Mufti Menk – Seasons of Goodness – Best 10 Days – Dhul Hijjah

In the name of Allah, the most gracious,

the most merciful.

May the peace and blessings of the Almighty

be upon every one of us. We also

commence sending blessings and salutations upon Muhammad Sallallahu

Alaihi Wasallam,

his household, his companions, and may Allah bless

every single one of us. My brothers, my

sisters,

you and I know we follow the lunar

calendar.

This lunar calendar,

we look out for the moon,

or should I say the crescent,

the new moon

and the month commences and ends

based on the sightings

of the moon.

Okay?

Now, SubhanAllah,

we have 12 months in the

calendar

in the year.

Where did we get that from?

Well, we got it from Allah Almighty.

He tells us

Allah says,

when Allah created the heavens or should I

say the skies and the earth, he decided

that in the year there will be 12

months

and from among those 12 months, there will

be 4 months that are haram.

What is the meaning of 4 months being

haram?

Well, Allah says

there will be a year, in the year

there will be 12 months

and from those months there will be 4

which are considered prohibited months.

Why does he say haram? Haram to do

what? Haram

to go to war,

even if it's a legitimate war.

Haram

to commence hostilities.

Haram to do anything

that

is hurtful, harmful.

But you need to realize,

one might argue that while a lot of

these things are haram anyway through the year,

Correct.

A lot of them are haram through the

year, but

it becomes

more

important

to become conscious of the prohibition

of these things, especially during the prohibited months

or al ashhurulshoom

the haram months.

So sometimes people go to war for a

legitimate reason.

Allah says not in these months.

However, if someone were to attack you during

these months, you have a right to defend

yourself

even in these months.

And the same would apply if there is

harm that is coming to you during the

month, you can protect yourself or defend yourself.

No problem. But don't commence.

That's called the haram months.

So I hope we've understood it.

Now

from among these months, Allah says 4 are

different. What does this show you? Not all

the months are the same.

You

know, Ramadan

is a month that is the best month

of the Islamic

year

when it comes to

reward and virtue and so on, mashallah, it's

the best month as a month

from among the 12 months, but

there are different seasons. For example, I've given

you the haram months. I've told you about

Ramadan being this or the most sacred month.

Then I wanna tell you about the months

of Hajj.

The months of Hajj are actually 3 months.

The first being immediately after Ramadan. You just

fasted that whole season.

Allah gave you a day of Eid and

he wants you to prepare for another climax

of worship

and that will happen in Dhul Hijjah, which

is the last month of the year. But

the run up to it starts immediately after

Ramadan

because your intention for the Hajj and the

pilgrimage should already be made. In most cases,

it's not necessary to have been made, but

in most cases. And then the journey commences

in the next month, which is in

most cases,

in some cases, perhaps earlier, perhaps a little

bit later in Dhul Hijjah, which is the

last month. So

between those 3 months, the Hajj will be

for, you know, you commence with the preparation,

the intention, the preparation, the journeying and so

on. And then the climax,

the climax happens in Dhul Hijjah

and then

Allah gives you another Eid immediately after that

season of worship, just like he gave you

an Eid at the beginning,

where Ramadan took place and immediately after Ramadan,

just at the beginning of the month of

Hajj, you started off Shawwal

with a day of Eid,

the first of Shawwal.

So this is Allah and it's a gift

from Allah. Not all the days are the

same. Not all the months are the same.

Allah has

the haram months and the months of Hajj

and the most blessed month. Your acts of

worship will be considered differently in these months.

Insha'Allah,

I wish to talk about

the acts of worship and the virtues of

some of these months. The differences between the

days and the months. May Allah subhanahu wa

ta'ala grant us goodness and may Allah open

our doors. We are blessed to be within

these

beautiful days and we ask Allah to grant

us the ability to do the most

so that we can please him.