10 Days of Dhul Hijjah

The Blessed Days of Dhul Hijjah

Opening Praise and Testimony

All praise is due to Allah. All praise is due to Allah who has guided us to this way being Islam, and we would not have been able to guide ourselves had not Allah guided us. All praise is due to Allah who has revealed the scripture unto His servant and has made no crookedness therein. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.

The Blessed Days of Dhul Hijjah

Alhamdulillah, Allah has blessed us to be on the verge of the Hajj, actually in the midst of it, but in terms of the culmination of the Hajj. And the culmination of the Hajj occurs during the first days of Dhul Hijjah, and these days are blessed days. The first ten days of Dhul Hijjah, our scholars say, the majority of them anyway, are the most blessed days of the year, being more blessed than the days of Ramadan. But they say the nights of the last ten days of Ramadan are more virtuous than the nights of the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah. So these are blessed days.

The Virtue of These Days in Hadith

And to give us an idea of the magnitude of the blessings to be found during these days, let us consider the words of our Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him. Ibn Abbas said the Messenger of Allah said: "Which of the days of good deeds is better or more beloved to Allah than these days?" meaning the ten days of Dhul Hijjah. They said, "O Messenger of Allah, jihad in the way of Allah?" The Messenger of Allah said: "Not even jihad in the way of Allah, except for a man who goes out with his soul and wealth and then does not return with anything." (Sahih al-Bukhari 969)

So this hadith related by Imam Bukhari relates that the Prophet, as conveyed to us by Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said there are no days where the righteous deeds done during them are more beloved to Allah or more virtuous than these days, referring to the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah. They said, "Not even jihad, O Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Not even jihad, except the jihad of a man who goes forth with his life and his property and then returns with neither."

So the only action that's better than prayer or fasting or remembering Allah or reciting the book of Allah during these days is the righteous deed, including the struggle of a man who goes forth defending the faith with his life and with his wealth, all of his wealth, and then returns with neither. In other words, he loses his life and he loses his property defending the faith. That's the only thing better than the deeds done during these days. So consider

the great, great opportunity that Allah has opened up for us to benefit our souls by having such a tremendous reward for our prayer, our fasting, etc.

The Significance of Forty Days

This hadith, amongst other things, in addition to emphasizing the virtue of these days, and some people say that these ten days are a completion of Allah's great, great blessing to this Ummah in the context of forty. So this is a number that has many secrets. And Musa, Allah writes in the Quran : (وَتَمَّ مِيقَاتُ رَبِّهِ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً - Quran 7:142) that Musa completed the period he promised to his Lord, forty nights.

So he promised to fast thirty days, and then it said that he complained of the foul odor that began to emerge from his mouth, the khaluf which (وَلَخُلُوفُ فَمِ الصَّائِمِ أَطْيَبُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ مِنَ رِيحِ الْمِسْكِ - Sahih al-Bukhari 1904, Sahih Muslim 1151), is sweeter to Allah than the fragrance of musk, which opens another lesson beyond the scope of this particular khutbah.

Things Displeasing to People But Beloved to Allah

But any things that might emanate from us or accrue to us that are displeasing to people, if they emanate from our worship of Allah and our desire to please Allah, these things are beloved and highly esteemed with Allah. So this odor might offend people because of this foulness, but it's sweeter with Allah than the fragrance of musk.

We mentioned previously some people, they pray and they get a mark on their forehead or they get marks on their knees, and people might even, their spouse complains, "Your knees are getting kind of funky," for lack of a better word. Or maybe someone, not a Muslim, "What's that on your head? Is it a sore? Can you take it off with something?" Those things are beloved to Allah, even if people dislike them, because they are something that accrues to the human being as a result, as a consequence of his or her effort to please their Lord.

