O people: One of the greatest blessings that God Almighty has bestowed upon Muslims is the seasons He has prescribed for them to draw closer to Him through acts of obedience and the acquisition of good deeds, and the pardon, forgiveness, and mercies that He bestows upon them.
Praise be to God, who guided His servants to the laws, bestowed upon them the rituals, and guided them to the gates of goodness and the acquisition of good deeds. We praise Him greatly, and thank Him with ever greater gratitude, and I bear witness that there is no god but God alone, with no partner. He preferred the ten days of Dhul-Hijjah to all other days, and the Hajj to the Sacred House was initiated during it, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. He performed one Hajj in which he bid farewell to his nation, clarified the rights, and glorified the sanctities. May God’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family, companions, and followers with goodness until the Day of Judgment.
As for afterSo fear God Almighty, adhere to His command, commit to obeying Him, and refrain from disobeying Him. For there is no salvation for the servant or the farmer except with the pleasure of God Almighty, and whoever is sincere in seeking His satisfaction, He will be pleased with him and please him. {God said, “This is a day when the truthful will benefit the truthful. For them will be gardens under which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever.” May God be pleased with them. And they were satisfied with that great victory.} [المائدة: 119].
PeopleAmong the great blessings that God Almighty has bestowed on Muslims are the seasons He has prescribed for them to draw closer to Him through obedience and the acquisition of good deeds, and the pardon, forgiveness, and mercies that are bestowed therein, and the believers’ freedom from Hellfire. By the life of God, this is the greatest blessing by which a believer can be distinguished from an unbeliever, an acquiescent one from an averse one, and an acquiescent one from an arrogant one. Otherwise, they are equal in the blessings of this world. Among them are the poor and the rich, the sick and the healthy, the afflicted and the healthy. {Indeed, those who are in the fear of their Lord are compassionate * and those who believe in the signs of their Lord * and those who associate no partners with their Lord * and those They give what they have given, and their hearts are fearful that to their Lord they will return. * These are those who hasten to good deeds and are precedent in them.} [المؤمنون: 60-61].
The Hajj season is a season of great destiny, great benefit, and great reward {That they may witness benefits for themselves and mention the name of God in appointed days for what He has provided for them of livestock.} [الحج: 28]The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “The accepted Hajj has no reward except Paradise.» (Narrated by the two Sheikhs), And he, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “Whoever performs Hajj for the sake of God and does not commit obscenity or disobedience, his return will be as on the day his mother gave birth to him.» (Narrated by the two sheikhs).
The Hajj, which God Almighty made obligatory once in a lifetime, and which He legislated to perform voluntarily, has a close connection to the month of Ramadan and the obligation of fasting, in many ways:
Fasting and Hajj are two of the pillars of Islam, and they are successive in their order in the hadiths. They are the other two pillars of Islam. God Almighty made clear in the Qur’an to the believers the month of fasting, and made it clear that it was the time of the revelation of the Qur’an, and He, Glory be to Him, said: {The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast it.} [البقرة: 185]While he said during Hajj {Hajj is a well-known month} [البقرة: 197]He did not name it to them because they knew it. It is one of the heritage of Hebron, peace be upon him, and the polytheists knew it. Fasting Ramadan is a preparation for Hajj. Therefore, the months of Hajj immediately following Ramadan began with Shawwal. Because people used to come from all corners of the earth on animals, and they would ride by sea in countries that were cut off by a sea from the Arabian Peninsula, and they would stay on their Hajj journey for a month or two, or more.
Among the close connections between Ramadan and Hajj: Umrah in Ramadan is equivalent to Hajj. As the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said to a woman who missed Hajj: “So when Ramadan comes, perform Umrah, for Umrah is equivalent to Hajj.» (Narrated by Muslim). Fasting the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah is a good deed, which the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, told us that it is better in ten days of Dhul-Hijjah than in any other time, and he urged those who do not stop at Arafat to fast that great day, so he, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said:
“Fasting on the Day of Arafat, hoping that God will atone for the year before it and the year after it.» (Narrated by Muslim) ; In Ramadan, there is obligatory fasting, and in Hajj, there is certain voluntary fasting, and likewise in Hajj, it is a substitute for fasting for some rituals. This is because the person performing tamattu must have a sacrificial animal, and if he does not find a sacrificial animal, he fasts instead according to the text of the Qur’an {So whoever performs the Umrah until the Hajj, then whatever sacrificial animal he can afford, and whoever does not find it, then fast for three days during the Hajj and seven when you return those days. A full ten, that is for those whose family were not present at the Sacred Mosque.} [البقرة: 196].
