NEW | Dhul Hijjah - Prepare For The Best 10 Days | Mufti Menk

My brothers and sisters, there is a moment that comes around every single year, a window of time so short, so fleeting, that if you blink you might miss it. And yet within that window lies an opportunity so immense, that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم himself told us there is nothing more beloved to Allah than good deeds performed within it. 10 days! Just 10 days! And yet these 10 days carry a weight that outshines entire months, entire seasons, and in some ways, even outshines acts that we would normally consider to be at the very pinnacle of sacrifice and devotion. I want you to sit with that for a moment, because it is not a small claim. We are talking about a period of time so short that most of us don't even take 10 days off work in a year, and yet Allah has elevated it above almost everything else. Why? What is it about these 10 days, the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah, that makes them so extraordinarily significant? This is what I want us to explore together today. Because once we understand the why behind this, our entire approach to these days will change forever. Let's start with the words themselves. Because sometimes we hear things so often that we stop truly listening to them. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that there are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these 10 days. Think about the phrasing here. Not very beloved, not quite beloved. He said, "There are no days more beloved than these." That is a superlative statement, an absolute statement, a statement that places these 10 days at the very top of the entire calendar, above Ramadan even in this specific sense, above every other stretch of time we experience throughout the year. And then, as if to make sure nobody misunderstood the magnitude of what he was saying, one of his companions asked him, Not even fighting in the path of Allah? And imagine that question, my brothers and sisters. Because in the eyes of the early Muslims, striving in the path of Allah, putting your life on the line, leaving your home, your family, your comfort to defend the truth and stand for justice, this was considered among the highest of all deeds. This was the pinnacle. This was what every sincere believer aspired to if the opportunity arose. So when the companion asked this question, he was essentially saying, surely nothing beats that. Surely nothing is more beloved than a person who literally gives up everything, including their own safety for the sake of Allah. And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم replied, not even that, except for a man who went out with his life and his wealth and came back with neither. Meaning, unless a person gives the ultimate sacrifice, unless they go out fighting for the sake of Allah and lose their wealth and their very life in that cause, becoming a martyr, then nothing else compares to what can be earned in these 10 days. Everything else, every other deed, every other act of devotion throughout the rest of the year, falls short in comparison to what these 10 days offer, except for that one specific, extreme case of complete and total sacrifice. Now, why does this matter so much to us today? Because it tells us something profound about how Allah measures worship. It is not always about the size of the deed. It is not always about how dramatic or how difficult or how visible an act of worship is. Sometimes it is about timing. Sometimes it is about the container in which the deed is placed. The very same deed, performed at a different time, might carry a fraction of the reward it carries when performed within these blessed 10 days. This should completely reshape the way we think about worship, about effort, about where we choose to invest our energy throughout the year. Think about it like this. Imagine you had the opportunity to invest your money, and someone told you that for 10 specific days out of the entire year, every single dollar you invested would return to you multiplied many times over, far beyond what you would receive on any other day. Wouldn't you clear your schedule? Wouldn't you gather every resource you had? Wouldn't you make sure you didn't miss even a single one of those 10 days? You would plan for it. You would prepare for it. You would talk about it with everyone you know, encouraging them not to miss out either. This is exactly the situation we find ourselves in with these 10 days, except the currency here is not money. It is something far more valuable. It is our good deeds, our worship, our connection to our Creator, and ultimately our eternal reward. And yet, how many of us actually treat these 10 days with that kind of urgency? How many of us plan for them the way we would plan for a limited-time financial opportunity? This is something we need to reflect on awesomely, without judgment, but with a sincere desire to change. Let's think about why Allah might have chosen to make these particular 10 days so special. Because Allah does not do anything without wisdom, and when He elevates a period of time above all others, there is always a reason, a lesson, something for us to understand and benefit from. One of the beautiful things about these 10 days is that they gather together, in one condensed period, so many different forms of worship that are usually spread out and separated throughout the rest of the year. Think about it. Within these 10 days you have fasting, one of the most beloved acts of worship to Allah. You have prayer, the daily connection that every believer maintains with their Lord. You have charity, the act of giving that purifies wealth and softens the heart. You have the remembrance of Allah, the dhikr that keeps our tongues moist and our hearts alive. You have the Hajj itself, for those who are able