Dhu al-Qa'dah (Dhul Qa'dah)

Dhu al-Hijjah (Dhul Hijjah) is the twelfth and final month in the
IslamicLunar Calendar, marking the end of the year. This is the last
sacred month in which fighting was forbidden. It is also known as
Zilhaj, Zulhijjah, Zul Hijjah.
Dhu al-Hijjah (Dhul Hijjah): Literally means 'Lord of the Pilgrimage'.
It is during this month in which the Hajj Pilgrimage takes place and
pilgrims from all around the world congregate at Makkah to visit the
Kaaba. The Hajj Pilgrimage is performed on the eighth, ninth and the
tenth of this month. Eid ul-Adha, the 'Festival of the Sacrifice' is
held onthe tenth day.
First ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah (Dhul Hijjah): Days of virtue and
righteous deeds
The sacred month of Dhu al-Hijjah (Dhul Hijjah) is one of the highly
blessed months. The pious and upright companions of the Holy Prophet
Muhammad (saw) and their first generation followers used to spend this
month in prayers andsupplications, particularlythe first ten
noteworthy days which have also been distinguished in Glorious Qur'an.
Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) had said that supplications made in these
10 days get a positive reply from Allah (SWT).
Ibn Abbas says about the Ayah in Surah Al-Baqarah, "Remember Allah
during the well known days," (2:203) thatit refers to the first ten
days of Dhul Hijjah. [This is related by al-Bukhari]
Allah (SWT) swears an oath by them, and swearing an oath by something
is indicative of its importance and great benefit. Allah (SWT)says in
Glorious Qur'an:"By the dawn; by the ten nights" [Surah Al-Fajr,
89:1-2]. Ibn Abbas, Ibn al-Zubayr, Mujahid and others of the earlier
and later generations said that this refers to the firstten days of
Dhul Hijjah. Ibn Katheer said: "This is the correct opinion." [Tafseer
Ibn Katheer, 8/413]
Praise be to Allah (SWT) Who has created Time and has made some
timesbetter than others, some months and days and nights better than
others,when rewards are multiplied many times, asa mercy towards His
slaves. This encourages them to do more righteous deeds and makes them
more eager to worship Him, so that the Muslim renews his efforts to
gain a greater share of reward, prepare himself for death and supply
himself in readiness for the Day of Judgement.
This season of worship brings many benefits, such as the opportunity
to correct ones faults andmake up for any shortcomings or anything
that one might have missed. Every one ofthese special occasions
involves some kind of worship through which the slaves may draw closer
to Allah (SWT), and some kind of blessing though which Allah
(SWT)bestows His favour and mercy upon whomsoeverHe will. The happy
personis the one who makes themost of these special months, days and
hours and draws nearer to his Lord during these times through acts of
worship; he will most likely be touched by the blessing of Allah (SWT)
and will feel the joy of knowing that he is safe from the flames of
Hell. [Ibn Rajab, al-Lataaif, p.8]
1. Makkah at the center ofthe earth
2. Makkah during ProphetAbraham (pbuh)
3. Makkah during Qosai, great Grandfather of Holy Prophet Muhammad
(saw), year 157 before Hijrah .
4. Makkah during Quraish,year 12 before Hijrah.
5. Makkah during Omayied Era, year 91 Hijrah.
6. Makkah during Abbasied Era, year 310 Hijrah.
7. Makkah during Ottoman Empire, year 1215 Hijrah.
8. Makkah during King Fahd bin Abdul-Aziz, year 1412 Hijrah.
The approximate locationof a hundred countries inrelation to Kaaba.
They classified into three categories with respect to their proximity
to the Kaaba.

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The Guard Who FoundIslam

From the magazine issuedated Mar 30, 2009
Army specialist Terry Holdbrooks had been a guard at Guantanamo for
about six months the night he had his life-altering conversation with
detainee 590, a Moroccan also known as"the General." This was early
2004, about halfway through Holdbrooks's stint at Guantanamo with the
463rd Military Police Company. Until then, he'd spent most of his day
shifts just doing his duty. He'd escort prisoners to interrogations or
walk up and down the cellblock making sure they weren't passing notes.
But the midnight shifts were slow. "The only thing you really hadto do
was mop the center floor," he says. So Holdbrooks began spending part
of the night sitting cross-legged on the ground, talking to detainees
through the metal mesh of their cell doors.
He developed a strong relationship with the General, whose real name
is Ahmed Errachidi. Their late-night conversations led Holdbrooks to
be more skeptical about theprison, he says, and made him think harder
about his own life. Soon,Holdbrooks was ordering books on Arabic and
Islam. During an evening talk with Errachidi in early 2004, the
conversation turned to the shahada, the one-line statement of faith
that marks the single requirement for converting to Islam ("There is
no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet"). Holdbrooks pushed a pen
and an index card through the mesh, and asked Errachidi to write out
the shahada in English and transliterated Arabic. He then uttered the
words aloud and, there on the floor of Guantanamo's Camp Delta, became
a Muslim.

Junaid Baghdadi and Love for Allah

Once at the time of Hajj, there was a gathering inMecca of some
friends ofAllah; the youngest among whom was Junaid Baghdadi (ra). In
that gathering, there was a discussion on the subject of 'Love for
Allah'and as to who is the lover of Allah. Many of them expressed
their views on the subject, butJunaid (ra) kept quiet. He was pressed
to say something.
With his head bowed down and tears in his eyes, he said, "The lover of
Allah is he who forgets his own self, remains engaged in Allah's
remembrance with due regard to all itsrequirements; sees Allah with
the eyes of his heart, which is burnt by the heat of Allah's fear;
Allah's remembrance affects him like a cup of wine, he speaks the word
of Allah as if All-Mighty Allah speaks through his mouth; if he moves,
he does so underthe command of Allah; he gets peace of mind only
through the obedience of Allah; and when such a stage is reached, his
eating, drinking, sleeping, awakening and, in short,all his actions
are for thepleasure of Allah; he neither pays heed to the worldly
customs, nor does he attach any importance to unfriendly criticism by
people."

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Allah's Signature on Mountains

Unfortunately, today many of the "smartest" people of this world deny
the existence of God. Suppose one of them walks by a mountain and see
that there is a tent on top of the mountain. Immediately he will think
that someone went up there and madethe tent. He won't think that the
tent formed itself. You and I also won't think that some sticks came
and dug themselves on the ground and then a cloth flew to it to form
the tent. We will all think that someone went up there and made it.
That is the mistake. We think that the small and simpletent on the
mountain cannot form itself but we think that the huge mountain
underneath the tent was formed by itself! This is how narrow our
thinking hasbecome.
Verily Allah is the creatorof all things. Allah says inSurah Qaf Al
Quran (50:7)"And the earth! We have spread it out, and set thereon
mountains standing firm, and have produced therein every kind of
lovely growth (plants)."
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