Why These 10 Days Beat All of Ramadan
The Virtues of the First 10 Days of Dhul Hijjah - Sahih al-Bukhari
Summary
This lecture discusses the virtues and significance of the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah, the final month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Sh. Ali Mashhour references a hadith from Sahih al-Bukhari where the Prophet Muhammad stated that no days are more beloved to Allah than these first 10 days, during which good deeds are multiplied exponentially. Sh. Ali Mashhour explains that these days are superior to all of Ramadan combined and emphasizes that every effort made to reach out to Allah during this period is rewarded abundantly. The lecture includes a discussion of what constitutes remembrance of Allah (dhikr) and good deeds, using the metaphor of reaching toward Allah to illustrate divine reciprocation.
Note: This transcript was generated using YouTube's automatic captioning, with AI-assisted cleanup for readability. It may contain inaccuracies due to background noise, audio quality, or limitations of the transcription software — particularly during Arabic recitation. Listener discretion is advised; please refer to the original video for precise wording.
[Arabic recitation]
What month is it? The will Hijjah. Very good. And we are in the first 10 days of the will Hijjah, correct? In Sahih al-Bukhari.
[Arabic recitation]
Alaihi wasallam said there are no days in which good deeds are more beloved to Allah than during these days speaking about the first 10 days of the month of Dhul Hijjah. The month of Dhul Hijjah is the last 12th and final month of the Islamic lunar calendar. It is the time when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala chose for us to make our pilgrimage to Mecca to visit al-Bayt al-Atiq and to make our Hajj, to make our Umrah. And so that is the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah and that is why Eid and the greatest of Eid comes on the 10th day of Zulhijjah. Why? Because that is the capstone of all culminated efforts throughout the entire year. There are no days in which righteous good deeds are more beloved to Allah. What does that mean beloved? Beloved meaning Allah loves them. He loves good deeds the most during these 10 days. So, what does that translate to? Well, that that translates to Allah accepting those good deeds, Allah overlooking our sins, Allah forgiving and expiating our misdeeds, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala writing for us our merits doubly and exponentially. Every merit that a person earns is worth at least 10 times. But during the first 10 days of Zulhijjah, it is far more. Good deeds are multiplied during these days. And bad deeds are magnified during these 10 days. These 10 days Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has mentioned in a number of places in the Quran. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says.
[Silence]
The days The days The The.
[Arabic recitation]
Commanded that we remember him generally and that we make mention of him and remember him specifically during a known number of days. Those known number of days, they are in they they are not in need of an any introduction. They are known to everyone. Even the disbelievers of Mecca, the idolaters recognize these first 10 days of Dhu al-Hijjah as being these supreme days of the year. And so during these days, Allah says, "Wadkurullah." Remember Allah. The remembrance of Allah doesn't just mean that a person says, "Subhanallah,.
[Arabic recitation]
Akbar.".
[Arabic recitation]
That is remembrance of Allah, but every time a person does a good deed, that is remembrance of Allah. Correct? When a person does a good deed, let's say you're walking down the sidewalk and there's piece of trash or something in the sidewalk and you move it out of the way because you know the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam used to do this, you know this is part of iman, you are worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by doing this. That is a remembrance of Allah. Why? Because in it's it's an expression of being driven solely by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The person is driven by Allah. The main focus, what is driving his actions, is the remembrance of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala. And it is expressed by way of good deeds. And so, when Allah says, what is meant here is that excel, work hard to do good deeds. And this is where the prophet understood this narration from. He says there are no days in which good deeds are more beloved to Allah than during these first 10 days. Some of the Sahaba and them explained the statement of Allah Subhana.
