Why not get ready for the best ten days of the year before they start? Just look at the prep work we do during Ramadan for the best ten nights! Somehow, we don’t treat these days the same, but we should. Here are 3 ways to prepare for the ten days of Dhul Hijjah.
1.Udhiyah or no Udhiyah?
If you are planning on making a sacrifice, then you imitate the state of those at Hajj in these ten days. Whoever is going to make a sacrifice does not cut his hair or his nails or anything from his skin. How long does he or she have to avoid this?
The whole ten days of Dhul Hijjah. Only when he or she has offered the sacrifice can the hair and nails be cut. Rasul Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) told us “When you see the new moon of Dhul Hijjah, if any one of you wants to offer a sacrifice, then he should stop cutting his hair and nails until he has offered his sacrifice.” (Sahih Muslim, 1977)
2.Simple Dhikr, Great Rewards
You know how we start off with regular charity in Ramadan and increase it in the end of the month? Let’s do that with our dhikr to prepare for Dhul Hijjah. We start off with simple remembrances of Allah today. Then once the 10 days begins, we build on this habit which multiplies in reward. Let’s start with this one:
Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Whoever declares one hundred times a day, ‘There is no God but Allah without any partner, to Him belongs sovereignty and all praise and He is powerful over everything,’ he will have the reward of emancipating ten slaves, a hundred good deeds will be recorded for him, a hundred sins will be erased from his record, and he will have a guard against Satan during the day until evening. No one will exceed him but one who recited these words more often.” (Sahih Bukhari 3293)
لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
Just think of the rewards of saying this during these 10 days! The hadith literally tells us how to increase our rewards, because we can add to this 100 starting in Dhul Hijjah, but it will be more difficult if we aren’t already in the habit of saying it.
3.Sacred Month, Multiplied
Unlike during Ramadan, there are no extra angels helping us remember to do good deeds, and the shayateen are not locked up at all, making it more difficult to stay away from sins. To top it all off, Dhul Hijjah is a sacred month, so that means not only the reward of good deeds is multiplied; but the punishment for bad deeds is multiplied, too.
This means that we have to work hard to keep the devils at bay before Dhul Hijjah begins. Got family feuds? Work those out the best you can. Problems between people? Work to avoid causing harm to others and prevent harm being done. The sins of these actions will be multiplied once the month begins so now is the time to make peace between people and set yourself and family up for blessed 10 days.