetime
and He made the ten days a mutual occasion for both those who travel to Hajj
and those who stay at home. Therefore, whoever is unable to perform Hajj one
year, can do in those ten days what is even better than jihad - which is in
turn better then Hajj - from their own home.
The Aggregation of Virtues
Among the virtues of the ten are days is the following:
1- That Almighty Allah swore upon them when He says (By the Dawn and ten
nights.) (Al-Fajr 89:1-2) and the majority of
interpreters of the Qur`an say that it refers to the ten days of the
Dhul-Hijjah.
2- That they are part of the forty days of solitude
which Almighty Allah appointed for Prophet Moses (peace and blessings be
upon him), (And when We did appoint for Moses thirty nights (of solitude),
and added to them ten) (Al-A`raf 7: 142)
3- That they are the end of the months of Hajj:
Shawwal, Dhul-Qi`dah , and the ten days of Dhul-Hijjah. Almighty Allah
says, (The pilgrimage is (in) the well-known
months) (Al-Baqarah 2: 197)
4- That they are among the well-known days in which
Almighty Allah ordained the worship of remembrance and thankfulness for
His grace of sending cattle, (And
proclaim unto mankind the pilgrimage. They will come unto thee on foot and
on every lean camel; they will come from every deep ravine. That they may
witness things that are of benefit to them, and mention the name of Allah
on appointed days over the beast of cattle that He has bestowed upon them) (Al-Hajj 22: 27-28) and the
majority of interpreters say that the known days are the ten days of
Dhul-Hijjah.
5- That they include the two days of `Arafah (the
ninth of Dhul Hijjah) and An-Nahr (the day of slaughtering sacrificial
animals) that are among the greatest days in Islam. According to this
hadith: "The best days to Allah are the day of An-Nahr then the day
of An-Nafr (the 11th day of Dhul-Hijjah)" (Authenticated
by
Al-Albani)
6- That the five pillars of Islam do not occur
together except in those days. Ibn Hajar says: “Apparently the reason
for the supremacy of the ten days of Dhul-Hijjah is that they gather all
the major forms of worship, i.e. prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and
pilgrimage; this is something that does not occur during any other
days.”
Hasten to Perform Hajj
If the ten days are so highly ranked, then it is a duty
to reap their benefits with diligence and ardent efforts.
When these ten days came, Ibn Abbas used to exert
unprecedented efforts that he was barely able to exert and he used to say:
"Do not blow out the lanterns in the ten days because of liking
worship." .
The best act of worship in these ten days is performing
pilgrimage to the Holy Mosque in Makkah. This is a form of worship from
which people emerge pure, clear and free from sins just like the day they
were born.
It is a most hideous thing for a person who has not
performed Hajj to plan spending these days in anything other than Hajj while
they have the ability to. Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)
said: "Whoever wants to perform Hajj, let them hasten to do so, as
they may fall ill, lose their riding animal and the need may arise" (Authenticated
by Al-Albani) Also, he said (peace and blessings be upon him): "Hasten
to Hajj because none of you knows what may arise," (Authenticated by
Al-Albani)
Sa`id Ibn Al-Masayyib narrated that `Umar said: "I
was on the point of sending men to these countries to see who has wealth and
has not performed Hajj to make them pay the jizyah. They are not Muslims!
They are not Muslims!" According to Al-Bayhaqy there is another
narration where jizyah `Umar said: "Let him die Jewish or Christian
(`Umar said that three times) the man who dies without performing Hajj
despite having the financial ability and the unobstructed way."
Therefore, we should be most careful in avoiding delay
with unacceptable excuses.
Hasten to Good Deeds
Then there are other types of worship that are
preferable to increase in these days like:
1- Remembrance of Almighty Allah as in the hadith
narrated by Imam Ahmad: "There are no days greater to Allah nor more
loved to do good deeds in them than in these ten days, so say the tahlil
and takbir and tahmid a lot in them."