to perform it, which combines physical exertion, financial sacrifice, patience, and complete submission all in one journey. And you have the sacrifice, the Qurbani, which commemorates one of the greatest tests of faith in human history. All of these acts of worship, which throughout the rest of the year might be scattered across different months, different occasions, different circumstances, are gathered together within this single window of 10 days. It is almost as if Allah has compressed an entire year's worth of worship opportunities into this brief period, giving us a concentrated dose of everything that matters most in our relationship with Him. And this is precisely why the reward is so magnified. When you combine multiple forms of worship into a single period, and that period is elevated by Divine decree to be the most beloved time of the year, the resulting reward becomes something almost impossible to calculate, something that reminds us just how generous and merciful our Creator truly is. I want you to reflect on this idea of concentration for a moment, because I think it holds a lesson far beyond just these 10 days. In our lives, we often assume that more time automatically means more opportunity, that spreading things out is always better than compressing them. But sometimes the opposite is true. Sometimes a short, focused, intense period of effort produces results that months or even years of scattered, half-hearted effort never could. Think about how athletes train intensely for a short competition season. Think about how students focus intensely during exam periods. Think about how businesses focus intensely during a launch window. There is something powerful about concentrated effort within a defined period of time. And Allah, in His infinite wisdom, has built this same principle into our spiritual lives through these 10 days. This should give us hope, my brothers and sisters, because for those of us who feel like we have not done enough throughout the year, For those of us who feel like our worship has been inconsistent, who feel like we have let opportunities slip by, who feel weighed down by our shortcomings, these 10 days offer something extraordinary. They offer a chance to make up for lost time in a way that is disproportionate to the actual time invested. 10 days can outweigh months, sometimes years, of ordinary worship. This is not because Allah is arbitrary, but because He is generous beyond measure, and He has designed this period specifically to give His servants a chance to catch up, to reset, to earn immense reward, even if the rest of their year has not been what they hoped it would be. Now, let's think practically about what this means for us as we approach these days each year. If we truly internalize the fact that these are the most beloved days to Allah, days that outweigh even the sacrifice of a fighter in the path of Allah, except for the ultimate sacrifice of a martyr, then how can we possibly let them pass by unnoticed? How can we treat them like any other 10 days on the calendar, going about our regular routines, our regular distractions, our regular level of spiritual engagement, when Allah Himself has told us that this period deserves something more, something elevated, something intentional? I think about how much effort we put into preparing for things that matter to us in this worldly life, We prepare for job interviews, we prepare for exams, we prepare for weddings, for trips, for important meetings. We research, we plan, we set reminders, we clear our schedules. We make sure nothing gets in the way of what we consider important. And yet, how much preparation do we put into these 10 days? Days that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم told us are more beloved to Allah than almost anything else we could do throughout the entire year. This disconnect between what we claim to believe and how we actually behave is something we need to confront honestly. I want to also address something that might be lingering in some of your minds right now, which is the question of why physical striving, why fighting in the path of Allah, is used as the comparison point in this hadith. Why not compare these 10 days to fasting the entire month of Ramadan, or to performing Umrah, or to some other significant act of worship. I believe there is wisdom in choosing this particular comparison, because striving in the path of Allah represents the height of sacrifice, commitment, and risk. It represents a person putting everything on the line—their comfort, their safety, their very life—for the sake of something greater than themselves. By comparing these 10 days to that level of sacrifice, And then saying that ordinary deeds performed within these 10 days are equal to or greater than that sacrifice. Allah is telling us something remarkable about the value of consistency and sincerity over sheer intensity or drama. You do not need to go to war. You do not need to risk your life. You simply need to engage sincerely, consistently, and wholeheartedly with the acts of worship available to you during these 10 days. And the reward you receive can rival even the greatest sacrifices a person could make. This is an incredible mercy, and it should fill our hearts with gratitude rather than despair. Because let's be honest, my brothers and sisters, most of us will never be called to fight in the path of Allah in the way that early Muslims were. Most of us will never face that kind of test, that kind of extreme circumstance. And so for a long time, it might have felt like the highest levels of reward were simply out of reach. For ordinary people living ordinary lives. But this hadith flips that entirely. It tells us that within these 10 days, ordinary people living ordinary lives, engaging in ordinary acts of worship, done sincerely and consistently, can reach