Zaynab Ansari – Muslim Community of Knoxville Dhull Hjjah Announcement

Assalamu

alaikum. I'm Zaynab, and I'm honored to share

this particular message

on the eve of the Hejjah,

the sacred month of observing the Hej pilgrimage.

Dear brothers and sisters,

we are at the eve of a beautiful

10, 10 nights and 10 days. These are

the 10 days that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala

had sworn

ever. And

the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam stressed that also

and emphasized that in Sahib Bukhari saying that

there is no deeds

that are highly

esteemed in the sight of Allah Subhanahu Wa

Ta'ala

better than the deeds and the good deeds

that are done in this 10 days. And

they asked the prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,

is it even jihad or apostle Fala Jihad

is the pinnacle of the deen. He said

even jihad,

except a person who went to jihad by

himself and his money and his wealth and

he and he brought and he did not

come with any of that. This is a

wonderful time that if families, for example,

are experiencing any kinds of sort of difficulties

to bring people together around the dinner table

to maybe have sort of a hej viewing,

really try to get into the spirit of

the pilgrimage.

And the days of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala

are all the same, of course. Allah Subhanahu

Wa Ta'ala said in the Quran, remind

them of the days of Allah. Of course,

the days of Allah are all the same.

But the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam explained this

ayah to us in Sahmuslim, he said, the

days of Allah actually are the days

on which he bestowed his mercy and

the days in which his wrath had been

revealed.

So these are the days in which the

mercy of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has

been bestowed left and right and Allah Subhanahu

Wa Ta'ala is showering the humanity with His

blessing in these days.

The right mindset of the believer is to

benefit from it. The Prophet Sallallahu Wa Salam

showed us what to do, he told us

to fast this 10 days. He told us

also to make a lot of dhikr, Tasbeehantahileel

and tatkirseela Allah SubhanAllah hamdullah.

Stand up for qiyamalayl

time to time, stand up for qiyamalayl, if

you can make it for the 10 days,

the whole 10 days every single day, if

you're a khat before fashr,

or even if you're a khat more extra

than than what you do normally after. We'll

count

Now it's easy sometimes for those of us

who did not have the chance to to

go this year to feel a little bit

sad, a little bit isolated because we don't

have the chance to go on Hajj and

perform these particular rituals. However,

there are a lot of things that we

can do from home. And first of all,

I would say in order to kind of

transcend

that isolation,

let's make Hajj about family and community.

Get out your own photos if you have

them and talk the children through them, share

those memories with them. So make it a

time for family and community. And especially communities,

I really believe

every Muslim community in the United States should

have some way of commemorating

the hej season. Whether it's children having their

own hej at school, for example, or community

wide programming.

So, again, try to transcend that isolation that

can sometimes happen when we're not really able

to sort of physically or directly partake

in the activities surrounding Hajj.

We have the intention to go,

our circumstances are are are not are not

helping. What we should do to emulate the

Hijaz in their spiritual journey, to be with

them spiritually is to fast.

To fast,

to make dhikr,

to make du'a for them so Allah Subhanahu

Wa Ta'ala will accept their Hajj. And especially

especially

at the day of Arafah should not be

missed at all. Fast especially the Yom Ale

Arafah because as the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa

sallam said in an authentic hadith reported in

the Muslim of Imam Ahmed that fasting on

Yom Ale Arafah

not only does it erase past sins but

also it expiates those sins in years to

come. So my brothers and my sisters, I

urge you and I urge myself

to give the best of you in this

10 days. The best of you in this

10 days. So please reflect deeply on on

the just the, subhanAllah, the sheer miracle that

Hajj is today, bringing all these people together

for the the sake of love of Allah

Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and commemorating the sacrifices of

the the prophets and messengers, peace be upon

them. We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to

help us. We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala

to sustain us spiritually

and otherwise. We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala

to be with us and to strengthen our

will and our resolutions so we can

be the observant

of the, of how

sacred

these days are.