Tahir Anwar – Honoring the Days of God The Virtuous Nights of Dhul Hijjah
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I begin in the name of Allah, most
gracious, most merciful. I bear witness that there's
none worthy of worship except the one Allah
and that his beloved Nabi and prophet Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wasallam is his last and final
messenger.
As we embark
on these
really powerful, Mubarak,
blessed days and nights of the month of
Dhul Hijjah,
in which we commemorate
the teachings and the practices
of the prophets Isma Ibrahim and Isma'il alayhim
as salatu wassalam
and Hajar radiAllahu anha
as taught to us by our beloved prophet
Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wasallam. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions
in the Quran, a'udubillahi minashaitanirajeembismillahirrahmanirrahim
Allah
takes an oath and says,
by the dawn
and the 10 nights.
According to the majority of the commentators
of the Quran,
these 10 nights refer
to the 10 nights the first 10 nights
of the month of Dhul Hijjah. Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala reminds us in the Quran, and
he says,
He says, announce to the people the obligation
of Hajj so that they would come to
you on foot
on every lean camel,
traveling through every distant, hilly pathway.
This also, as we all know, happens to
be the season of Hajj.
Hundreds of thousands and millions of people from
around the world
will be going
to Makkah, will be performing their Hajj,
Mina Arafat, Muzdalifa,
back to Mina, visiting the beloved sallallahu alaihi
wasallam
in the city of Madinah,
and will be fulfilling this once in a
lifetime
obligation.
For many, their first time there, and for
so many, maybe even their last time there.
So a moment of excitement,
a moment of worship,
a moment of servitude,
a moment of gratitude,
a moment of of satisfaction
where they feel that they've been honored to
having fulfilled this obligation from Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
But naturally, that's not the case with everyone.
The vast majority of the of the ummah,
the vast majority of the community,
they're going to be at home, and we're
going to be spending
beginning this month, going through the course of
this month,
fulfilling all these other acts of worship of
Allah
Which reminds me of a hadith of the
prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam that Abdullah ibn
Abbas radiallahu anhu narrates,
where he says the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
says, mamin ayyamin alamalosali
kufiha ahabbuilalahi
minhadihil
ayyam
yani ayyamal a'ashr. The prophet, peace be upon
him, says, there's no virtue more to the
liking of Allah in any day
other than these days.
Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, likes the ibadah
and worship, the ibadah and worship. The servitude
of these days,
the first 10 days and nights of the
month of Dhul Hijjah, are more beloved to
Allah
than any other days.
So while as Muslims,
we think generally of the month of Ramadan,
of a time of worship and Ibadah and
servitude and of generosity and charity,
these 10 days and nights are also included
to be a part of that. So as
the month of Dhul Hijjah begins,
right, we should be on high alert. We
should be in that same and similar mode
as we usually are at the beginning of
the month of Ramadan
because these are extremely
beloved nights.
The Sahaba the hadith continues very briefly. The
Sahaba asked and said, oh messenger of Allah,
not even struggle in the path of Allah,
because struggling in the path of Allah
is is extremely rewarding, has a great reward,
great merit attached to it. And the prophet
responded and said, walaljihadu
fisabilah.
Not even struggle
in the path of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
except for an individual
who may leave with his or her wealth
and life and not be able to return
with either.
Which reminds me of another hadith of the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam Abu Huraira radiAllahu anhu
narrates where the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam says
something similar.
The Prophet alayhi salatu wa salam says, There's
no days more beloved to Allah
that he be worshiped
in them than the 10 days of the
month of Dhul Hijjah.
Here's the part that we wanna remind ourselves.
He says, alayhi salatu wa salam, peace and
blessings of God be upon him, Fasting
every day of them
is the equivalent of fasting for an entire
year,
and standing
every night of them in prayer
is the equivalent
of standing the night of Qadr.
Like I said earlier, generally,
we only think of these merits attached to
the fasting and the prayer of the month
of Ramadan.
And the days and nights of Dhul Hijjah,
while we know they're extremely meritorious,
we sometimes do not utilize them the way
they should. And so that's something to keep
in mind. And so moving on to fasting,
if we may, there's 3 ahadith of the
prophet, peace be upon him,
that I want to share. One of them
says that the prophet alayhi salatu wasallam,
yasumuthis
adhil hija.
The prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam used to fast
the first 9 days of the month of
Dhul hija. So the sunnah would be to
fast all 9 days.
And then in another narration, it's been mentioned,
the prophet alayhi salam says, suya mu yomi
arafa. This is a really famous hadith.
For anyone who fasts
on the day of Arafah,
9th of Dhul Hijjah. The 9th of Dhul
Hijjah, wherever we may be in any part
of the world, the prophet, alayhis salam, says,
I anticipate that Allah, God, would forgive
the year after it and the year before
it. So these are extremely
meritorious.
So wherever we may be, whichever state, country
we may be in,
know when the month of Dhul Hijjah begins,
begin fasting if we can, not a requirement,
a sunnah of the beloved, alayhis salatu wa
salam. But as the 9th of Dhul Hijjah
comes, the day of Arafah, the day, the
9th of Dhul Hijjah, wherever you may be,
the day before Eid,
fast on that day. And Insha'Allah, Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala would give us this extremely great
reward for individuals
who may not be able to fast, for
whatever reason,
at least intend in your hearts that if
I was able to, I would have fasted,
and inshallah, our reward would be with Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. Though I I do wanna
share one thing, there's another hadith Abu Hurayrah
radiAllahu anhu narrates that the prophet alayhis salam
said,
That for those individuals
who happen to be in Arafa
at Hajj, the prophet prohibited them,
from fasting.
