I am glad I have ALLAH SWT now. :)

Ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah

Narrated Ibn Abbas:


The Prophet said, "No good deeds done on other days are superior to those done on these (first ten days of Dhul Hijja)." Then some companions of the Prophet said, "Not even Jihad?" He replied, "Not even Jihad, except that of a man who does it by putting himself and his property in danger (for Allah's sake) and does not return with any of those things."

Allah (swt) swears an oath by them, and swearing an oath by something is indicative of its importance and great benefit.

The Prophet (pbuh) testified that these are the best days of this world, and encouraged people to do righteous deeds on these days.


Among the good deeds which the Muslim should strive to do during the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah are:

Fasting. It is Sunnah to fast on the ninth day of Dhu’l-Hijjah, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) urged us to do good deeds during this time, and fasting is one of the best of deeds.

Takbeer. It is Sunnah to say Takbeer ("Allahu akbar"), Tahmeed ("Al-hamdu Lillaah"), Tahleel ("La ilaha ill-Allah") and Tasbeeh ("Subhaan Allah") during the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah, and to say it loudly in the mosque, the home, the street and every place where it is permitted to remember Allah and mention His name out loud, as an act of worship and as a proclamation of the greatness of Allah, may He be exalted. Men should recite these phrases out loud, and women should recite them quietly.

Doing more good deeds in general, because good deeds are beloved by Allah and will bring a great reward from Him. Whoever is not able to go to Hajj should occupy himself at this blessed time by worshipping Allah, praying (salaat), reading Qur’an, remembering Allah, making supplication (du’aa’), giving charity, honoring his parents, upholding the ties of kinship, enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil, and other good deeds and acts of worship.

Sacrifice. One of the good deeds that will bring a person closer to Allah during these ten days is offering a sacrifice, by choosing a high-quality animal and fattening it, spending money for the sake of Allah.

Sincere repentance. One of the most important things to do during these ten days is to repent sincerely to Allah and to give up all kinds of disobedience and sin.

Repentance means coming back to Allah and foregoing all the deeds, open and secret, that He dislikes, out of regret for what has passed, giving it up immediately and being determined never to return to it, but to adhere firmly to the Truth by doing what Allah loves.



There is much to be gained, so make the most of the opportunity afforded by these invaluable and irreplaceable ten days. Hasten to do good works, before death strikes, before one can regret one’s negligence and failure to act, before one is asked to return to a place where no prayers will be answered, before death intervenes between the hopeful one and the things he hopes for, before you are trapped with your deeds in the grave.

Ramadan Dua: DAY 1


ALLAH, on this day make my fasts the fasts of those

who fast (sincerely),

and my standing up in prayer of those who stand up in

prayer (obediently) , awaken me in it from the sleep

of the heedless, and forgive me my sins , OGod of the

worlds, and forgive me, O one who forgives the

sinners.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 2

ALLAH, on this day, take me closer towards Your

pleasure, keep me away from

Your anger and punishment, grant me the opportunity to

recite Your verses(of the Qur'an), by Your mercy, O

the most Merciful.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 3

ALLAH, on this day, grant me wisdom and awareness,

keep me away from

foolishness and pretension, grant me a share in every

blessing You send

down, by You generosity, O the most Generous.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 4

ALLAH, on this day, strengthen me in carrying out Your

commands, let me

taste the sweetness of Your remembrance, grant me,

through Your

graciousness, that I give thanks to You. Protect me,

with Your protection

and cover, O the most discerning of those who see.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 5

ALLAH, on this day, place me among those who seek

forgiveness. Place me

among Your righteous and obedient servants, and place

me among Your close

friends, by Your kindness, O the most Merciful.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 6

ALLAH, on this day, do not let me abase myself by

incurring Your

disobedience, and do not strike me with the whip of

Your punishment, keep

me away from the causes of Your anger, by and Your

power, O the ultimate

wish of those who desire.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 7

ALLAH, on this day, help me with its fasts and

prayers, and keep me away

from mistakes and sins of the day, grant me that I

remember You continuously through the day, by Your assistance,

the Guide of those who stray.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 8

ALLAH, on this day, let me have mercy on the orphans,

and feed [the

hungry], and spread peace, and keep company with the

noble-minded, O the

shelter of the hopeful.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 9

ALLAH, on this day, grant me a share from Your mercy

which is wide, guide

me towards Your shining proofs, lead me to Your all

encompassing pleasure,

by Your love, O the hope of the desirous.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 10

ALLAH, on this day, make me, among those who rely on

You, from those who

You consider successful, and place me among those who

are near to you, by

Your favor, O goal of the seekers.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 11

