The Honorable Shaykh! In a few days we will welcome the ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah. What is your advice to everyone regarding making the most of them? I ask you to explain their virtue and the deeds that are recommended in them.

The questioner : The questioner says, honorableThe Shaykh : In a few days we will welcome the ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah. What is your advice to everyone regarding making the most of them? I ask you to explain their virtue and the deeds that are recommended in them?

The Shaykh : The ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah begin with the entry of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah and end on the Day of Sacrifice, the Festival of Sacrifice. Regarding the deeds in these days, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . Therefore, I urge my Muslim brothers to seize this great opportunity and to increase in the ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah in righteous deeds: such as reading the Qur'an, and dhikr (remembrance of Allah) in its various forms—takbir (saying Allahu Akbar), tahlil (saying La ilaha illa Allah), tahmid (saying Alhamdulillah), tasbih (saying Subhan Allah), charity, and fasting. Strive in all righteous deeds. It is astonishing that people are heedless of these ten days! You find them striving in their deeds in the ten days of Ramadan, do they not? Yes? They strive. But in the ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah, you hardly see anyone who distinguishes them from other days. However, if a person engages in righteous deeds in these ten days, he revives what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided us to regarding righteous deeds. When these ten days enter and a person intends to sacrifice, he must not take anything from his hair, nails, or skin. He must not take any of these if he intends to sacrifice. As for the one for whom the sacrifice is performed, there is no blame on him. Accordingly, if a person intends to sacrifice on behalf of himself and his family with a single sacrificial animal, as is the Sunnah, his family is not required to refrain from cutting hair, nails, or skin. Only the one who is sacrificing, who is the father, is required to do so. And what you hear of this phrase: "It is forbidden for the one who sacrifices or for whom the sacrifice is performed," is a statement by some scholars. As for the hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So the address is directed to the one who intends to sacrifice. But if someone were to say: If this person who intends to sacrifice travels for Hajj, he will perform 'Umrah and shorten his hair, even though he instructed his family to sacrifice. We say: This does not harm, because shortening the hair in 'Umrah is a ritual act that must be performed. Likewise, shortening the hair or shaving in Hajj is permissible, even if he does not know whether his family sacrificed or not. Yes.