Also, a few other things that we can
do during
this time, it's a time of prayer
and dua. The prophet, alayhis salatu wa salam,
says,
The best dua is the dua of the
day of Arafa. Naturally, we know that for
those individuals who happen to be in Hajj
on the day of Arafah, we're fulfilling one
of the obligations of Hajj. And so it
is a day of prayer and supplication,
but, insha'allah, it also happens to be a
day of prayer and supplication
for everyone else wherever we may be. And
the prophet, peace be upon him, continues. He
says the best
of what I have said and the prophets
before me have said on this day is.
So I'm just gonna take a moment to
remind myself
and everyone else to make it a point
that as we approach the month of Dhul
Hijjah,
we make sure that we value it. As
we approach the day of Arafah, make sure
that we value it the way it's supposed
to be done so. Go out of our
way and pray a little. Think of all
the beautiful lessons that we learn from the
story of Ibrahim and Ismail and Hajar radiAllahu
anhu.
The sacrifices
that they made. Right? The sacrifice that each
of them made, and that Allah, subhanahu wa
ta'ala, only asks us to make some small
sacrifices in our lives. And as a result
of those sacrifices,
God almighty, Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, blessed them
with so many blessings.
And for anyone that may be going through
any difficulty and any sacrifice that we happen
to be making for the sake of Allah,
know that there is a reward for it,
and there are divine openings. There's another verse
in the Quran where Allah
says,
And remember Allah during specified days.
And, generally, we understand from that
are the takbiraat
of tashriq when we say, Allahu Akbar, Allahu
Akbar, la ilaha illallah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar,
Wallilaha ill hamd. And in one narration,
the opening takbiraat,
three times that we say these takbiraat
after our followed prayers. These are known as
taghbiraat of tashriq. In the Shafi'i and the
Hambali madhab, their sunnah, in the Hanafi madhab,
it's wajib, and in the Maliki madhab, it's
mustahab.
As far as according to Imam Abu Hanifa
and imam Ahmad ibn Nuhambal,
it's to be done aft after 23 prayers
from the fajr of 9th until the 'athr
of 13th. So we actually begin the day
before Eid, and we say the takbiraat,
generally,
only to be said once.
Many a times when we happen to be
in a masjid or in a public place
and people recite the takbiraat,
they do it 3 times.
Know that as long as it's done once,
that wujud,
that obligation will have been fulfilled.
According to Imam Malik, it's only 20 prayers
from the duhr
of the day of Eid until the fajr
of 13th,
and Imam Shafi'i rahmatullahi
a'layhi has distributed it. He said, there's a
specific number for the Hajis and the non
Hajis.
As far as the non Hajis,
they will do it for 24
prayers. And instead of instead of ending on
the asr of 13th, ending after Maghrib on
13th,
and for the Hajis,
from the of the day of Eid,
for 3 days, 15 prayers.
Lastly,
there's another act of immense act of worship
that we do,
during these days around
is our sacrifices.
Aisha radiAllahu
Anha narrates that the prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
said that a human does no action from
the actions of the day of nahar, from
the day of Eid,
more beloved to Allah
than the animal sacrifice.
That we will receive
a full recompense
for this sacrifice
on the day of judgment.
And so the Nabi, alayhis salatu wassalam, in
another place says that whosoever has the financial
ability
to make a sacrifice and does not perform
that sacrifice
should not come to prayer. Now he doesn't
literally mean don't come to prayer. The prophet,
peace be upon him, sallallahu alaihi wasallam, is
highly
encouraging us to make that sacrifice.
Either we fulfill that sacrifice
by having it done on our behalf in
parts of the world
where people happen to be in greater need,
or, for example, for those of us that
are living here, we may want to do
a portion of the sacrifice
ourselves so that we can experience it, so
that our children can experience it, and we
can celebrate that immense important element,
of of Eid al Adha, you know, by
ourselves
and with our families.
I also wanna share one thing when we
talk about sacrifice,
is that we can do it on behalf
of ourselves,
but we can also do it on behalf
of our loved ones who may not be
with us. We can also do it on
behalf of the prophet, peace be upon him,
salallahu alayhi wasallam.
Ali radiAllahu anhu narrates
that I I there's a narration that says
Ali radiAllahu anhu would slaughter 2 sheep, one
for the prophet, alayhis salam, and one for
himself.
He was asked about this. He said, why
do you do one for the prophet? And
he responded
and said, amaranibi.
The prophet commanded me to do this.
The prophet, peace be upon him, commanded me
to do this.
I will never ever leave this practice.
And we've seen our pious predecessors,
over the generations
that when they would do their sacrifice, if
they had the ability, they would do one
on behalf of the prophet, peace be upon
him, sallallahu alaihi wasallam as well. So in
closing, brothers and sisters,
it's a beautiful
time of year that we're about to embark
on,
and it is a time of ibadah, worship,
as I mentioned earlier, generosity, kindness,
whatever, all those qualities
that make us a better person,
all those qualities that we bring into ourselves,
especially in the month of Ramadan,
and endeavor to maintain and continue them after
the month of Ramadan,
we bring those into ourselves during the month
of Dhul Hijjah as well. And so with
that said, we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
to make these days and nights blessed and
beautiful for all of us, our families, those
around us, and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
bless every single one of us with a
Mubarak Eid ul Adha. For those that happen
to be at Hajj, we ask Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. May Allah grant them all a
Hajj and Mabruur, and we ask Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala to take us to the sacred
lands again and again, and allow us to
be amongst those believers who submit to him,
who are pleased with their Lord, and their
Lord becomes pleased with them.