ALLAH, on this day, make me love goodness, and dislike

corruption and

disobedience, bar me from anger and the fire [of

Hell], by Your help, O the

helper of those who seek help



Ramadan Dua: DAY 12

ALLAH, on this day, beautify me with covering and

chastity, cover me with

the clothes of contentment and chastity, let me adhere

to justice and

fairness, and keep me safe from all that I fear, by

Your protection, O the

protector of the frightened.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 13

ALLAH, on this day, purify me from un-cleanliness and

dirt, make me patient

over events that are decreed, grant me the ability to

be pious, and keep

company with the good, by Your help, O the beloved of

the destitute.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 14

ALLAH, on this day, do not condemn me for slips, make

me decrease mistakes

and errors, do not make me a target for afflictions

and troubles, by Your

honor, O the honor of the Muslims.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 15






Ramadan Dua: DAY 16



ALLAH, on this day, grant me compatibility with the

good, keep me away from

patching up with the evil, lead me in it, by Your

mercy, to the permanent

abode, by Your God ship, O the God of the worlds.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 17

ALLAH, on this day, guide me towards righteous

actions, fulfill my needs

and hopes, O One who does not need explanations nor

questions, O One who

knows what is in the chests of the (people of the)

world. Bless Muhammad

and his family, the Pure.

Ramadan Dua: DAY 18

ALLAH, on this day, make me love goodness, and dislike

corruption and

disobedience, bar me from anger and the fire [of

Hell], by Your help, O the

helper of those who seek help.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 19

ALLAH, on this day, multiply for me its blessings, and

ease my path towards

its bounties, do not deprive me of the acceptance of

its good deeds, O the

Guide towards the clear truth.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 20

ALLAH, on this day, open for me the doors of the

heavens, and lock the

doors of Hell from me, help me to recite the Qur'an, O

the One who sends

down tranquility into the hearts of believers.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 21

ALLAH, on this day, show me the way to win Your

pleasure, do not let

Shaytan have a means over me, make Paradise an abode

and a resting place

for me, O the One who fulfills the requests of the

needy.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 22

ALLAH, on this day, open for me the doors of Your

Grace, send down on me

its blessings, help me towards the causes of Your

mercy, and give me a

place in the comforts of Paradise, O the one who

answers the call of the

distressed.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 23

ALLAH, on this day, wash away my sins, purify me from

all flaws, examine my

heart with (for) the piety of the hearts, O One who

overlooks the

shortcomings of the sinners.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 24

ALLAH, on this day, I ask You for what pleases You,

and I seek refuge in

You from what displeases You, I ask You to grant me

the opportunity to obey

You and not disobey You, O One who is generous with

those who ask



Ramadan Dua: DAY 25

ALLAH, on this day, make me among those who love Your

friends, and hate

Your enemies, following the way of Your last Prophet,

O the Guardian of the

hearts of the Prophets.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 26

ALLAH, on this day, make my efforts worthy of

appreciation, and my sins

forgiven, my deeds accepted, my flaws concealed, O the

best of those who

hear.

Ramadan Dua: DAY 27

ALLAH, on this day, bestow on me the blessings of

Laylatul Qadr, change my

affairs from (being) difficult to (being) easy, accept

my apologies, and

decrease for me [my] sins and burdens, O the

Compassionate with His

righteous servants.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 28

ALLAH, on this day, grant me a share in its nawafil

(recommended prayers),

honor me by attending to my problems, make closer the

means to approach

You, from all the means, O One who is not preoccupied

by the requests of

the beseechers.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 29

O ALLAH, on this day, cover me with Your mercy, grant

me in it success and

protection, purify my heart from the darkness of false

accusations, O the

Merciful to His believing servants.



Ramadan Dua: DAY 30



O ALLAH, on this day, make my fasts worthy of

appreciation and acceptance,

according to what pleases You, and pleases the

Messenger, the branches

being strengthened by the roots, for the sake of our

leader, Muhammad, and

his purified family. Praise be to ALLAH, the Lord of

the worlds.

Part of Iman

Got this article from a blog. :)

Branches of Iman


RasoolALLAH (sallallaho alaihe wasallam) has said, "Iman has more than seventy (according to some, seventy seven) branches, of which the most important is the recitation of , and the least one is to remove some obstacle (stone, wood, thorn, etc) from the way; and modesty also is a special requisite of Iman."

