Virtues of the ten days of Dhul Hijjah‏

The first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah:
Days of virtue and righteous deedsThis season 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. Every one of these special occasions involves some kind of worship through which the slaves may draw closer to Allaah, and some kind of blessing though which Allaah bestows His favour and mercy upon whomsoever He will. The happy person is the one who makes the most of these special months, days and hours and draws nearer to his Lord during these times through acts of worship; he will most likely be touched by the blessing of Allaah and will feel the joy of knowing that he is safe from the flames of Hell. (Ibn Rajab, al-Lataa’if, p.8)                                                                                                                                                     
                                                              
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allaah than these ten days." The people asked, "Not even jihaad for the sake of Allaah?" He said, "Not even jihaad for the sake of Allaah, except in the case of a man who went out to fight giving himself and his wealth up for the cause, and came back with nothing." (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 2/457).
I
bn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him and his father) also reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "There is no deed more precious in the sight of Allaah, nor greater in reward, than a good deed done during the ten days of Sacrifice." He was asked, "Not even jihaad for the sake of Allaah?" He said, "Not even jihaad for the sake of Allaah, except in the case of a man who went out to fight giving himself and his wealth up for the cause, and came back with nothing." (Reported by al-Daarimi, 1/357; its isnaad is hasan as stated in al-Irwaa’, 3/398).


Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): "By the dawn; by the ten nights" [al-Fajr 89:1-2]. Ibn ‘Abbaas, Ibn al-Zubayr, Mujaahid and others of the earlier and later generations said that this refers to the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah. Ibn Katheer said: "This is the correct opinion." (Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 8/413)


 ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "There are no days greater in the sight of Allaah and in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Him than these ten days, so during this time recite a great deal of Tahleel ("La ilaaha ill-Allaah"), Takbeer and Tahmeed." (Reported by Ahmad, 7/224; Ahmad Shaakir stated that it is saheeh).

Hunaydah ibn Khaalid reported from his wife that some of the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to fast on the ninth of Dhu’l-Hijjah, on the day of ‘Aashooraa’, on three days of each month, and on the first two Mondays and Thursdays of each month." (Reported by al-Nisaa’i, 4/205 and by Abu Dawud; classified by al-Albaani as saheeh in Saheeh Abi Dawud, 2/462). 


With regard to fasting, that should only be done on nine of them; the tenth day is the day of Eid when it is haraam to fast* 

See Sharh Muslim by al-Nawawi, hadeeth no. 1176.

*Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (may Allaah be pleased with him): “He [the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)] forbade fasting on the day of (Eid) al-Fitr and the day of al-Nahr (the day of sacrifice, i.e., Eid al-Adha).” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, no. 1992; Muslim, 827.  

Moving the Finger in the Tashah-hud‏

al-Imaam an-Nasaa'ee (rahimahullaah) mentions in his Sunan:

Suwayd bin Nasr told us; 'Abdullaah ibnul-Mubaarak informed us regarding Zaa'idah (ibn Qudaamah) that he said; 'Aasim bin Kulayb narrated to us; My father narrated to me that Waa'il bin Hujr (radiyallaahu 'anhu) said:


((I said to my self, "I shall look at the prayer of Allaah's Messenger - sallallaahu 'alayhi wasallam - (to see) how he prays." So I watched him... (Waa'il then describes the prayer up until the Tashah-hud, after which he mentions)... he (the Prophet) then sat with his left leg tucked underneath him. He placed his left hand upon his left thigh and knee and he put put the edge of his right elbow upon his right thigh. Then he clenched two of his fingers (the last two) and made a circle (with the middle finger and the thumb), then he raised his (index) finger and I saw him moving it, supplicating with it.))
Sunanun-Nasaa'ee, no.889


The Muhaddith, ash-Shaykh, Aboo Abdir-Rahmaan Muqbil bin Haadee al-Waadi'ee (rahimahullaah) said:

This hadeeth along with this chain of narration appears to be hasan (good/authentic), however there is a strange/irregular wording within it - the mention of moving the finger. Indeed it was narrated from a group of the Companions[1] (radiyallaahu 'anhum) and their is nothing in their narrations except the pointing (of the finger).