So in any case, it's said that Musa complained about the khaluf, and so he was given another ten days, and then he completed those days, and the period was forty days: (وَتَمَّ مِيقَاتُ رَبِّهِ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً - Quran 7:142). And Isa, he fasted forty days. And this Ummah, we have thirty days of Ramadan, and then we have the ten days of Dhul Hijjah, and the combination of forty days that have special importance, special distinction for us. So we should not neglect these days, in addition to that, just the reward that's mentioned for these days.

The Concept of Struggle in Islam

But the hadith also emphasizes to us the magnitude, the gravity, and the essential nature, in terms of what I will mention being essential to our religion, and that's the concept of struggle, the concept of jihad, that this religion involves struggle. So the example that's used, or the standard rather that's set for the virtue of these days is the struggle : (إِلَّا جِهَادُ الرَّجُلِ خَرَجَ بِنَفْسِهِ وَمَالِهِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَرْجِعْ بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ ذَلِكَ - Sahih al-Bukhari 1969), a man who goes forth and struggles defending the faith.

So struggle is a very important part of our defending the faith. In our context, our defense of the faith is not any sort of armed struggle. Our defending the faith is intellectually, and this is what Allah has equipped us to do. Our defending the faith is representing it in the best of manners.

Representing Islam Through Our Character

We have an opportunity to represent the faith to people who might otherwise be turned away from it, or who might look upon it negatively, but the example of an upright human being and the impact that an upright, righteous human being can have on the hearts of others. And all of us are interacting with tens, if not hundreds, and in some instances thousands of people on a daily basis. We have an opportunity through the strength of our example, through the strength of our representing the religion, through the strength of our character to repulse the lies, the distortions, and slanders that are levied against the religion.

And we should never fail to undertake or to stand up and undertake that responsibility. We shouldn't flee away from it. We shouldn't make excuses. We shouldn't leave it up to the next brother or to the next sister to represent the religion. All of us have our opportunity to do that, and that's part of our struggle. If we do that consciously and believing that through my upright representation of the religion, I can affect the hearts of people, and I can turn people who might have been turned away from the religion, or who might develop a dislike for the religion, I can make it attractive to them, and I can make it something fair seeming and something dignified in their eyes.

The Struggle Against the Nafs

We have the struggle against ourselves and that lower aspect of ourselves, which is sometimes described as the ego in English terminology. Many, many forces in our society are feeding that and strengthening that, strengthening that ego which is predisposed towards those things which are vile, because that level of the nafs, in our Arabic terminology, that nafs that hasn't been refined, that hasn't been disciplined, that hasn't been broken, it inclines towards vile things because its inclinations are fueled by the carnal appetite.

And the nafs, that soul in the stage where it's been refined and when it's been disciplined and when it's been broken of its negative inclinations, it inclines towards those things that emanate from the spirit, from the ruh, and this is what makes us human.

Forces That Appeal to Our Lower Nature

Many of the forces in our world, in our environment, our immediate environment, are appealing to that animal, that carnal nature of our souls, and want us to remain trapped at the level of the beast, to be moved by our appetites for food or for sexual enjoyment or for creature comforts, generally speaking. But Allah wants us to aspire to something higher. Allah wants us to manifest something higher. He doesn't want us to remain trapped at the level of the nafs al-ammara bi al-su'. He wants us to rise to the level of the nafs al-mutma'inna, the nafs al-radiya, the nafs al-mardiya. This is what Allah wants for us, but it only happens through a struggle, and that struggle is difficult.

Jihad al-Nafs: The Struggle of the Soul

And this is why ulema, our scholars, refer to it as jihad al-nafs, like an actual struggle with your soul. Because the person physically struggling might be out in a harsh environment, might be in a frontier in the old days with very little food, constant danger, very little water, physically wounded and no opportunity for treatment, but he

forges on, he struggles on, but it's difficult. It is not easy to be in a situation where your life is constantly in danger. That difficulty is made easy when a person is spiritually balanced, but it has its difficulties.