Note:

modesty has been specially mentioned, because it serves as a safeguard against many sins like adultery, theft, fear of bad reputation leads to virtuous acts: in fact, fear of getting a bad name in this as well as in the next life actuates a man towards all good deeds, including of course Salat, hajj, Zakat, etc, and obedience in all respects to "be shameless and do whatever you like." there is also one Hadith to this effect


"if you do not feel ashamed, you will do whatever you like." the fact is that we abstain from misdeeds for fear of one think, "if i do not offer Salat, i will face disgrace in the hereafter." but if one has lost all sense of shame, he will say "what does it matter if others call me low?"


according to the above-mentioned Hadith, there are more than seventy branches of Iman. In many Ahadith, this number is given as seventy-seven. Scholars have written detailed commentaries on these seventy seven branches. Imam abu Hatim bin Hibban (rahmatullah alaih) wrote, "i contemplated on the meaning of this Hadith for a long time. When i counted the forms of prayers, the number far exceeded seventy-seven. If i counted the things which are specially mentioned in the Ahadith as branches of Iman, their number was less. The things counted as part of Iman in the holy Quran as well as the Hadith, agreed with this number. I therefore concluded that the above-mentioned Hadith implied all these things."

Qazi Iyaz (rahmatullah alaih) writes, some people have made special efforts to give details of these branches of Iman by means of Ijtihad, but failure to know all these details does not mean any defect in one's Iman, as its basic principles (with their details) are so well known. Khattaabi (rahmatullah alaih) says that full details of the exact number is known only to Allah and his apostle, but they are there in the Islamic code (Shariyat), and therefore it does not matter if their details are not known.


Imam Nauwi (rahmatullah alaih) has written that the prophet (sallallaho alaihe wasallam) has said that Kalma Tauheed i.e. Is the most important branch of Iman. This proves that it is the highest thing in Iman, and that no other branch of Iman is superior to it. Thus, belief in Tauheed is the most important essential of Iman and is incumbent on every believer. The least thing (in the order of merit) is the removal of anything that is likely to cause obstruction or inconvenience to any Muslim. The degree of importance of all the remaining essentials of Iman lies in between the two; it is enough to believe in them in a general way just as it is necessary to believe in the angels in a general way without knowing their names and details. Some Muhaddith have however written books about their details. Abu Abdullah Haleemi (rahmatullah alaih) wrote a book, Fawaaidul Minhaaj on this topic, Jaleel (rahmatullah alaih) wrote books which they called Shu-abul Iman. Ishaq Qurtubi (rahmatullah alaih) wrote Kitabun nasaa-'ih and imam abu Hatim wrote "Wasful Iman wa shu-abihi."

the commentators of Bukhari, the most famous collection of Ahadith, have summarized the contents of these books at one place. The gist of this summary is that complete Iman in reality consists of three components: firstly, confirmation by heart of all the essentials of Iman, secondly, confirmation by word of mouth; and thirdly, confirmation by our physical actions. Thus, the branches of Iman are divided into three categories, the first of which concern the intention, belief and action of the heart, the second concern the use of the tongue, and the third concern all the remaining parts of the body. All the things of Iman are included in these three categories. The first category includes thirty articles of faith, as follows:



1. To believe in Allah-in his being and his attributes, and that he is one, has no partner, and that there is no one like him.



2. To believe that all things excepts him, were created afterwards by him, and that only he has been afterwards by him, and that only he has been there forever.



3. To believe in the angels.



4. To believe in the revealed books.



5. To believe in the apostles of Allah.



6. To believe in destiny, i.e. Whether good or bad, it is ordained by Allah.



7. To believe in the life after death, including interrogation in the life after death, including interrogation in the grave, punishment in the grave, resurrection, the day of Judgment, rendering account of ones deeds, and passing over the bridge of Sirat.



8. To believe in the existence of paradise, and that (by the grace of almighty Allah) the believers will live in it forever.



9. To believe in the existence of hell, with its severest punishments, and that it will last for ever.



10. To love almighty Allah.



11. To love or hate other people for the pleasure of Allah (i.e. To love the pious and hate the disobedient ones). It includes, of course, loving the Sahabah, specially Muhajirs, Ansars, and descendants of RasoolALLAH (sallallaho alaihe wasallam).



12. To love RasoolALLAH (sallallaho alaihe wasallam), which include cherishing the highest esteem for him, offering Durood on him, and following the Sunnah i.e. His way of life.



