Ten days of glory
ZIL HAJJ
If you are not amongst those, who by Allah’s grace have been able to attend Hajj pilgrimage this year, worry not, the first ten days of Zil- Hajj offer a great opportunity to bag the blessings, writes Fiaz Fazili.
Nearly three million pilgrims from around the world are expected to perform Hajj this year. With arrangements to ensure pilgrims’ safety, buildings to accommodate more worshippers, frequent traffic checks, the Saudi Government has implemented a number of new projects to help pilgrims. The General Directorate of Health Affairs has completed preparations to serve Hajj pilgrims in Makkah, the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah, and Madinah Munawarah. MOH staff are fully geared to tackle any swine flu threat, and health related problems. Meanwhile Saudi authorities are also carrying out a multi-billion project to link the holy sites by monorail, a single rail serving as the track for a wheeled or levitating vehicle." and will be ready for use to 35 percent of its capacity during the Hajj season of 1431 HA, (2010).”
Praise be to Allah Who has created time and has made some times better than others, some months and days and nights better than others, when rewards are multiplied many times, as a mercy towards His slaves. This encourages believers to do more righteous deeds and makes them more eager to worship Him, so that the Muslim renews his efforts to gain a greater share of reward, prepare himself for the Day of Judgment. Ibn ‘Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him ) reported that the Prophet (PBUH ) said: “There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten days.” (Bukhari) These ten days include Yawm ‘Arafah (the Day of ‘Arafah), on which Allah perfected His Religion, These days also include Yawm al-Nahr (the Day of Sacrifice), the greatest day of the entire year and the greatest day of Hajj, which combines acts of worship in a way unlike any other day. Indeed one of the best deeds that one can do during these ten days is to perform Hajj ; For Hajj pilgrims the actual Hajj rites take place during the 8th to 12th days of this month. Whoever is not able to go to Hajj, this is a special time (desirable /mustahabb ) to remember Allah and spend extra time in devotion and other good deeds like. Fasting:It is encouraged that non pilgrims fasts all these nine days or part of it especially on the ninth of Zil-hajj for the non pilgrims.The Prophet (pbuh) used to fast on the ninth of Zil-hajj and said; “This fast is an atonement of the sins of the past and the coming year.” (Muslim). Ironically, today we continue to witness unacceptable differences in the start of the Islamic months from one country to another, sometimes within the same country too, with newspapers carrying different Islamic calendar dates on a given day, even for important events like the fasting on nine Zil-hajj which corresponds to the stay of pilgrims in Arafat ; and the day after is to be celebrated as Edd.
Those who don’t follow Saudi calendar;How can one keep fast of the 9th zil- Hajj when pilgrims have already moved out of Arafat and the day itself may be EDD;?I expect local Ullemma,s to give their opinion on this very important subject,what to follow for the fast of 9th Zil-Hajj(The day of Waqoof /Stay in Arafat ).The other deeds of great virtue are ;Remembering Allah by reciting lot of : Tasbeeh, Tahmeed and Takbeer .‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him ) reported that the Prophet (Pbuh)commanded us to recite a lot of Tasbeeh (“Subhan-Allah”), Tahmeed (“Al-hamdu Lillah”) and Takbeer (“Allahu akbar”) during this time.(Ahmad): Ishaq narrated from the scholars among the immediate successors of the companions of the prophet (the Tabi,een), that they used to recite repeatedly during these days:” “Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, la ilaha ill-Allah; wa Allahu akbar wa Lillahi’l-hamd (Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great, there is no god but Allah; Allah is Most Great and to Allah be praise).
Increasing all kinds of actions that constitute good deeds. Doing good actions, these are loved by Allah and will bring a great reward from Him, by worshipping Allah, reading Qur’an, remembering Allah, offering supererogatory prayers (Nawafal), making supplication, giving charity, upholding the ties of kinship, enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil, and other acts of worship. We should ensure that we do not miss any of these acts. A minor act of worship performed during this period is more valued and thus more rewarded than acts which carry more value and reward at other normal period.
Offering Sacrifice. One of the good deeds that will bring a person closer to Allah during these ten days is offering a sacrifice, by choosing a high-quality animal and fattening it, spending money for the sake of Allah. Imam Muslim and others narrated from Umm Salamah that the Prophet (saw) said,” when you see the moon of the month of zil-hajj if any one among you intends to sacrifice an animal ,he should restrain from pulling or cutting his hair,nails. It could be in assimilation with the pilgrim who brings along with him his sacrificed animals Allah almighty said regarding such pilgrims : “and don’t shave your heads until the animal the place of sacrifice. This prohibition appears to apply only to the one who is offering the sacrifice, not to his wife and children, unless any of them is offering a sacrifice in his or her own right, because the Prophet (pbuh) used to sacrifice “on behalf of his family,” but there are no reports that say he forbade them to cut their hair or nails at that time.(Sheikh Munajjid)
Seeking forgiveness & Repentance-Making a firm resolution to give up all kinds of disobedience and sins. Repentance is obligatory at all times, but when the Muslim combines sincere repentance with good deeds during the days of most virtue, this is a sign of success. Allah says: “But as for him who repented, believed and did righteous deeds, then he will be among those who are successful.” [Quran;Al-Qasas]. These special ten days of worship brings many benefits, such as the opportunity to correct one’s faults and make up for any shortcomings or anything that one might have missed. O! you whose hard heart is as dark as the night, is it not time that your heart be filled with light and become soft? Expose yourself to the gentle breeze of your Lord’s mercy during these ten days, for Allah will cause this breeze to touch whomever He wills, and whoever is touched by it will be happy on the Day of Judgment.
Hasten to do good deeds, before one can regret one’s negligence and failure to act, before one is asked to return to a place where no prayers will be answered. May Allah bless our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and all his Family and companions and make this journey of faith ,Hajj pilgrimage acceptable, easy and safe for the pilgrims. O, Allah help me and those of us who couldn’t perform Hajj this year to be amongst those who reap the rewards of these blessed days and provide opportunity in forthcoming year to be included as Hajj pilgrims (Aameen)