Among the close connections between Ramadan and Hajj: The end of fasting is a feast, just as the end of Hajj is a feast, and Muslims do not have a yearly feast other than the two; Eid al-Fitr is a joy in completing the Ramadan fast, and Eid al-Adha is a joy in completing the Hajj for pilgrims. This is because most of the Hajj is done on the day of Eid al-Adha. He is also happy about the ease of standing at Arafat, which is the greatest pillar of Hajj. Whoever misses standing at Arafat with or without an excuse has missed Hajj. He also rejoices for the people of the regions with success for good deeds on the best days of the world, and in which he draws closer to God Almighty by slaughtering sacrifices.
Among the close connections between Ramadan and Hajj: That in both there is spending and feeding; In Ramadan, it is Sunnah to break the fast. As in the hadith of Zaid bin Khaled Al-Juhani, may God be pleased with him, he said: The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “Whoever breaks the fast for a fasting person will have a reward similar to his, except that it will not detract from the reward of the fasting person in the slightest.» (Narrated by Al-Tirmidhi) He said: A good and authentic hadith. Also, spending in Ramadan is better than spending in other days. According to the hadith of Ibn Abbas, may God be pleased with them both, he said: “The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, was the most generous of people. The best what It will be in Ramadan» (Narrated by the two Sheikhs), Concerning Hajj, the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said to Aisha, may God be pleased with her, during her Umrah after her Hajj: “Indeed, you will have a reward proportional to your deeds and your expenses.» (Narrated by Al-Hakim and authenticated by Muslim.) In the hadith of Jabir, may God be pleased with him, he said: “The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, was asked: What is the righteousness of Hajj? He said: “Providing food and good speech» (Narrated by Al-Hakim and authenticated by him).
On the feasts of Ramadan and Hajj, there is food for the people and enrichment for the poor. On Eid al-Fitr, Zakat al-Fitr is obligatory for every Muslim who finds it. According to the words of Ibn Umar, may God be pleased with them both: “It was imposed by the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace Zakat al-Fitr is a saa’ of dates or a saa’ of barley, on the slave and the free, the male and the female, the young and the old among Muslims. He ordered it to be performed before the people went out to pray.» Narrated by the two sheikhs. Regarding the sacrifices, God Almighty said: {So eat of it and feed the poor person.} [الحج: 28]And God Almighty said: {So eat from it and feed the contented and the freed.} [الحج: 36]The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said regarding the sacrifices: “So eat, save, and give in charity» (Narrated by Muslim).
As for what follows: Fear God and obey Him {And fear the Fire which has been prepared for the disbelievers * and obey God and the Messenger that you may receive mercy.} [آل عمران: 131- 132].
O Muslims: From the close connection between Ramadan and Hajj: That in both of them there is remembrance, supplication, and the Qur’an. Ramadan is the month of the Qur’an, and it was revealed on the Night of Destiny. As God Almighty said: {Indeed, We sent it down on the Night of Decree} [القدر: 1]And during the verses of fasting, God Almighty says: {And when My servants ask you about Me, then I am near. I answer the call of the supplicant when he calls upon me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me, so that they may be guided.} [البقرة: 186]. The Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, told about three supplications that are answered, and he mentioned among them: the supplication of the fasting person. And he, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: “The fasting person has a supplication that will not be rejected when he breaks his fast.» (Narrated by Ibn Majah).
In Hajj there is a lot of dhikr, talbiyah and takbir, a supplication on al-Safa, a supplication on al-Marwah, a supplication in Muzdalifah at the dawn of sacrifice, a supplication after the minor Jamrat, a supplication after the middle Jamrat, and a supplication in Arafat from after noon until sunset, which is the most abundant, greatest, and most prestigious of them, where the Lord Almighty appears to the people of the situation, bragging about them to His angels, and responding to them. In addition to the types of dhikr, supplication, and reading the Qur’an during Tawaf, Sa’i, and the days of Mina, and in the hadith of Aisha, may God be pleased with her, she said: The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “The circumambulation of the Kaaba and between Safa and Marwah and the stoning of the pebbles were intended only to establish the remembrance of God.» (Narrated by Abu Dawud and Al-Tirmidhi and said: Hasan Sahih).
We – O servants of God – are at the gates of Hajj, and after a few days the month of its deeds will descend upon us, and in it are ten of the best days in the world. As in the hadith of Ibn Abbas, may God be pleased with them both, on the authority of the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, that he said: “There are no days in which good deeds are more beloved to God than these days.», Meaning: on the ten days, they said: O Messenger of God, not even jihad in the way of God? He said: “Not even jihad in the path of God, except for a man who went out with his life and his wealth, and did not return with anything of that.» (Narrated by Abu Dawud) In a narration by Al-Darimi, he, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “There is no deed more pure in the sight of God Almighty and no greater reward than the good one does it on the ten days of Eid al-Adha.»Saeed bin Jubayr, may God Almighty have mercy on him, said: “Do not put out your lamps on the ten nights, for worship is pleasing…». So be diligent and strive, and show God Almighty good from yourselves, for life is short, and death is closer to us than our jugular vein, and victory is the victory of the afterlife, and this world is the enjoyment of vanity.
Pray and greet your Prophet…