The one who has (narrated) this unusual wording is the firmly reliable Zaa'idah bin Qudaamah and he has contradicted those who are more reliable than him, from them: Sufyaan ath-Thawree with an-Nasaa'ee, Shu'bah with Ahmad, Sufyaan bin 'Uyaynah with an-Nasaa'ee, Bash-shir ibnul-Mufaddal with Aboo Daawood, 'Abdul-Waahid with Ahmad, Zuhayr bin Mu'aawiyah with Ahmad, 'Abdullaah bin Idrees with ibn Khuzaymah, Khaalid at-Tahhaan with al-Bayhaqee, Muhammad bin Fudayl with ibn Khuzaymah, Abul-Ahwas Sallaam bin Sulaym with at-Tayaalisee and Aboo 'Awaanah and Gheelaan bin Jaami', whom al-Bayhaqee related from.

All of these narrated (this hadeeth) from 'Aasim bin Kulayb and in their narrations there is no mention of moving the finger, so here Zaa'idah bin Qudaamah is considered Shaadh (odd, irregular, i.e. his extra wording is weak).

It is not to be said, "It is an additional piece of information (which is) accepted." For verily it is conditional in accepting an extra wording that it does not contradict that which is stronger than it. I explained that in the introduction to 'al-Ilzaamaat wat-Tatabbu'.[2]

Our brother Ahmad bin Sa'eed - hafidhahullaah - has a treatise in this (the weakness of moving the finger) and it is extremely beneficial, with nothing like it in it's field.


[1] Translators Note: They are 'Abdullaah ibnuz-Zubayr, 'Abdullaah bin 'Umar, Aboo Humayd as-Saa'idee, Aboo Hurayrah, Sa'd bin Abee Waqqaas, Ibn 'Abbaas, Khaffaaf bin Eemaa', none of them mentioning to move the finger, only to point. See Shaykh Muqbil's book: as-Saheehul-Musnad vol.2 pg.265
[2] Translators Note: al-Ilzaamaat wat-Tatabbu' is a book of Imaam ad-Daaruqutnee (rahimahullaah), which Shaykh Muqbil has done a Tahqeeq of.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

[Translated by Abul-Husayn Yusuf McNulty, taken from the book of Shaykh Muqbil 'Ahaadeeth Mu'allah Dhaahiruhas-Sihah (hadeeth with hidden defects that seem to be authentic)' pg.288-289 Daarul-Aathaar, San'aa]

Lecture on patience.

The Greatest of Losses

Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahullaah said: “Know that the greatest of losses is for you to be preoccupied with
one who will bring you nothing but a loss in your time with Allah –
the Mighty and Majestic – and being cut off from Him, a wasting your
time with the person, a weakening of your energy, and the dispersing
of your resolve. So, if you are tested with this – and you must be
tested with this – deal with him according to how Allah would wish,
and be patient with him as much as possible. Get closer to Allah and
His Pleasure by way of this person, and make your getting together
with him something to benefit from, not something to incur a loss
from. Be with him as if you are a man who is on a road who was stopped
by another man, who then asks you to take him on your journey. Make
sure that you are the one who gives him a ride, and that he is not the
one giving you the ride. If he refuses, and there is nothing to gain
from traveling with him, do not stop for him, bid him farewell, and do
not even turn back to look at him, as he is a highway robber,
regardless of who he really is.
So, save your heart, be wary of how you spend your days and nights,
and do not let the Sun set before you arrive at your destination.”
 

['al-Wabil as-Sayyib'; p. 45]

how can the believer stay away from showing off in his actions and is the praise of the people‏

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Questioned posed to the Allaamah Shaykh Zayd al-Madkhalee (may Allaah preserve him):
 
Q. Noble Shaykh, how can the believer stay away from showing off in his actions and is the praise of the people for him because of his worship something that can harm him?
 
A. "The actions are based upon the intentions. Therefore the one who has been praised by the people for the action of good and he didn't do the action except seeking the pleasure of Allaah, the praise of the people does not harm him. Their praise of him is actually a testimony from them for that which he is upon and this doesn't harm him. If he senses something in his heart of amazement when he is praised by the people or when he hears the one who praises him, it is upon him to turn to Allaah azza wa jall and it is upon him to say the narrated supplication on the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam):
"Allaahumma Innee A'oodhu Bika An Ushrika Bika Shay-an 'A lamuhu Wa As-tagh-firuka Limaa T'alam"
-Oh Allaah indeed I seek refuge with you that I associate anything with you that I am aware of. And I seek Your forgiveness for that which You know.-
With the permission of Allaah that which is in the heart of weakness or amazement will leave with might of Allaah and His power."