levels of reward that rival the greatest sacrifices imaginable. This is not a small thing. This is a profound statement about accessibility, about mercy, about the fact that Allah has made the path to immense reward available to every single one of us. Regardless of our circumstances, let's think about who benefits from this. The person working a regular job, coming home tired every evening, still has access to these 10 days and the immense reward they carry. The parent juggling the responsibilities of raising children, managing a household, still has access to these 10 days. The student buried in coursework and exams, the elderly person with limited physical capacity, The person struggling with health issues, the person facing financial hardship, every single one of these individuals has equal access to the reward available within these 10 days. It does not require wealth. It does not require physical strength beyond what a person already has. It does not require special circumstances or privileged access. It simply requires sincerity, intention, and a willingness to engage. This is why I always encourage people to see these 10 days not as a burden, not as an obligation weighing them down, but as an open door, an invitation extended by their Creator, a gift wrapped and waiting to be unwrapped. Allah is essentially saying to us, here is a period where I've made it easier for you to earn immense reward. Here is a period where your small deeds carry disproportionate weight. Here is a period designed specifically so that you do not have to wait for some dramatic, life-altering circumstance to prove your devotion. You can prove it right here, right now, within these 10 short days, through the ordinary rhythms of prayer, remembrance, charity, and sincerity. I also want us to reflect on the psychological and spiritual impact of knowing that a specific period carries such elevated status. There is something about deadlines, about limited windows of opportunity, that awakens a sense of urgency within us that ongoing, Open-ended opportunities often fail to produce. Think about how much more focused we become when we know a sale ends in a few hours, compared to a sale that runs indefinitely. Think about how much more we accomplish in the final days before a deadline, compared to when we have unlimited time. Allah in His wisdom has built this same psychological principle into our spiritual calendar. By giving us a defined limited window of 10 days, He is awakening within us a sense of urgency, that pushes us to actually engage, rather than perpetually postponing our worship to some vague future moment that may never come. This is something I want every single one of us to internalise deeply. Because how many of us live our spiritual lives with the intention of improving someday, of becoming more consistent someday, of increasing our worship someday without ever actually specifying when that someday will arrive? These 10 days force us to confront that vagueness. They say, the time is now. Not next month, not next year, not when things settle down, not when life becomes less busy. The time is now, within these 10 specific days. Because this is when the reward is at its peak, this is when Allah's mercy is most abundant, this is when the doors of opportunity are flung wide open, in a way that will not remain open indefinitely. I want to bring this back to something practical and heartfelt, because understanding the significance of these days is only the first step. The real transformation happens when this understanding moves us to action. When you know, truly know, deep in your heart, that these 10 days are more beloved to Allah than almost anything else, does that not change how you plan your schedule during this period? Does that not change how you speak to your family about prioritizing worship during these days? Does that not change how you to view small acts like a few extra units of prayer, a few extra pages of Quran, a few extra moments of remembrance, knowing that within this window, these small acts carry weight far beyond their apparent size. I think about how many people rush through these days without even realizing what they are missing. They go about their regular routines, perhaps vaguely aware that something significant is happening somewhere in the world as pilgrims gather for Hajj, but not truly connecting themselves to the spiritual current that flows through this period. And then the 10 days pass, and they realize, almost in retrospect, that they let an extraordinary opportunity slip through their fingers, an opportunity that will not return again until an entire year has passed. This is why I believe it is so important for us to talk about this, to remind each other, to prepare our hearts and our schedules in advance, So that when these 10 days arrive, we are ready. We are not scrambling at the last minute, trying to figure out what to do. We have already decided, already planned, already committed ourselves to making the most of this brief but incredibly potent window of time. Because once these 10 days begin, they will not wait for us to catch up. They move forward regardless of whether we are prepared or not, and at the end of them, we will either look back with satisfaction, —knowing we gave our best effort—or with regret, knowing we let something precious pass us by. So let this understanding settle into your heart today. Let it change the way you think about time, about worship, about opportunity. These are not just 10 ordinary days on a calendar. These are 10 days that Allah Himself has elevated above almost everything else. 10 days where sincere, consistent effort can outweigh the greatest sacrifices a person could make in ordinary circumstances. This is a mercy extended to every single one of us, regardless of our situation, our circumstances, our past shortcomings. All