Assalammualaikum wr wb,

Alhamdulillah. All praises to Allah swt, the magnificent and merciful. We hope you and your family are in the best of health and iman and always being protected by Allah swt. May Allah ease the burdens of our brothers and sisters around the world. 

The first 10 days of Dzulhijjah
 

The first ten days and nights of Dzu’l Hijjah are considered to be blessed and virtuous. The 10th Day is the Eiduladha itself. After this 10 days are the 3 tashreek days ( 11, 12 and 13 Dzulhijjah ) of which fasting is not allowed including Eiduladha itself. These are the days where we need to make  lots of duas and seek Allah swt forgiveness for our past sins and insyallah He would grant it. 

Nights comes before the Day..

*Take note that the beginning of the day in the Islamic Calendar begins after Maghrib not after 12am. To us nights come first before the day. That's why in Ramadan, the solat terawih begins before the day we start fasting and the night of Eid, there is no solat terawih. 

It can be confusing for some of us because we are so used to the gregorian timing that we often misunderstood the Islamic calendars. 

So when does 1st Dzulhijjah begins this year in 2018?

It begins on Sunday, 12 Aug 2018 @ 7.15pm ( Maghrib ). Tonight.

Hadith: (Bukhari no: 926, Tirmidhi no: 757, Abu Dawud no: 2430 and others; the wording is Abu Dawud)

Sayyiduna AbdAllah ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) relates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said, “There are no days in which righteous acts are more beloved to Allah than in these days – meaning the ten of Dhu’l Hijjah.” They asked, “O Messenger of Allah, not even Jihad in the way of Allah?” He replied, “Not even Jihad in the way of Allah, except for the man who goes out with his life and his wealth and does not return with either of them.” 

Allah  blessed the nation of Muhammad  with opportunities to reap rewards and blessings every day of the year. The last ten nights of Ramadan (the month of fasting) are among the most blessed nights of the year; in particular Laylatul-Qadr (the night of power) is extremely sacred. Similarly, the first ten days of Dzulhijjah  carry special status during the blessed month of “Pilgrimage.” The above Hadith of the Prophet  spells out the importance of these ten days in the sight of Allah  and the amplified reward for all good deeds during this blessed season.

Based on this hadith, we are encouraged to do our best ibadah, be it waking up for solat in the middle of the night to seek forgiveness, make dua to Allah swt for your wishes, to fasts to gain Allah's mercy, to set the intentions for Qurban, to share your wealth in Allah's way ( infaq, donate, etc ), to be kind to others and help anyone you can to lessen their problems in life and many more. 

There are many authentic hadith that encourages to fast on the first 9 days of Dzulhijjah, especially on the 9th day where the gathering of pilgrams happen at Mount Arafah. For those who have set the intention to perform Qurban, you are encouraged not to cut your hair, finger and toe nails during this period until the Qurban is performed. 

What happens every year on the 9th of Dzulhijjah?

This is the time where all the Hajj pilgrams gather at Mount Arafah located 20 kilometers away from Mecca. Pilgrims spend the whole day there to supplicate to Allah to forgive their sins and to pray for personal strength. From Asar onwards, there is a massive khutbah and dua session by the Ulamas there until sunset, then most of the pilgrams will move to the plain of Muzdalifa for Maghrib and spends the night there. This is the most important part of performing Hajj. Without it, it will consider the Hajj invalid. These period is also the time where we are encouraged to make as much dua as possible and seek Allah's forgiveness from where ever we are around the world. Not just for the Hajj pilgrams. 

From Maghrib onwards on that day, it is considered 10th Dzulhijjah or what we know as Eiduladha or Hari Raya Haji. 10th Dzulhijjah falls on Tuesday, 21st August 2018 after Maghrib this year. 

This is also the time, you will hear the takbir until the Eid Prayer the next morning similar to Eidulfitri. In many Muslim countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, you will be able to hear the takbir continuously. It is perhaps one of the unique things happening in the world. 

On the morning of 10th Dzulhijjah, we go to the mosques to perform the Eid prayer and listen to the Khutbah. Just after the Eid prayer, this where Qurban can begin. The first animal to be slaughtered with the intention of Qurban cannot be made before Solat Eiduladha. This will be considered as Sadaqah and may not have the benefits of Qurban. 

11,12 and 13 Dzulhijjah ( Tashreek days )

For this year it is on the 23, 24 and 25 August 2018. This is also the period we are encouraged to perform as much ibadah as possible with the exception of fasting. Qurban of animals can be performed until 13 Dzulhijjah ( 25th August 2018 ) before Asar. 

Summary

We hope with this little knowledge above will give you a little understanding on the significance of the first 10 days and the tashreek days. As Muslims we should do our best to devote ourselves to get closer to Allah swt in our Ibadah. So use the given period to seek refuge in Allah and gain as much as possible from this effort.

May Allah swt accept our forgiveness and reward us in this world and the hereafter. Insyallah. 


Update: Qurban packages for all countries except for Indonesia will be closed by 17th August 2018. 

Closing dates:

16th August 2018 @ 10am - Qurban in Australia. Meat can be flown in to Singapore. 

17th August 2018 @ 10am - Qurban in Myanmar, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam,  Cambodia, India & Bangladesh

24th August 2018 @ Asar - Qurban in Indonesia @ Semarang 

Qurban in Indonesia @ Pasuruan will be sold out soon. ( Limited to 100 sheeps only ) - Perform on the 1st day on Eiduladha, Wednesday, 22nd August 2018.. 

Qurban in Indonesia @ Banyuwangi is closed. Perform on Thursday, 23rd August 2018. ( 1st Tashreek day )

Qurban in Indonesia @ Semarang ( No limit ). Perform on Saturday, 25th August 2018 ( 3rd Tashreek day)  - Live streaming available for this Qurban venue. 

* Our team will be at Indonesia again this year and we will be travelling to all 3 locations - Pasuruan ( East Java ), Banyuwangi ( East Java ) and Semarang ( Central Java ).  

In 2015, during Mufti, Ustaz Dr Fatris Bakaram class at Darul Makmur mosque, we manage to capture this moment where Ustaz mentioned about Qurban. 

>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46JxIXbWOg8

May it benefit you. Insyallah. 

Click on the above image to get more details