Translated by: Abu Yusuf Khaleefah Brooklyn NYC
Taken from "al-'Iqdu al-Munaddawdu al-Jadeed" pg. 27 Question # 11.

“O, [Allaah, the] Turner of the hearts, turn our hearts to Your obedience.”‏

Narrated Abduh ibn Abdurrahim : 

“We went on an expedition to  one of the lands of Rome; and  among us was a youth of who there was none amongst us more proficient in reciting The Qur’ân than him, and none of us was more knowledgeable of fiqh and inheritance laws than him, one who used to fast the days and stand at night in prayer.

Whilst in our expedition we passed by a fort -of which we were not ordered to stop for- [guarded by many soldiers] ; and this youth stopped close to the fort as if he was relieving himself.

So he looked up the fort and he caught sight of a woman from among the women of the Romans who was looking from that fort, and she amazed him.

And as such he desired her, so he talked to her in the Roman language : ‘Tell me the way to get to you?’

So she replied:  ‘For you to become a christian, then we will open the door for you [to enter the fort] ; and I am yours.’

And he answered that call of hers, and he entered the fort!

In one narration it says : [The Muslims were not aware of the on-goings except that by the time they realized ; he was with her!]

[The narrator continues to say] Consequently we were covered in great distress and encountered hardship in our expedition because of that. It was as if each of our men took that to be as if it happened to his own child.

After some time while on another expedition, we returned and passed by this same fortified town: and there he was with that woman, and the Christians ; looking at us [from the fort].

So we said [to him] :  ‘O so- and –so  what happened to your Qur’ân?  What happened to your knowledge?  What happened to your fasting?  What happened to your prayers!”

And there he said to us : ‘Indeed,  know that;  I have forgotten all the Qura’n except His statement :

رُّبَمَا يَوَدُّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لَوْ كَانُواْ مُسْلِمِينَ

ذَرْهُمْ يَأْكُلُواْ وَيَتَمَتَّعُواْ وَيُلْهِهِمُ الأَمَلُ فَسَوْفَ يَعْلَمُونَ

“Perhaps (often) will those who disbelieve wish that they were Muslims.

Leave them to eat and enjoy, and let them be preoccupied with (false) hope.

They will come to know!”

[Suraatul Hijr 1-2]

Source : Al-Muntadham of Ibnul Jawzee, Taarikh al-Islaam of Imaam Adh-Dhahabi under the biography of  Abduh ibn Abdur rahim, Taarikh al-Dimashq of Ibn Asaakir : 37/379

Lessons :

1. The great benefit of lowering the gaze.

2. The Importance of fighting the desires, especially the fitna between the opposite genders.

3. Loving for your fellow Muslim that which you love for yourself, and hating for him that which you see is harmful to him.  [And what is more of a calamity than seeing a Muslim leave the light of belief and choosing the darkness of shirk !]

4.The diligence of shaytaan and his allies – in their greatest goal – against the Muslims : to make them apostatize.

Especially in the times of tribulations; the true colours of people come forth. As you see, Indeed she didn’t ask him for wealth or anything else.  Allaahu Musta’n.

5. Don’t be amazed by the actions of a person, only Allaah knows the reality of the end of a person.

6. Prior to that, don’t be amazed by your own deeds!

7. The Importance of supplicating for steadfastness, and uprightness in the religion upto the end of one’s life. 

Indeed the Prophet (sallahAllaahu alayhi wasallam) used to do so, and taught us to do so, as in the hadeeth of Umm Salamah by Shihr who said : ‘I said to Umm Salamah : ‘O Mother of the Believers, what is the duaa’ which the Prophet (sallahAllaahu alayhi wasallam) would supplicate the most while in your presence? ’

So she said : ‘The frequent supplication of his was :

يَا مُقَلِّبَ الْقُلُوبِ ثَبِّتْ قَلْبِي عَلَى دِينِكَ

“O, Turner of the hearts, turn our hearts to Your obedience.”

And also reported by Imaam Ahmad , from the hadeeth of ‘Aisha (radhiyaAllaahu anha): ‘The Dua’ which the Prophet (sallahAllaahu alayhi wasallam) used to supplicate with a lot…’  then she mentioned it. 