The disciplining, the training, the elevation, the refining of the soul is difficult. And in our environment it's made all the more difficult because in addition to the inherent difficulties, those difficulties are complicated and accentuated by the environment we find ourselves in, where there's so much, usually for the sake of money, for the sake of profit, that is urging us to pursue our carnal appetites. That's telling us messages such as, "Aren't you hungry for Burger King now?" or an equivalent message. That's telling us to fornicate or find some other release for our sexual drives, and then distorting those drives to unnatural extents, all through our environment, overtly and subliminally.

How Shaitan Discourages Us From Struggling

So it is difficult. It's a struggle. But the difficulty, and this is something we lose sight of, rather, one of the things shaitan uses to discourage us from engaging in this struggle is by telling us or reminding us how difficult it is, and then using not only reminders of the difficulty of it. "You know, you're gonna get up at 4 in the morning to pray? Your prayer doesn't even come in now till 6 o'clock. You can get up at 6:40 and still make it with plenty of time. Why are you gonna get up out of the bed? Why are you gonna fast? It's not Ramadan. You know, why are you fasting on Mondays and Thursdays? You don't have to do that. Ramadan's not here. You're gonna pass up opportunities to eat." And we're being, shaitan plays with us.

But one of the other ways he plays with us, in addition to trying to deceive us and to think it's overwhelmingly difficult, is by making us feel that, "Oh, this will make us conceited. You know, you think you're so righteous? You're trying to be one of those goody-goody Muslims? You're better than the other brothers and sisters? You know, you're doing all this, you think you're all that?" And the person's like, "Yeah, I'm just humble. I'm not all that." And shaitan says, "Got him, got her."

The Truth About Our Struggle

Oh, but that deception lies in the fact that, number one, we take our eyes off the prize. We're not doing it for us. We're not doing it to uplift ourselves. We're not doing it for our self-aggrandizement. We're not doing it to be seen of the people. We're doing it to get closer to Allah. We're doing it to please Allah. We're doing it so our hearts will be more receptive to the guidance that Allah extends to us, so that our hearts will be more receptive to the message of the Quran, number one. So we're doing it for Allah. We're not doing it for the people.

And number two, we lose sight of the fact that that hardship is what brings ease, as in everything in our life. So this is not, when we talk about refining the soul, when we talk about elevating ourselves to a higher level of religious practice, we're not talking about Mission Impossible. We're not talking about some unattainable feat. We're just talking about something that every aspect of our life demonstrates.

Examples From Daily Life

When we first start driving, we're not driving with one wheel, one hand on the wheel, leaning to the side, sunroof open. We're driving with two hands, tense. But as time goes on, that difficulty becomes easy, and before

you know it, it's one hand, leaning to the side. Some of the brothers and sisters have mastered that, but it didn't start like that.

We start with mathematics. We didn't wake up one day and we're working complicated formulas. We had to drill the time tables and the addition tables and the division tables into our head. We had to struggle with the basics, and then as time went on, it became easier.

Those who are proficient in the recitation of Quran, they didn't start off as little Husary or a Minshawi junior. They started off struggling like everyone else with Alif, Ba, Ta, and they worked and they worked and they worked, and as they worked, it became easier, and they came to enjoy the fruits of their struggle.

Don't Be Deceived About the Struggle

And so we should not be deceived as we begin to struggle in our deen into thinking that this is just a dead-end street, it's a struggle that leads nowhere. No, it's a struggle that has an end, and that end is the best of ends. That end is to Allah. So this is what we're struggling for.

And when we begin to approach the end, the delights, the ease in worship, the delights and the secrets that Allah opens before us makes us forget the struggle itself. Just as the person proficient in Quran has forgotten the days of Alif, Ba, Ta, the person driving down the highway with one hand on the wheel, leaning to the side, has forgotten the days when they were a menace, running over things, fire hydrants, and driving people, forcing people to jump onto the sidewalk. They forgot that.

