Blessings of Allah – Dhul Hijjah
Allah has taken oath of ten nights in Surah Al-Fajr. According to the majority of the commentators of the Quran, the nights are those of the (first) ten days of Dhul Hijjah.
The mother of the believers, Hafsah RA reports that Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasallam used to fast the (first) nine days of Dhul Hijjah. (Ahmad, Abu Dawud)
Allah almighty is the most merciful, we humans can never even begin to imagine the vast mercy of Allah swt. He is forever searching for ‘excuses’ to forgive all of His creation. Allah blesses us with Ramadan every year and even this could be regarded as an ‘excuse’ to forgive us. We all make the effort to please Allah in this blessed month. Unfortunately many of us slip back into our old bad habits soon after Ramadan is over, with the mindset that we only need to worship Allah fully only one month a year.
If you think about it, does Allah ever give up on you? No! The most merciful has created another excuse in the form of these 10 blessed days of Zhul Hijjah.
In an authentic Hadith we learn that There are no days in this world during which worship is more beloved to Allah, than the first ten days of Dhul- Hijjah and also fasting on these days merits a lot of reward
SubhanAllah look how simple Allah has made reward for us, just by fasting in one of these 9 days (excluding Eid) we get to attain the reward of fasting for a whole year. Imagine the vast rewards for a person who fasts the whole year for the sake of Allah, yet even better we can achieve such a status in just a day of fasting by the mercy of Allah swt. If we were to fast for all 9 days then we get to attain the reward of fasting for 9 years! Look at how easy our Allah is and what we can attain with very little struggle!
In addition, if we were to perform any form of worship in these 10 days then Allah gives us the reward of Laylatul Qadr as in the last 10 nights of Ramadan. We all desperately search for Laylatul Qadr as it could fall on any of the odd nights, and many of us may even miss out on this blessed night during Ramadan. Allah has given us these 10 blessed nights of Dhul Hijjah where we can definitely attain the reward of Laylatul Qadr if we were to do worship in them.
To take advantage of these days & nights why not read some Quran? Do some extra dhikr, pray Tahajjud? We have all repeatedly ignored Allah yet our Lord keeps on calling us back to Him through these blessed days. It’s not just fasting and worshipping at night which are lofty to Allah during these days, any good that we do no matter how small and insignificant it may seem to us is in fact very beloved to Allah during these 10 days.
So any good we do whether it be just cheering someone up or removing something harmful from the path is magnified in the sight of Allah we should strive to perform as many good deeds as we can during these blessed days and stay away from all sins for the sake of Allah. These days are no ordinary days like the rest of the year, we have an easy opportunity to attain immense rewards from the bounties of Allah.
We as Muslims are all in need of rewards and special days like these, yet so many of us disregard this time so often. Our deeds are all that will matter when we die and are lowered in our graves. Now is the time for you to accumulate those deeds and avoid regret in the grave which is the only guarantee we have in life.
On the 9th of Dhul Hijjah also falls the day of Arafat. We have further chance to gain even more reward on this day too by fasting.
This (fasting) is mustahab (recommended) for those who are not on Hajj. In the case of the one who is on Hajj, it is not Sunnah for him to fast on the Day of Arafah, because the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) did not fast on this day in Arafah. So fasting on this day alone will In’Sha’Allah gain you forgiveness for your minor sins on the previous year and the one upcoming by the mercy of Allah.
How ungrateful are we that we claim to love Allah yet we constantly keep disobeying Him? Yet our Allah will just not give up on us. He has still kept us all alive and is still sending us blessings like these 10 days to forgive us. May Allah swt enable us all to spend these days wisely and attain the vast rewards from the Most Merciful.
