Islamonline.org: Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His

Messenger.

Brother, may Allah bless your efforts in pursuit of knowledge and enlighten

your heart with Ikhlas (sincerity)! As you have stated, the first ten days

of Dhul-Hijjah represents an annual chance, in which a faithful servant of

Allah is to bring himself nearer to Him, Most High. These are days of

worship, Hajj, charity, peace, sacrifice, and good deeds.

Shedding more light on this issue, we'd like to cite the following Fatwa

issued by Sheikh M. S. Al-Munajjid, a prominent Saudi Islamic lecturer and

author:

"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, in a sense that

rewards are multiplied many times than the case in other periods of time.

This reflects Allah’s overflowing mercy towards His servants, and it

encourages them 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 death and supply himself in readiness for the

Day of Judgment.

This 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 servants may draw closer to Allah, and some

kind of blessing though which Allah bestows His favor and mercy upon

whomsoever He wills. Happiness and success are for 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 and righteousness. The Muslim

must understand the value of his life, increase his worship of Allah and

persist in doing good deeds until the moment of death. Almighty Allah says:

"And worship your Lord until there comes unto you the certainty." (Al-Hijr:

99) The Scholars say: ‘The certainty’ means death.

Among the special seasons of worship are the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah,

which Allah has preferred over all the other days of the year. Ibn `Abbas

(may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet

(peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There are no days in which

righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten days." The people

asked, "Not even Jihad for the sake of Allah?" He said, "Not even Jihad for

the sake of Allah, 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-Bukhari)

Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) also reported that

the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There is no deed more

precious in the sight of Allah, nor greater in reward, than a good deed done

during the ten days of Sacrifice." He was asked, "Not even Jihad for the

sake of Allah?" He said, "Not even Jihad for the sake of Allah, 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 ad-Darimi)

These texts and others indicate that these ten days are better than all the

other days of the year, with no exceptions, not even the last ten days of

Ramadan. But the last ten nights of Ramadan are better, because they include

Laylat al-Qadr, which is better than a thousand months. Thus the various

reports may be reconciled. (See Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 5/412)

You should know, dear brother in Islam, that the virtue of these ten days is

based on many things:

1- Allah swears an oath by them, and swearing an oath by something is

indicative of its importance and great benefit. Almighty Allah says: "By the

dawn; by the ten nights." (Al-Fajr: 1-2) Ibn `Abbas, Ibn Az-Zubayr, Mujahid

and others of the earlier and later generations are of the opinion that this

refers to the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah. Ibn Kathir said: "This is the

correct opinion." (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 8/413)

2- The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) testified that these are

the best days of this world, as we have already quoted above from authentic

Hadiths.

3- The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged people to do

righteous deeds because of the virtue of this season for people throughout

the world, and also because of the virtue of the place - for the pilgrims to

the Sacred House of Allah.

4- The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us to recite

during this time a lot of Tasbih (glorification of Allah), as well as Tahmid

(praising Allah) and Takbir (saying 'Allah is Greatest').

`Abdullah ibn `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported

that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There are no days

greater in the sight of Allah and in which righteous deeds are more beloved

to Him than these ten days, so during this time recite a great deal of

Tahlil (saying: 'there is no god but Allah'), Takbir and Tahmid." (Reported

by Ahmad)

5- These ten days include the Day of `Arafah, on which Allah perfected His

Religion. Fasting on this day will expiate for the sins of two years. These

days also include 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.

6- These ten days include the days of Hajj."

Allah Almighty knows best.