Dear Islamic brothers! Dhū al-Ḥijjah is the last month of the Islamic year, and it is extremely sacred.

As narrated by the Companion Sayyiduna Abū SaꜤīd Khudri رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ, the final Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم declared, سَيِّدُ الشُّهُورِ رَمَضَانُ، وَأَعْظَمُهَا حُرْمَةً ذُو الْحِجَّةِ - “Ramaḍān is the chief of all months, and the greatest in sanctity is Dhū al-Ḥijjah.”^[1]

Another Companion, Sayyiduna KꜤab al-Aḥbār رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ, was known as Ḥafiẓ al-Kitābayn. This is because he was a scholar of both the Quran and the Torah. He once said:

Allah created time, and the four months of ḥurmah (Dhū al-QaꜤdah, Dhū al-Ḥijjah, Muḥarram and Rajab) are the most beloved times to Him. From these four months, He loves Dhū al-Ḥijjah most. From Dhū al-Ḥijjah, its initial ten days are most beloved to Him.^[2]

سُـبْحٰـنَ الـلّٰــه O those who Allah’s Messenger! The initial ten days of Dhū al-Ḥijjah are hugely blessed. They are very beloved to Allah, to the extent He has taken oath by them in the Quran.

وَ  الۡفَجۡرِ ۙ(۱) وَ  لَیَالٍ عَشۡرٍ ۙ(۲)

“By the oath of that dawn. And by the ten nights.”^[3]

According to one opinion, the ten nights mentioned in this verse refer to the initial ten nights of Dhū al-Ḥijjah.^[4] The fact Allah has taken oath by them, highlights how profoundly blessed, sacred and excellent they are.