Imām Ibn Al-Jawzī (رحمه اللّٰه) said:
“Know, may Allāh have mercy upon you, that these ten days of yours are not like any other ten. And they comprise of ten virtues:
- That Allāh–the Mighty and Majestic–swore by it. He said:
﴾وَلَیَالٍ عَشۡرࣲ﴿
﴾And by the ten nights (i.e. the first ten days of the month of Dhul-Hijjah).﴿¹
- That He named them appointed days. He said:
﴾وَیَذۡكُرُوا۟ ٱسۡمَ ٱللَّهِ فِیۤ أَیَّامࣲ مَّعۡلُومَـٰتٍ﴿
﴾And that they mention the Name of Allah on appointed days﴿ ²
Ibn ʿAbbās said: ’They are the ten days [of Dhul Ḥijjāh].’
- That Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ testified to it being the best days in the world.
- He [ﷺ] urged with doing good deeds during them.
- That he commanded with [saying] plenty Tasbīḥ (Subḥānallāh), Taḥmīd (Alḥamdulillāh), and Tahlīl (Lā Ilāha illā Allāh).
- That the Yawm at-Tarwiyah (the 8th day of Dhul Ḥijjah) is in it. And in the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās, the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever fasts the first ten, he will have the reward of a month for every day he fasts. And he will have the reward of a year for fasting Yawm at-Tarwiyah.”³
Az-Zahidī said: It was only named Yawm at-Tarwiyah (the day of packing water) because there was no water at ʿArafāt, so, they used to bring water to it.
- That the day of ʿArafah is in it. And fasting it [expiates the sins of] two years.
- That the night of gathering i.e the night spent in Muzdalifah is in it. And the explanation of its virtue has preceded.
- That Ḥajj, which is one of the five pillars of Islām, is in it.
- The occurrence of [slaughtering] the sacrificial animals, which is a symbol for the religion of Ibrāhīm and the legislation of Muḥammad.”
Source: At-Tabṣirah vol. 2 p. 130 | Dār Al-Kutub Al-ʿIlmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon
- Al-Fajr:2
- Al-Ḥajj:28
- This ḥadīth is unauthentic. Imām Ibn Al-Jawzī commented on it in his book Al-Mawḍūʿāt (2/198): “This is a ḥadīth that is unauthentic“.