[Arabic recitation]
Walayalin Ashrin as the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah. The scholars differ on this verse. Is it the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah or the last 10 nights of Ramadan? Ramadan is not one of the four sacred months. The four sacred months we are smack-dab in the middle of them right now. The The four sacred months are Dhul Qa'dah, Dhul Hijjah, Muharram, and Rajab. And so, we are in Dhul Hijjah right now. These are days that Allah has chosen that be the days when we are most excellent. All of our efforts throughout the year, including Ramadan, were intended to be working up towards these 10 days. If a person wishes to be on the path to Allah, wishes to be close to Allah, wishes to be near to Allah, wishes to change his ways, wishes to be better, wishes to make amends, wishes to be able to look himself in the mirror properly, then there is no more opportune time than these 10 days. Every time you say Allah's name during these 10 days, it is multiplied and exponentially reciprocated by Almighty Allah Rabbil Alamin.
[Arabic recitation]
When they heard the prophet say this, they heard him say there is no days in which good deeds are more beloved to Allah than these 10 days, they said not even jihad fi sabilillah. What greater expression of servitude to Allah than a person offering up his own soul in martyrdom? Is there any greater offering a person can make? Person is literally taking the fabric of their being and putting it in harm's way and placing it at hazard in order that Allah's name be the highest and his word reigns complete, reigns supreme. This is the greatest expression of worship and servitude to Allah. So the companions asked, not even jihad fi sabilillah is more virtuous than good deeds during these days? He said not even jihad fi sabilillah. Unless a person were to take all of his possessions, all of his wealth, all of his property, and go out to fight fi sabilillah and return with none of those things, including his own soul. Return in a bag. That is the only thing that is more virtuous than good deeds during these 10 days. The narration of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam where he tells us that Allah himself has said.
[Silence]
Notice the wording of the narration. He says that if my servant reaches out to me a handspan, this is a handspan in the Arabic language. This is called a handspan. If a person reaches out to Allah a handspan, Allah will reach back out to him how long how much? A cubit. Is from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, which is almost exactly twice of a handspan, correct? So, if he reaches out a handspan, Allah reaches back to him a cubit. And if he reaches out to Allah a cubit, Allah reaches back out to him a bath, which is an entire arm's length. We understand this to mean that every time you make an effort to reach out to Allah, he reaches out to you twice as much. At least twice as much. And it has to be that way, otherwise we would never be able to reach excellence. How could we? Where do we draw our excellence from? Where does it come from? It comes from Allah. He has to give it to us. Therefore, if Allah only gives us what we already have, we would never be able to get better. This is why when we reach out to Allah a handspan, he reaches out a cubit. It must be that way. Imagine if you could only get money from me. Let's say you could only get money from me. And you must pay me back every dollar that you that I give you. Could you ever have money beyond what I give you? It's impossible. If I give you $10, you have to give me 10 back. There's no way for you to ever work up out of that. What about if you can only get money from me and then I charge you interest on the money that you can only get from me? Wouldn't that be diabolical? Huh? You can get $10 from me, but I need you to return it as 12. But the extra $2 you have to get from me as well. And those $2 that you give to me, I need you to give them back as four. Could you ever pay me back? Is it possible? That's the Federal Reserve in a nutshell. Anyways, side issue. The point being that we only are able to excel as much as Allah gives us and allows us. So, of course, he must give us back twice-fold, and that is why he is Al-Kareem, subhanahu wa ta'ala. He is the generous one. He is the source of our excellence, but not only that, but when he gives us excellence, he praises us and rewards us for something that he gave us in the first place. How much more generous could anyone be? And so, during these days, when you want to reach out to Allah, if you make the slightest effort, if you inch your way to Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala, you will be rewarded in droves and exponentially. If you hope to receive blessing from Allah, to change your ways, for your repentance to be accepted, for your repentance to be continuous, if you hope to excel and be better and learn, these are the days to start that. More than Ramadan, you know the masjid fills up during Ramadan, but during the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah, where is the masjid? Not as full. Is it as full as it is during Ramadan? No. Why? Ignorance. That's the only reason. Because these days are far superior than all of the days of Ramadan combined. All of them combined do not make up these first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah.
[Arabic recitation]