13. To practice Ikhlaas, which includes avoiding show and hypocrisy.



14. To make Taubah i.e. To repent over one's sins from the core of the heart, and to be determined not to repeat them.



15. To fear almighty Allah.



16. To hope and pray for the mercy of Allah.



17. Not to despair of almighty Allah's mercy.



18. To remain thankful to Allah.



19. To be faithful in one's promise.



20. To exercise patience.



21. To show humility, which includes respect for the elders.



22. To show kindness and pity, which includes kindness to children.



23. To be resigned to one's fate.



24. To practice tawakkul i.e. To depend on almighty Allah.



25. To refrain from self-praise and self-aggrandizement. This includes self reformation also.



26. Not to harbor rancour and jealousy against others.



27. To cultivate modesty.



28. To restrain one's rage.



29. Not to deceive, cheat or suspect others.



30. To expel from one's heart the love of the worldly things, including that for wealth and status.



according to Allama Ayene, (rahmatullah alaih) this list covers all the functions of the heart. If anything is found apparently missing, a little thought will show that is covered by one item or the other of this list.



the second category includes the functions of the tongue, and there are seven essentials in this respect, as follows:



1. Recitation of Kalma Tayyibah.



2. Recitation of the holy Quran.



3. Acquisition of ilm (religious knowledge).



4. Propagation of religious knowledge to others.



5. Duua, i.e. Supplication.



6. Zikr of Allah, including Astaghfaar.



7. To abstain from loose and useless talk.



the third category includes bodily actions. In this respect, there are forty essentials which are divided into three parts. The first part which includes actions that relate to the self or person of an individual. These are sixteen, as follows:



1. Observing cleanliness of body, clothes and place. The cleanliness of body includes Wudu and obligatory bath, purification from menstruation and post-birth blood.



2. Offering Salat, including Fard, Nafil and Qaza Salat. This would mean offering and fulfilling its pre-requisites.



3. Giving Sadqah (charity), which includes Zakat, Sadqatul-fitr, voluntary alms, feeding people, entertaining guests, and liberating slaves.



4. Fasting, obligatory as well non-obligatory.



5. Performing Hajj, obligatory or non-obligatory. It includes making Umrah and Tawaf.



6. Aitekaf (remaining in a mosque in full devotion), which includes search for Lailat-ul-Qadr qadr.



7. Leaving one's home for the defense of the Deen. This includes Hijrat (migration for the sake of Allah).



8. Fulfilling one's offerings.



9. Stead fastness in one's oaths.



10. Payment of atonement money, if due.



11. Covering the essential parts of the body, as required by Islam, during Salat and outside Salat.



12. Offering of sacrifice and taking care of animals to be offered.



13. Making arrangements for the funeral.



14. Payment of debt.



15. Rectitude in dealings, and abstaining from usury.



16. Giving correct evidence, and not concealing the truth.



the second part, which includes action involving treatment with one's relatives and others, has six essentials:



1. Getting discharge as a safeguard against adultery.



2. To discharge obligation towards one's family members, servants and subordinates.



3. Good treatment towards one's parents, and being kind and obedient to them.



4. Bringing up one's children in a proper way.



5. Remaining on good terms with one's relatives.



6. Obeying one's elders, and following their advice.



the third part includes eighteen essentials, which relates to our social obligations to society in general:



1. To rule one's domain with justice.



2. To support the right party.



3. To obey the rulers, provided their orders are not against religion.



4. To work for the betterment of mutual relations, including punishing the wrong-doers and making Jihad against the rebels.



5. To help others in their noble deeds.



6. To enjoin the good and forbid the evil; it includes work and speech for propagation of religion.



7. To carry out the punishments enjoined by religion (for specific offences).



8. To take part in Jihad i.e. To fight in the path of Allah. It includes guarding the defense lines.



9. To pay off our dues and return amaanat; this includes payment of Khums (payment of tax equal to one fifth of the booty).



10. To lend (to the needy) and to pay back the debt.



11. To discharge our obligations to our neighbors, and to be kind and helpful to them.



12. To be fair in one's business dealings; it includes savings and earning in a lawful manner.



13. To be careful in expenditure; one should guard against extravagance as well as miserliness.



14. To make salaam and respond to the salaam.



15. To say (may Allah have mercy on you) when somebody happens to sneeze.



16. Not to be the cause of trouble and loss to others.



17. To avoid idle and useless pursuits.



18. To clear troublesome obstructions from the way.



the seventy-seven branches of Iman have been counted above. Some of these can be merged together, as for example earning and spending can be put together, under fair dealings. Careful consideration can enable one to cut down the total to seventy or sixty-seven, the numbers given in some Ahadith.

the above list has been prepared mainly from the commentary of Allama Ayene (rahmatullah alaih) on Bukhari Shareef, wherein these things are mentioned in their order of merit. Selection has been made also from other books, i.e. Fathul-Baari of ibn Hijr and Mirqaat of Allama Qari.

scholars have written that the implied essentials of Iman are as given above. One should ponder over these, and be thankful to almighty Allah for the good qualities acquired already, because all goodness is possible only through his grace and mercy. In case of deficiency in respect of any quality, one should strive for it and keep on praying that almighty Allah may grace him with his blessings.