Tahlil is saying la ilaha illa Allah, i.e. None
has the right to be worshiped except Allah; Takbir is saying Allahu
Akbar,
i.e Allah is the greatest; Tahmid is saying al-hamdu lillah, i.e. All praise be to Allah.
It is preferable in these days to do muqayyad or restricted
takbir (After
obligatory Prayers) and mutlaq or unrestricted takbir (performed every where
at any time). So men can say the unrestricted takbir aloud since the first
day of Dhul-Hijjah in the alleys, the streets, and the markets. They can
also make restricted takbir following the Prayers starting from the day of
`Arafah for those who are not performing Hajj. As for those who are
performing Hajj, they say the takbir from the day of Al-Nahr to the end of
At-Tashriq (the three days after the day of An-Nahr) days.
Abu Hurairah and `Abdullah ibn `Umar used to go to the market in the ten
days and do takbir and people would join them, and they would go for no
reason but this.
2- Fasting: Abu Dawud narrated from some of the wives of the
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he used to fast the nine days
of Dhul-Hijjah, the day of `Ashura, three days every month, the first Monday
of the month and on Thursdays. He used to encourage the fast of the day of
`Arafah saying (peace and blessings be upon him): "Fasting the day of
`Arafah I seek from Allah to make it expiate the sins of the year before and
the year after" (Ibn Majah)
3- Night Prayer: This prayer falls within the established acts of
worship in these blessed days. Sa`id Ibn Jubair used to exert utmost efforts
in these days that he could barely keep up.
4- Blood Sacrifice: This refers to the animals that are
slaughtered on the days of nahr to seek closeness to Almighty Allah. It is a
sunnah or a tradition established in every religion. Almighty Allah says: (To
every people did We appoint rites (of sacrifice), that they might celebrate
the name of Allah over the sustenance He gave them from animals (fit for
food),) (Al-Hajj 22:34). It is also a
confirmed sunnah and so it is reprehensible for someone who is financially
able to perform it, to leave it because Almighty Allah linked it to Prayer
in the verse: (Therefore pray to your Lord and make a
sacrifice.) (
Al-Kawthar 108:2). Also, slaughter is better than giving its worth in money
as charity. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sacrificed two
graceful, horned sheep, one on behalf of his household and another for those
who did not sacrifice anything among his nation. Moreover, it is up to
people to sacrifice on behalf of whoever they want; whether alive or dead.
It is a condition that the sacrificed animal be from cattle (camels,
cows, sheep, and goats), to be in the permissible age in Shari`ah (five
years for camels, two years for cows, one year for goats, and six months for
sheep), to be safe from preventing defects (like being one-eyed or lame),
and to be slaughtered after the `Eid prayer. This is according to the
hadith: "Whoever slaughters -the animal- before prayer should
slaughter another in its stead" (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
One sheep is sufficient for a person and his family and whoever that
person wants on condition that the owner is one and the partnership is
rewarded. Partnership in possession does not apply for sheep and there must
be one owner only. However, camels and cows can be divided among up to seven
persons.
Surely, slaughtering the sacrificed animal is better than giving its
worth in money and even more as charity because the slaughter and bloodshed
is intended in itself and is an act of worship associated with Prayer.
The prophetic tradition for those who sacrifice is to divide the
slaughtered animal into three parts: to eat one third, give one third as
charity, and to give one third as gifts.
It is prohibited for those who wish to make a sacrifice to cut any of
their hair, nails, or skin from the beginning of Dhul-Hijjah. The evidence
is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If the
ten days start, and one of you wants to make a sacrifice, they should not
take anything from their hair or skin.” (Ibn Majah). The reason for
this is to resemble those in ihram who are performing Hajj.
The apparent meaning is that prohibition concerns the person who will
sacrifice. In this way, if the head of a family is sacrificing on behalf of
his family, it is only prohibited for him to do any of the above, but the
rest of the family are not prohibited to cut any of their hair or nails
because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made it conditional
for the person who will sacrifice. Moreover, the Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) sacrificed on behalf of his household and it was
never reported that he prevented them from cutting their hair or nails.
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