The person who's now a PhD in mathematics has forgotten the days of the time tables and multiplication tables and the difficult beginning. But that difficulty at the beginning was an indication of what lay at the end of their path, as one of our great sages mentioned : مِنْ أَشْرَقَتْ بِدَايَتُهُ أَشْرَقَتْ نِهَايَتُهُ - the one who has an enlightened beginning, an illuminated beginning, will have an illuminated end. The illumination at the beginning is through our struggle, sacrifice, effort, and exertion. The illumination at the end are the divine secrets that Allah opens before us.

Allah's Call to Struggle

So don't listen to shaitan, brothers and sisters. Don't let shaitan discourage you from struggling in your religion. Listen to Allah: (وَجَاهِدُوا فِي اللَّهِ حَقَّ جِهَادِهِ هُوَ اجْتَبَاكُمْ وَمَا جَعَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ - Quran 22:78) - Struggle in the way of Allah as should rightfully be the case. حَقَّ جِهَادِهِ - we can never fulfill the right, the thanks for our vision, for our hearing, for our taste, for our basic senses, one of them. How much would we have to convey for one of them? What about all of them? We will never... so we just do our best.

And then what does He say? (هُوَ اجْتَبَاكُمْ - Quran (22:78) - He has chosen you. Allah has chosen us for this struggle, and Allah does nothing in vain. So we've been honored from amongst humanity to be blessed with the opportunity to even engage in this struggle, because it is this blessing of being able to undertake this struggle as those who say لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ as those who can say that, we've been blessed with the opportunity to truly know our Lord, we've been blessed with the opportunity to ascend to Jannah, to Paradise, we've been blessed with the opportunity of the beatific vision of the Divine in Paradise. These are all great, great blessings that Allah has opened before us through the gateway of لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ

So what stops us from struggling? Those who struggle for our sake, we guide them in our paths. So the struggle opens up the pathways of guidance before us. Don't flee from the struggle, brothers and sisters. Embrace it, and don't believe, don't get caught up into believing it's gonna always be like this and it's hard, it's difficult. Allah tells us and emphasizes what we've been saying: (فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا - Quran (94:5-6) - It is hardship, surely it is hardship that brings ease. Surely it is hardship that brings ease.

Struggle With Love and Mercy

So struggle, brothers and sisters, but as we struggle, we struggle with love. We struggle with magnanimity in our hearts. We struggle with mercy. We don't see ourselves as better. We don't see ourselves as stronger. We don't see ourselves as somehow having distanced ourselves at an insurmountable distance from our brothers and sisters who might not have entered in a focused way upon the struggle of the religion as any of us might have, or some of us might have, or a few of us might have. We look upon them with love, and we understand that what we might be able to bear after being involved with religion for a period of time, someone else, due to their circumstances, might not be able to bear. So we're merciful. We have love for each other, and our love for each other makes us compassionate to each other, makes us concerned about each other, makes us very careful not to transgress against the feelings of the other. This is our way.

Mutual Love: A Key to Paradise

One of the keys to Jannah, to Paradise, is mutual love. (لَا تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ حَتَّىٰ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَا تُؤْمِنُوا حَتَّىٰ تَحَابُّوا - Sahih Muslim 54) - You won't enter Paradise until you truly believe, and you will not truly believe until you love one another. This is one of the keys to Paradise, is the mutual love.

And so we understand that this brother or this sister might still be afflicted with the vice that I let go years ago, or maybe I let go of recently, but that's alright. Inshallah, if we can nurture them and support them and encourage them, they will overcome that vice. And we also understand that if we impose on them the standard that we have imposed upon ourselves, maybe that will crush them, maybe that will turn them away from the religion altogether, maybe that will discourage them, as one of our great sages said: الْكِبَارُ سَمًّا لِلصِّغَارِ - that food for the fully grown adult might be poison for the baby. Food for the fully grown adult might be poison for the baby.