that is required is that we recognize the value of what is being offered, and that we choose wholeheartedly to seize it. Let me also address something that I think holds many of us back, and that is the feeling that we need to do something extraordinary, something grand, something visible, In order for these 10 days to feel meaningful. I meet so many people who tell me they wish they could go for Hajj this year. They wish they had the means to make some huge gesture, some dramatic act of worship that would mark these days as truly special. And while striving for the ability to perform Hajj is a noble goal, I want to gently remind you that the beauty of these 10 days is that they do not require grandeur. They do not require a plane ticket, a visa, or years of savings. They simply require presence. They require showing up, in whatever capacity you are able, with sincerity in your heart. Think about the person who cannot travel anywhere, who is confined to their home due to illness or responsibility, who feels disconnected from the grand scenes of pilgrims circling the Kaaba or standing on the plains of Arafah. I want that person to know, clearly and without doubt, that these 10 days belong to them just as much as they belong to anyone standing in Mecca. The reward available within this window is not reserved for those who are physically present at the sacred sites. It is available to every sincere heart, wherever that heart may be located on the face of this earth. A person sitting quietly in their room, engaging in remembrance of Allah, holds within their reach the very same elevated reward that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم spoke about, the reward that surpasses even the sacrifice of a fighter in the path of Allah, except for the one who gives everything. This should bring immense comfort to those among us who often feel like they are on the outside looking in, in, during major moments in the Islamic calendar, whether it is Ramadan, whether it is Hajj season, There can be a quiet sense of longing, a feeling of missing out on something bigger than ourselves. But these 10 days remind us that proximity to a physical location is not what determines the value of our worship. Sincerity is what determines value. Consistency is what determines value. The condition of the heart is what determines value. And these things are available to every single person, in every single circumstance, regardless of geography, regardless of wealth, regardless of physical ability. I also want to reflect on how this understanding should shape the way we speak to our children, our families, and our communities as these days approach each year. So often, our conversations around Islamic occasions become focused purely on logistics—what food will be prepared, what clothes will be worn, what visits will be made—without much conversation about the spiritual weight of the occasion itself. I want to encourage all of us to shift that conversation. Imagine sitting down with your children before these 10 days begin and explaining to them, in language they can understand, that these are the most beloved days to Allah in the entire year. Imagine explaining to them why that is, walking them through the story, the wisdom, the mercy embedded within this period. What kind of impact would that have on a young heart? Growing up with the understanding that these days are not just about festivities but about a rare and precious opportunity to draw close to their Creator. I think about how much of our religious understanding gets passed down through repetition without explanation, through rituals performed without a full grasp of their meaning. And I believe moments like this, moments of genuine reflection on why something matters, are what transform surface-level practice into deep-rooted conviction. When a person understands the "why" behind an act of worship, their engagement with that act transforms entirely. It is no longer a box to check, a tradition to follow, simply because it has always been followed. It becomes something alive, something meaningful, something they actively look forward to, rather than passively endure. This is exactly what I hope happens for every single person listening to this today. I hope that the next time these 10 days approach, you do not simply notice them on a calendar and think, "Ah yes, Hajj season is coming," and move on with your day. I hope instead that something stirs within you—a sense of anticipation, a sense of readiness, a recognition that a rare and precious door is about to open. And that you have already decided in advance exactly how you plan to walk through it. Let's also take a moment to reflect on how this teaching addresses something deeply human, which is our tendency to compare ourselves to others and to feel discouraged when we cannot match the achievements or sacrifices of those we admire. Perhaps you know someone who has fought for a righteous cause, who has given up comfort and safety for something greater than themselves, And perhaps quietly, you have felt that your own efforts pale in comparison, that your ordinary life of work and family and daily responsibilities could never measure up to that kind of sacrifice. This teaching about these 10 days directly addresses that quiet insecurity. It tells us that within this specific window, our ordinary efforts sincerely offered can rival even that extraordinary sacrifice. This is not meant to diminish the value of those who give everything for the sake of Allah . Rather, it is meant to lift up the rest of us, to show us that greatness in the sight of Allah is not reserved only for the extraordinary few, but is accessible to every sincere servant who takes advantage of the opportunities placed before them. I want you to carry this thought with you as these days approach each year. You do not need to