14 Practices of the First 10 Days of Ramadan and Priorities
Practices in the month of Ramadan, especially during the first 10 days, have great priority in Islam.
Examples of practices in the first 10 days of Ramadan include eating sahur, hastening to break the fast, increasing alms, making qiamulail, tadarus Al-Qur’an, and joining congregational prayers.
Indonesian Muslims are expected to observe the Ramadan Fast 1445 H on March 11 or March 12 2024. Apart from fasting during Ramadan , Muslims are also encouraged to do more sunnah deeds during this time. In a hadith, it is explained about the double reward for those who carry out pious deeds in the month of Ramadan as follows:
“Whoever in that month brings himself closer to Allah with good deeds, his value is like the person who does the obligatory deeds in other months. And, whoever “Those who carry out an obligation in that month, the value is equal to 70 times the obligation carried out in other months. The priority of almsgiving is almsgiving in the month of Ramadan.” (HR. Bukhari-Muslim).”
Also read: Practices on the First Night of Ramadan 2024: Prayers for Seeing the New Moon & Tarawih
What are the Benefits of the First 10 Days of Ramadan?
The first 10 days of Ramadan are called blessings. This priority is mentioned in a daif hadith narrated by Imam Baiqahi and Ibn Khuzaimah as follows:
“The beginning of the month of Ramadan is mercy, the middle is forgiveness, while the end is freedom from hell.”
Even though the hadith is above daif, it can be used as an argument by emphasizing fadhailul a’mal (the primacy of charity). It is proven that many people are looking for information on social media about, “What are the first 10 days of the month of Ramadhan called?”, “What do the first 10 days of the month, Ramadhan, mean?”, and “What should we do on the eve of the 10 days of the month of Ramadhan?” ?”
However, the above hadith can be supported by various arguments such as authentic hadith. One of the authentic hadiths regarding the virtues of the month of Ramadan is as follows:
“Whoever lives the month of Ramadan [by fasting or worship] with faith and hopes for a reward from Allah SWT, his past sins will be forgiven, and whoever lives [worship] the night of Lailatul Qadar with faith and hope for a reward from Allah Subhanahu Wa Taala then his past sins will be forgiven,” (HR. Bukhari and Muslim).
List of Practices in the First 10 Days of Ramadan
There are many sunnah practices that can be done in the first 10 days of Ramadan. A person can carry out practices according to his abilities, desires and abilities. The following are the practices of the first 10 days of Ramadan :
1. Set good intentions while fasting
“Indeed, charity depends on the intention, while each person will get what he intended. So, whoever emigrated to Allah and His Messenger, his emigration was to Allah and His Apostle, and whoever emigrated to the world he wanted to achieve or a woman he wanted to marry, his emigration was to what he emigrated to,” (HR. Al-Bukhari and Muslims).
2. Eat sahur before fasting
It was narrated from Anas ra, Rasulullah saw said, “Sahur you, because indeed in sahur there is a blessing,” (HR Bukhari).
3. Hasten breaking the fast after entering Maghrib time
“There are three people whose prayers are not rejected: First, the just leader. Second, people who fast when they break their fast. Third, the prayers of those who have been wronged,” (HR. Tirmidhi).
4. Pray 5 times in congregation
From Abdullah ibn Umar [narrated], that Rasulullah shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam said: “Prayer in congregation is more important than prayer alone by twenty-seven degrees,” (HR. al-Bukhari no. 609 and 610, and Muslim no. 1036 and 1039 ).
5. Increase your charity
“From Anas RA, a friend asked, ‘O Rasulullah, what is the most important charity?’ Rasulullah SAW answered, ‘Alms in the month of Ramadan,’” (HR At-Tirmidhi).
6. Tahajud Prayer
“The most important prayer after the obligatory prayer is qiyamul lail [lail prayer/tahajud],” (HR. Muslim).
7. Tadarus Al-Qur’an
“Ibn Abbas said, “The Messenger of Allah was the gentlest human being, especially in the month of Ramadan when the angel Jibril (as) met him, and it was Jibril who came to him every night in the month of Ramadan, where Jibril taught him the Koran. “Indeed the Messenger of Allah was the gentlest person than the blowing wind,” (HR. Bukhari).
8. Restrain vain speech
“Fasting is a shield, so whoever is fasting must not speak evil words or curse, if someone criticizes him or invites him to a fight, let him say: I am fasting,” (Hadith Muttafaq ‘alaih).
9. Don’t break your fast excessively
“The Prophet SAW usually broke his fast with rothb [wet dates] before performing the prayer. If there is no rothb, then he breaks the fast with tamr [dried dates]. And if there is no such thing, he breaks the fast with a sip of water,” (HR. Abu Dawud).
10. Iktikaf at the mosque
“…Eat and drink until it becomes clear to you [the difference] between the white thread and the black thread, which is dawn. Then, complete the fast until [comes] evening. However, do not interfere with them when you are [in the state of] performing Iqtikaf in the mosque. Those are the limits [provisions] of Allah. So, don’t approach him. Thus Allah explains His verses to people so that they become pious,” (QS. Al-Baqarah [2]: 187).
11. Tarawih Prayers
“Whoever worships [tarawih] in Ramadan while being faithful and sincere, then his past sins are forgiven,” (HR. Bukhari and Muslim).
12. Duha prayer
“Whoever performs the Duha prayer continuously, his sins will be forgiven by Allah, even if the sins are as much as the foam in the sea,” (HR Tirmidhi).
13. Be patient
“Fasting is half patience,” (HR. Tirmidhi).
14. Stay away from immorality
The Prophet Muhammad SAW said: “There are 5 things that invalidate the reward of a person who fasts, namely (1) lying; (2) backbiting; (3) playing against one another; (4) swearing falsely; (5) looking with lust,” (HR. Dailami).