How do the first ten days of the Month of Dhul Hijjah differ
from other days of the year?
Praise be to Allaah 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 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, pre-
pare himself for death and supply himself in readiness for the

Day of Judgement .

This season of worship brings many benefits, such as the oppor-
tunity to correct one’s faults and make up for any shortcomings

or anything that one might have missed. Every one of these spe-
cial 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 whom-
soever 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 Muslim must understand the value of his life, increase his

worship of Allaah and persist in doing good deeds until the mo-
ment of death. Allaah says

“And worship your Lord until there comes unto you the
certainty.” [al-Hijr 15:99]

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The mufassireen (commentators) said: “ ‘The certainty’ means
death.”
Among the special seasons of worship are the first ten days of
Dhu’l-Hijjah, which Allaah has preferred over all the other days
of the year. Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him and his
father) reported that the Prophet () 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 noth-
ing.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 2/457)

Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him and his father) also
reported that the Prophet () 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)
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 Ramadaan. But the last ten nights of Ramadaan are
better, because they include Laylat al-Qadr (“The Night of Pow-

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er”), which is better than a thousand months. Thus the various
reports may be reconciled. (See Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 5/412)
You should know, my brother in Islaam, that the virtue of these
ten days is based on many things:

Allaah swears an oath by them, and swearing an oath by some-
thing is indicative of its importance and great benefit. Allaah says:

“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)
The Prophet () testified that these are the best days of this
world, as we have already quoted above from saheeh ahaadeeth .

The Prophet () encouraged people to do righteous deeds be-
cause of the virtue of this season for people throughout the

world, and also because of the virtue of the place - for the Hujjaaj
(pilgrims) to the Sacred House of Allaah.
The Prophet () commanded us to recite a lot of Tasbeeh
(“Subhan-Allaah”), Tahmeed (“Al-hamdu Lillaah”) and
Takbeer (“Allaahu akbar”) during this time. ‘Abdullaah ibn
‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him and his father) reported
that the Prophet () 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)
These ten days include Yawm ‘Arafaah (the Day of ‘Arafaah), on

which Allaah perfected His Religion. Fasting on this day will ex-
piate for the sins of two years. 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.
These ten days include the days of sacrifice and of Hajj.
Question: What must the Muslim avoid during these ten
days if he wants to offer a sacrifice?
The Sunnah indicates that the one who wants to offer a sacrifice
must stop cutting his hair and nails and removing anything from

his skin, from the beginning of the ten days until after he has of-
fered his sacrifice, because the Prophet () said:

“When you see the new moon of Dhu’l-Hijjah, if any one

of you wants to offer a sacrifice, then he should stop cut-
ting his hair and nails until he has offered his sacrifice.”

According to another report he said:
“He should not remove anything from his hair or skin.”
(reported by Muslim with four isnaads, 13/146)
The Prophet’s instruction here makes one thing obligatory and
his prohibition makes another haraam, according to the soundest

opinion, because these commands and prohibitions are uncondi-
tional and unavoidable. If a person does any of these things deli-

 A book shows the importance of these ten days and the excellence of deeds in them.