Rasulullah (Sallahu Alaihi Wassalam) said: “On no days is the worship of Allah desired more than in the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah. The fast of each of these days is equal to the fast of a whole year, and the ibaadat (worship) of each of these nights is equal to the ibaadat of laylatul qadr.” (Tirmidhi and Ibn Maajah)
Ibn `Abbas (Ra) reported that the Prophet (Sallahu Alaihi Wassalam) 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, giving himself and his wealth up for the cause (of Allah), and came back with nothing.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari)
The above Hadith confirm that the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah possess tremendous blessings and excellence. The Scholars have stressed that these special and blessed days and nights should be spent in intensive worship and virtuous acts as well as contemplation. Therefore we should ensure that we make the best of these blessed 10 days. We cannot afford to miss out on such immense rewards at any cost!
Scholars also confirm that the daytimes (Fajr to Maghrib) of the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah are more virtuous than the daytimes of Ramadan. This clearly indicates how special and blessed the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah really are.
The following are 10 ways we can maximize the first ten days of the Dhul Hijjah:
1. Purifying our intentions
“Verily actions are judged by intention.” [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
It is crucial that we purify & correct our intentions before doing any acts of worship. This is because we may have other underlying intentions in our hearts without even realizing it. Like for e.g. we may have in our hearts that we fast because we don’t want to look bad in front of our family or friends or because others fast etc.
So before doing any good deed we need to align & focus our intention to ONLY pleasing Allah. By doing this we will increase the sincerity in our worship & acts of virtues & by having better intentions when doing any good act is a means of earning greater rewards for whatever good deed we are doing.
Ibn Al-Mubaarak said: “Maybe a small action is made great by its intention, and maybe a great action is made small by its intention.”
Even daily routines like eating, drinking, sleeping, waking up, travelling etc can be a source of great reward by having the right intentions. Having good Intentions is easy & great rewards can be gained without making any hard physical effort. By just spending a couple of seconds having the right intention in our hearts we can turn a whole day to a day of worship. It is like turning dust into gold.
2. Schedule & Monitor Daily Worship
What better way to maximise our worship during these blessed days and nights than to plan & schedule our time so that we can spend it as effectively as possible. By setting ourselves daily targets we can ensure that we are more likely to achieve them.
Below are links where you can download an hourly scheduler where you can set yourself hourly worship targets & schedule your daily worship. There is also a daily worship check where you can check & monitor your daily worship throughout the last ten nights:
1. Daily Worship check
Acts of ‘Ibaadah (worship)
1 The 5 Salaah in the Masjid (especially Fajr & Isha)
2 To be on time for the Salaah (at least 5 minutes early)
3 The daily 12 Raka’ah (units) of Sunnah prayers *
4 Adhkaar (words of remembrance) after every Fardh Salaah *
5 Nawafil (optional) Salaah at Sunrise (Ishraaq) & Night (Tahajjud) *
6 Spending an Hour in the Masjid with intention of ‘itikaf (seclusion)
7 Morning & Evening Isti’adha & Adhkaar (minimum 300 Tasbeeh) *
8 Morning & Evening Qur’an Recitation (minimum 10 minutes)
9 Supplicating (making Du’a) at the times of acceptance *
10 Sadaqah (initiating Salaam, to smile, to spend what you love)
11 To learn something new (e.g. Quran, Hadith, Du’a etc)
12 Showing outstanding character & support to family & others
13 Guarding the Tongue (from lying, backbiting & futile Speech etc)
14 Guarding the Eyes & being Modest (in appearance & character)
15 Maintaining concentration & devotion in Salaah (Khushoo’)
Instructions: Please rate each act on a daily basis between 1 – 5, 1 being extremely poor and 5 being outstanding.
* Tasbeeh: optional Dhikr chunks of 100 Kalimah Shahada , 100 Istigfaar & 100 times Salawatur Rasul (Darood), also include other virtuous adhkaar: e.g. SubhaanAllahi Wabi hamdihi. Note: 300 is optional, more the better
* When Du’as are accepted: when it rains, between adhan & Iqamah, after fardh salaah, in sujood, midnight (& last portion of the night), when oppressed, whilst travelling, after wudhu & a Du’a for his brother in his absence.
Why do this ‘Ibaadah Check?
Comments: How can I improve for next week?
The main purpose of this daily ibaadah check is to help one to get into the habit of these highly regarded acts of worship, and to steadily improve on them until one reaches a good level of consistency which will insha Allah result in improvement of your Imaan and relationship withAllah (swt).
How long shall I do this for?
In order for one to really benefit from this ‘Ibaadah check he/she must set a duration (minimum 12 weeks) with a personal target in mind to improve themselves by
checking/monitoring their acts of ‘Ibaadah on a daily basis before he/she retires to sleep; this is known as Muhaasabah (to take account of ones actions)
What attitude shall I maintain throughout each day? Some Naseeha…
When you wake up in the morning, do not expect to see the evening, live as though today is all that you have. Yesterday has passed with its good & evil while
tomorrow has not yet arrived. Your life span is but one day, as if you were born in it & will die at the end of it. During this day you should pray with a wakeful heart,
recite the Qur’an with understanding & remember Allah with sincerity. Organize the hours of each day so that you make years out of minutes & months out of
seconds. Profit from every moment of your day by developing your personality, expanding your abilities & purifying your deeds. And engrave onto your heart
one phrase: Today is my only day.
Week: ……………….. Month: ……………….. Year: ………………..
Total score for this week: ________
2. Daily hourly worship scheduler
We should strive to worship on all if not at least as many of the first ten nights of Dhul Hijjah as is possible inshallah, for these rewards are unmissable and time is short and we need as many good deeds as possible in order to please Allah before we are taken.
Making a structured timetable may help one to better organise oneself especially during these precious 10 days so that one can maximise them and make best use of them.
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(Continued – II)