Assalamualaikum,
The 10 days of Dhul Hijjah are upon us, Alhamdulillah!
You have to admit, our celebrations for Eid ul Adha are less planned & we don't look forward to it in the same manner as we do Eid ul Fitr. Perhaps this is because we feel it's less deserving. Or perhaps we do not have the month of Ramadan, leading up to the celebration of victory (i.e. Eid ul Fitr).
However, we often forget that Eid ul Adha too is preceded by an extraordinary period; the 10 days of Dhul Hijjah; the 10 days that are the best and most loved to Allah SWT in the entire year!
The Prophet Muhammad SAW said
"There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten days." (Bukhari)
You may know that I am in the holy city of Makkah at the moment, preparing for the beautiful days of Hajj. And through many of the discussions and talks here, I am reliving the internal struggle faced by Prophet Ibrahim (as) when Allah had instructed him to sacrifice his beloved son Ismail (as); when he had to make a difficult choice between fatherhood and Prophethood.
This was Prophet Ibrahim, also known as Khalil ur Rahman, who together with Ismail had perfected the construction of Kaabah, who was thrown into the fire and survived, who from his blessed lineage came the Prophet Muhammad (saw) and Prophet Isa (as) and who Allah has granted his dua till this day.
Prophet Ibrahim could have interpreted his dream in a way that suited him best. However, the burden of the instruction was so heavy upon him, which was to physically detach himself from his beloved son, Prophet Ismail (as), that he took three days to finally make his mind up to sacrifice his son.
The main message of this struggle is simple, who/ what is our Ismail? What is holding us back from worshipping Him to the fullest? Who/ what is in between us and our Rabb, preventing us to fully love him?
With that in mind, let’s shift our mindset this time around. Even if you are not going for Hajj, put in the effort to focus during these 10 days.
Here are some ideas for how you can make the most of them
- Fasting the first 9 days especially the 9th day which is the day of Arafat
- Making a lot of Dhikr of Allah
- Intending to offer sacrifice on the 10th of Dhul Hijjah
- Giving a lot of Sadaqah daily. You can sign up to 10 daily Sadaqah donations to the National Zakat Foundation by clicking here.
- If you don't yet have a Zakat anniversary date, or you've just started saving money, you can also mark one of these 10 days as your Zakat Anniversary date!
Let's increase our good deeds during these 10 days.
May Allah accept from all of us. Ameen,
Wasalam
Abu Muneer
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