compare your circumstances to anyone else's. You do not need to feel that because you cannot perform Hajj this year, because you cannot give large sums in charity, because you cannot fast every single day due to health reasons, that you are somehow excluded from the immense reward available during this period. Whatever capacity you have, however small it may seem to you, offered sincerely within these 10 days, holds a value that Allah alone can truly measure, and based on what we have learnt, that value may very well exceed what we could imagine. I also want to touch on something about the nature of gratitude, and how it relates to this period. When we recognise that Allah has given us an opportunity this significant, an opportunity this accessible, an opportunity that requires nothing more from us, than sincerity and effort within our own individual capacity, our natural response should be overwhelming gratitude. Not the kind of gratitude that stays as a fleeting feeling, but the kind of gratitude that translates into action, into a genuine desire to make the most of what has been given to us. Think about how we respond when someone offers us something valuable in our worldly lives—a scholarship, a business opportunity, a chance encounter that could change our circumstances for the better. We do not simply feel grateful and move on. We act. We follow through. We make plans. We put in the effort required to actually benefit from what has been offered. I believe our response to these 10 days should mirror that same energy. Gratitude that moves us to action. Appreciation that translates into genuine effort. Recognition of a gift that compels us to actually use it, rather than let it sit unopened. As we come to the heart of what these 10 days represent, I want to leave you with this thought. Every year this window opens for us again, a fresh chance, a renewed invitation from our Creator to draw close to Him, in a way that carries reward beyond our full comprehension. It does not matter what happened in the previous months, whether we were consistent or inconsistent in our worship, whether we feel spiritually strong or spiritually depleted, These 10 days arrive regardless, offering every single one of us the same open door, the same immense opportunity, the same mercy extended without condition beyond sincerity and effort. Let us not be among those who let this door close without having walked through it. Let us not be among those who recognize the value of this period only after it has passed, filled with regret over missed opportunities. Instead, let us be among those who prepare, who plan, who anticipate, and who ultimately act, so that when these 10 days conclude each year, we can look back with hearts full of gratitude, knowing we did not let this precious window pass us by unnoticed. There is one more reflection I want to leave with you before we move forward, and it concerns the way time itself seems to bend around moments of true significance. 10 days, on paper, is nothing. It is a fraction of a fraction of our lives. And yet we have just spent considerable time exploring how these 10 days carry weight that outmeasures months and years of ordinary effort. This tells us something about how Allah views time itself—not as a uniform, unchanging measure, but as something that can be infused with extraordinary value depending on what is placed within it. This should encourage every one of us to stop underestimating what can be accomplished in short bursts of sincere effort. So often we tell ourselves that real change, real spiritual growth, requires long stretches of time—months of consistency, years of discipline—before we can expect any meaningful transformation. And while consistency over time certainly has its own immense value, these 10 days teach us that short, focused, sincere effort offered within the right window can produce results that rival lifetimes of ordinary practice. This is a lesson that extends beyond just this specific period. It teaches us to never underestimate the power of showing up fully, even briefly, when the moment calls for it. I want you to imagine, just for a moment, the scene that unfolds each year during these 10 days across the world. Millions of pilgrims gathering in white garments, stripped of worldly distinction, standing shoulder to shoulder regardless of wealth or status, all directing their hearts toward the same Creator. And simultaneously, in homes and mosques and quiet corners across every continent, countless other believers who could not make that physical journey are engaging in their own version of devotion, their own fasting, their own charity, their own remembrance. All connected by this same thread of opportunity that Allah has extended to the entire Ummah during this specific window of time. There is something deeply unifying about this image, something that should fill our hearts with a sense of belonging to something much larger than our individual lives. And so, as we prepare to move forward into understanding exactly what these 10 days ask of us, into the practical steps we can take to maximize what they offer. I want this foundational understanding to remain firmly planted in your heart. These are not ordinary days; they are the most beloved days of the entire year in the sight of Allah . They offer reward that can rival even the greatest sacrifices imaginable. And they are accessible to every single one of us, regardless of our circumstances, our location, or our past shortcomings. Let this truth settle deeply within you, And let it become the fuel that drives genuine, sincere action. When these blessed days finally arrive, may we all be among those who recognize the value of these blessed days, who prepare our hearts and our intentions in advance, and who make the most of every single moment within this sacred window of time.