The First Ten Days of Dhul Hijjah: The Best Days of the Year

Most Muslims know that the last ten nights of Ramadan are the best nights of the year. Far fewer know that the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah are described in the reports as the best days, and that almost nothing in them requires being on Hajj.

Ibn Abbas reported that the Prophet said: there are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten days. The companions asked, not even jihad in the path of Allah? He answered, not even that, except a man who goes out with himself and his wealth and returns with nothing.

When They Are

Dhul Hijjah is the twelfth month of the Hijri calendar. The ten days run from the first of the month to the tenth, which is Eid al-Adha. The ninth is the Day of Arafah, and the tenth is the day of sacrifice.

Because the Hijri months are lunar, the dates shift roughly eleven days earlier each Gregorian year. It is worth checking a Hijri calendar at the end of Dhul Qadah so the first day does not pass unnoticed, which is the ordinary way these ten days are missed.

Fasting

Fasting any of the first nine days is recommended, and the ninth — the Day of Arafah — carries the report that it expiates the year before and the year after. Hafsa reported that the Prophet used to fast the nine days of Dhul Hijjah, and Aisha reported not seeing him fast them; scholars have generally reconciled the two by taking his practice as varying, and the recommendation stands on the broader report about righteous deeds in these days.

The tenth is Eid al-Adha, and fasting on it is not permitted. Neither are the three days of Tashriq that follow it. These are days of eating.

The Takbir

Two forms of takbir belong to this month, and they are easy to confuse.

The unrestricted takbir, takbir mutlaq, runs through all ten days at any time — walking, working, waiting. Al-Bukhari records that Ibn Umar and Abu Hurayrah used to go out to the market during these ten days saying the takbir aloud, and people would say it because they heard them. That detail is the practice: it was audible, and it spread by being audible.

The restricted takbir, takbir muqayyad, is said after each obligatory prayer from the dawn of the Day of Arafah until the afternoon of the thirteenth. The wording commonly used is: Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, la ilaha illa Allah, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, wa lillahi'l-hamd.

The Sacrifice

Eid al-Adha and the three days after it are the time of udhiyah — the sacrifice commemorating the ransom of Ibrahim's son. The animal is divided by the widespread practice into three: the household, relatives and neighbours, and those in need.

Umm Salamah reported that the Prophet said whoever intends to sacrifice should not remove anything from their hair or nails once Dhul Hijjah has begun, until they have sacrificed. The schools read the instruction differently — the Shafi'i and Hanbali schools treat it as binding to varying degrees, while the Hanafi school reads it as recommended rather than required — so what your own school holds is worth confirming rather than assuming.

What to Actually Do With Ten Days

The report does not name a special act. It says righteous deeds, without qualification, which is unusual and is the point: whatever good you already know how to do counts more in this window than at any other time of year.

So the honest answer is that these ten days reward whatever you would have done anyway, done more deliberately. The prayers you already pray, prayed on time. The Quran you already read, read daily. Charity you were going to give, given now. A relative you have not called. A debt you have not settled.

Choosing one thing and holding it for ten days will do more than an ambitious plan abandoned on the third. The days are short and they arrive once a year.

Why These Days and Not Others

The last ten nights of Ramadan contain Laylat al-Qadr, a single night better than a thousand months, and their weight is in the nights. The first ten days of Dhul Hijjah carry the Day of Arafah and the day of sacrifice, and their weight is in the days.

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani noted that what distinguishes this period is that the principal acts of worship — prayer, fasting, charity, and pilgrimage — all come together in it, which happens in no other stretch of the year. That combination, not any single act, is the reason the reports rank these days as they do.