Meeting People Where They Are

And so some of our brothers and sisters are babies in the religion, even if their age might be advanced. So the food of the fully adult Muslim, it might be niqab, that might be poison for that baby Muslim who's still wrestling, should they go to work with some kind of headscarf or bandana or beanie on? The food for the fully grown adult Muslim, which might be no gold, no non-halal meat, for that baby Muslim who's still proud that he's no longer eating bacon, he said, "No, it's not just bacon, brother. You can't eat the beef either. It's not halal. And the gold has to go." And it's gold-plated, so the person doesn't even know the ruling concerning something plated with gold. "Yeah, the watch has to go too, brother." That might be poison for that person and push them away. "I thought you just couldn't eat pork."

So we have to have love. We have to look upon the circumstances of our brothers and sisters with the eye of compassion and understand the best advice we can give, the best advice we can give, is our example.

Sometimes the words will repulse people, but a strong example will allow them to grow at their own pace. Say, "You know, one day I'm gonna be like that brother. One day I'm gonna be like that sister. One day I'm gonna dress like that. One day I'm going to adhere to those dietary restrictions the way that brother or sister does." Have a strong example. Have a strong state.

The Power of One Person With a Strong State

And we'll conclude with this point. We mentioned it before, but one of our teachers would mention very frequently as a reminder to us, he would say: رَجُلٌ ذُو حَالٍ يُؤَثِّرُ عَلَى الْأَلْفِ وَأَلْفُ رَجُلٍ بِلَا حَالٍ لَا يُؤَثِّرُونَ عَلَى وَاحِدٍ - that a single individual with a refined state can affect a thousand people, but a thousand people with no refinement to their state can't affect a single person.

So let each and every one of us strive in our various ways to be that one person who's going to build himself up or build herself up, or strengthen himself or strengthen herself to affect that thousand people. And let us try to avoid being one of those thousands who can't affect anyone.

صلوا عليه وسلموا تسليما

Practical Actions During These Blessed Days

Brothers and sisters, let us try to take advantage of these blessed days of Dhul Hijjah. If we can, if Allah makes it easy for us, let us try to fast from these days what Allah makes easy. The first nine, the tenth is Eid and it's forbidden to fast. Let us try especially on the ninth of Dhul Hijjah, and we'll talk about that next time inshallah. Let us try to fast that day especially because of the special virtue involved in fasting that day.

Let us try to turn to our Qurans. So maybe after Ramadan we put the Quran back on the shelf. Take it down during these days and then keep it down. The good habits of Ramadan, we should try to bring forward throughout the year, and if we've become lax, let us try to revive them during these days, for they're special days and blessed days and days such as that. They say the sharaf al-zaman, because of the nobility of that time, and that nobility has been conferred by Allah.

May Allah make it easy for us to engage in righteous deeds, and inshallah that will be a springboard that pushes us forward throughout the year.

Closing Supplications

May Allah bless us. May Allah bless this Ummah. May Allah bless those who are struggling in various places and challenged in various ways, whose security has been undermined, who have a very difficult time securing food or securing clean drinking water. May Allah bless us to give shukr for these blessings that we enjoy. We enjoy the blessing of security. We enjoy the blessing of abundant food. We enjoy the blessing of clean water. So

let us enjoy those blessings and give thanks for those blessings, and the greatest thanks we can give is to work to extend those blessings to others who haven't been blessed to the degree that we have been blessed.

So may we, in our various capacities, work to do that, to extend those blessings and to perpetuate those blessings. May Allah bless us. May Allah bless those who are struggling in various places and challenged in various ways, whose security has been undermined. May Allah bless us to give shukr for those blessings that we enjoy. We enjoy the blessing of security. May Allah bless those blessings, and the greatest thanks we can give, may Allah bless us.

May Allah bless us against the enemies of Islam. You are our Master, so help us against the disbelieving people.