Taken from Silsilah as-Saheeha of Al-Imaam Al-Albaanee : 2091

The Tafseer of Imaam As-Sa’dee‏

Do they wait until the angels come to them... [An’aam:158]

Translation: Abu Shu’ayb Omar As-Soomaalee

Allaah the Most High says,

هَلْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلاَّ أَن تَأْتِيهُمُ الْمَلآئِكَةُ أَوْ يَأْتِيَرَبُّكَ أَوْ يَأْتِيَ بَعْضُ آيَاتِ رَبِّكَ يَوْمَ يَأْتِي بَعْضُآيَاتِ رَبِّكَ لاَ يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ آمَنَتْ مِنقَبْلُ أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِي إِيمَانِهَا خَيْرًا قُلِ انتَظِرُواْ إِنَّامُنتَظِرُونَ

Do they wait until the Angels come to them, or that your Lord should come, or that some of the signs of your Lord should come. That day, in which some of the signs of your Lord will come, no good will it do a person to believe then, if he wasn't o­ne who believed before, or gained good with their belief Say: “Wait, we too are waiting”. [An’aam: 158]

Imaam As-Sa’dee (rahimahullaah) said:

He the Most High says: 

Do they wait, those who are continuant in their oppression and stubbornness ‘until the Angels come to them’ with the forefront to punishment and The Last Day, that the Angels may come to them to seize their souls, for indeed if they reach such a situation their belief will not benefit, nor righteous actions, ‘or that your Lord should come’ to judge between his servants and to reward the good-doers and the evil doers, ‘or that some of the signs of your lord should come’ pointing to the closeness of the hour. ‘That day, in which some of the signs of your Lord will come’ that go beyond what is ordinary, that by way of it (these signs) you come to know that the hour has drawn close, and that the Qiyaamah (the last day) has drawn closer.

لاَ يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ آمَنَتْ مِن قَبْلُ أَوْكَسَبَتْ فِي إِيمَانِهَا خَيْرًا"

No good will it do a person to believe then, if he wasn't o­ne who believed before, or gained good with their belief".

Meaning: if some of the signs of Allah come into existence, Eemaan will not benefit the disbeliever (at this point), nor the believer that has shortcomings, that he may increase in good actions thereafter, but that which will benefit is the Eemaan that was with the person before, and that which they had from good (actions) before some of the signs of their lord comes.

And the wisdom in this is apparent, for indeed the Eemaan that is of benefit is the Eemaan of the unseen (ghayb), and was by the worshippers free will, as for if the signs come into existence, and the affair is o­ne of witness, then no benefit will remain in Eemaan (in believing at this point), because it then resembles Eemaan belief due to necessity, like the Eemaan of the o­ne that is drowning or is under ablaze and the likes, from those that if they saw death they would abstain from that which they where upon, like He the Most High said:

فَلَمَّا رَأَوْا بَأْسَنَا قَالُوا آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَحْدَهُوَكَفَرْنَا بِمَا كُنَّا بِهِ مُشْرِكِين فَلَمْ يَكُ يَنفَعُهُمْإِيمَانُهُمْ لَمَّا رَأَوْا بَأْسَنَا سُنَّتَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي قَدْخَلَتْ فِي عِبَادِهِ

So when they saw Our punishment, they said: "We believe in Allâh Alone and reject (all) that we used to associate with Him as partners. Then their Faith (in Islâmic Monotheism) could not avail them when they saw Our punishment. (Like) this has been the way of Allâh in dealing with His slaves. [Ghafir 40: 84-85]

And many authentic narrations have come from the Prophet, that what is intended by ‘some of the signs of Allaah’, the rising of the sun from the west, and that when the people see this they will all believe, but their belief will not be of benefit to them, and at this point the door of Tawbah (repentance) will be closed.

And in this verse is proof for the position of Ahlul Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah affirming ‘Actions of Free Will and Choice’, like Istiwaa (ascension) and Nuzuul (descension) and Ityaan (coming) to Allaah the Blessed the most High, without Tashbeeh (resemblance) to him with the characteristics of the creation. And this is common in the Book and the Sunnah.

And in it (this verse), the rising of the sun from the west is from the signs of the hour, and that Allaah the Most High is Hakeem, and his common tradition, that the type Eemaan that is of benefit is the o­ne that is chosen (by the servant) due to his own free will and not by compulsion, like has preceded.

And that mankind should obtain good with their Eemaan, for indeed obedience and righteousness and piety o­nly benefits and increases if the servant possesses Eemaan, but if the heart is empty of Eemaan, none of these things will be of benefit to him.



Tayseerul Kareem Ar-Rahmaan page 158