The Deeds Most Beloved To Allaah In These Ten Days!

 بسم الله والحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله ، وبعد 

All praise is for Allaah (alone), and the most perfect and complete prayers and peace be upon Muhammad, the Messenger of Allaah, the preeminent amongst the first and the last (of the descendants of `Aadam), and the Imaam of the Prophets and Messengers, the (first) one who will intercede and (the first one) whose intercession will be accepted on the Day of Judgment, and upon his nice family, and his pure wives – the mothers of the Believers, and his noble Companions, and upon those who follow his Sunnah and accepts his guidance till the Day of Judgment.

To proceed…

The Prophet ﷺ said: “There are no days in which good deeds are more beloved to Allaah than these days.” (Meaning the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah). They (the Companions) asked: “Not even Jihad?” He ﷺ replied: “Not even Jihad, except that of a man who does it by putting himself and his property in danger (for Allaah's sake) and does not return with any of those things.”
[Sunan Abu Dawood (2348), Sunan al-Tirmidhee (757), Sunan Ibn Maajah (1727), and graded as “Saheeh” by Shaikh al-Albaanee. Imaam al-Bukhaaree also reported in his Saheeh (969) with a slight different wording]

🔊 A summarized explanation from Shaikh Muhammad al-Malki’s lecture:

⚡1. The reward for the good deeds done in these ten days, even if they are a few, with Allaah are greater in reward, even greater than Jihaad in the cause of Allaah. This is because a person strives against himself in doing more good deeds in these ten days.

⚡2. What is the best good deeds that a person can do in these ten days?

⚡3. When good deeds are mentioned, people incline towards doing actions – which in today’s terminology are known as: “positive things”, like Fasting, doing a lot of Dhikr (Allaah’s remembrance), giving charity. All these are good deeds without a doubt. But there is an action greater than all these, that Allaah has mentioned in His Book, when He mentioned the four Sacred Months.

⚡4. Allaah تعالى mentioned, as a Command towards His slaves during these Sacred Months:

فَلَا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنفُسَكُمْ
{So, do not wrong yourselves therein}

[Surah al-Tawbah (9): 36]

⚡5. How can a person wrong himself?

🔥a) Shirk:

i) By committing Shirk a person does the biggest injustice against himself, as Allaah تعالى mentioned in the advice of Luqmaan to his son:

وَإِذْ قَالَ لُقْمَانُ لِابْنِهِ وَهُوَ يَعِظُهُ يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ ۖ إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ
{And (remember) when Luqmaan said to his son when he was advising him: “O my son! Join not in worship others with Allaah. Verily! Joining others in worship with Allaah is a great Dhulm (wrong) indeed.}

[Surah Luqmaan (31):13]

ii) Even during these Sacred Days, we see and hear about people committing actions that are clearly Shirk.

iii) Some swearing by other than Allaah, some swearing in the name of their fathers, or sons, or by their lives, etc.

iv) While some wear metal bangles in their arms as protection against chronic pain, electromagnetic pulse, etc.

v) Some knock on wood when they fear the evil eye.

vi) So, a person should leave off all that which will cause Allaah’s wrath to descend upon him.

🔥b) Bid`ah:

i) This is another form of injustice that a person commits against himself.

ii) Shirk, which is the greatest injustice, will prevent a person from entering the Jannah, whereas Bid`ah will prevent a person from drinking from the cistern (Haudh) of the Prophet ﷺ on the Day of Judgment.

iii) The Prophet ﷺ said: “Some people will be driven away from my cistern, and I will say: “They are from my Ummah!” It will be said: “You do not know what they innovated (new things) in the religion after you left”. I will say: “Far removed, far removed (from mercy), those who changed (their religion) after me.” [Saheehain]

iv) Bid`ah is a gateway to Shirk, this is why there are two punishments assigned to it.  A punishment which will be hastened for him in this world, and a punishment which will be hastened for him in the Hereafter.

v) From the punishment in the world: Allaah will not accept the repentance of the one who commits a Bid`ah till he abandons it. The Bid`ah acts as a barrier that prevents his Tawbah from being accepted.

vi) A person should abandon all forms of Shirk and Bid`ah.

🔥c) Sins:

i) Do not commit injustice against yourselves by being disobedient to Allaah and by committing sins.

ii) Many people have fallen into this. They might pray, but once the prayer is over, they go back to committing sins.

iii) Disobedience can be committed in two ways.  One is by abandoning that which Allaah تعالى has commanded, and the other is by doing that which Allaah تعالى has prohibited. By doing so, a person commits an injustice against oneself.

iv) As for sins, one should not regard them as insignificant, no matter how small they seem. Persistence upon minor sins will add up to make them heavy against the person on the Day of Judgment.

v) The Prophet ﷺ said: “Beware of evil deeds that are regarded as insignificant, for they will pile up upon a person till they destroy him.”
[Musnad Ahmad (3818) and graded as “Hasan” by Shaikh al-Albaanee in Saheeh al-Jaami` (2687)]

vi) The way Bid`ah is a gateway to Shirk, similarly, sins are a gateway to Bid`ah. Persistence upon sins leads a person on the path of Bid`ah, and persistence upon Bid`ah leads him on the path of Shirk till he no longer remains in the fold of Islaam.

🔥d) Committing injustice against others:

i) And this is one of the most severe forms of injustice that a person transgresses against others, and takes away their rights unjustly.

ii) People engage in doing many good deeds in this season of righteousness, but they do not care for the rights of the people, they do not stop their injustice towards others.

iii) They destroy their own good deeds by doing injustice to others.

iv) This is like how a poet said: “When will a building be completed when you are trying to build it while the others are trying to pull it down? So, what then about the building which you are constructing and at the same time you yourself are pulling it down?”

v) The Prophet ﷺ said: “The bankrupt in my Ummah is the one who comes with Salaah and Fasting and Zakaah on the Day of Judgement, but he comes having abused this one, falsely accusing that one, wrongfully consuming the wealth of this one, spilling the blood of that one, and beating this one. So he is seated, and this one is requited from his rewards. If his rewards are exhausted before the sins that he committed are requited, then some of their sins will be taken and cast upon him, then he will be cast into the Fire.”
[Saheeh Muslim]

vi) Who compelled you to lose all that which you had strived for so hard? You Fasted, prevented yourself from food and drink, and suffered hunger and thirst! You stayed awake in the nights praying, and prevented yourself from the sweetness of sleep!

vii) You did so many good deeds, so why do you want to give it away? Why do you want to commit things which will not benefit you, nor bring you honor in this world and nor will they elevate your status in the Hereafter?

viii) You sit in gatherings and backbite others! You talk something unlawful, you hear something unlawful, you see something unlawful, you degrade some and belittle others. These are actions which will make one lose his good deeds to others….

🎙️ [Part of Shaikh Muhammad al-Malki’s lecture on 17 June 2023]