Haroon’s Best Days of Dhul Hijjah
Ten sacred days have begun, and Haroon is on a mission to fill them with great deeds, but learning the true value of Dhul Hijjah will change how he sees everything around him.
Page 1
Mother stood near the living room calendar.
With a red pencil, she drew a smooth, bright boundary around ten small squares.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
Haroon looked up from his cars on the carpet.
“Why are those ten separate from the rest, Ummi?”
Mother stepped down. She smiled, but her face looked serious and full of care.
“Because Allah chose these ten days, Haroon,” she whispered.
“Every single day inside this line is a treasure”
Page 2
That night, the house did not feel ordinary.
Father stayed a long time on his prayer mat, his forehead pressed to the floor long in sujood
Grandfather sat beneath the lamp, moving his lips as he read the Qur’an in a low, gentle voice.
Even the kitchen felt quiet, like the air was waiting for something beautiful to happen.
Haroon stood in the hallway in his socks, watching them.
“Why is everything different tonight, Abba?” he whispered to Father.
Father looked toward the open window, where a new moon hung over the dark buildings, thin as a silver thread.
“The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم taught us that Allah loves a good deed done in these ten days more than any other time of the year,” Father explained.
Haroon looked out at the sky.
He wanted to fill those marked squares with things that please his Creator.
Page 3
The next morning, Haroon woke up wanting to do something giant for Allah.
Something enormous.
Something worthy of the days Allah loves most.
He stood in the hallway, waiting for a grand idea to arrive, but the day just moved along normally.
Father put on his shoes and went to work.
Mother folded laundry into neat, quiet squares.
Hafsa grumbled because her toast was too crunchy.
Haroon sat near the window.
Then, Grandfather turned the page of his mushaf and pointed to the Arabic letters on his lap.
“In Sūrah al-Fajr, Allah says: By the dawn - and by the ten nights. These are the very days and nights we are standing in right now.”
Haroon waited quietly.
“Allah took an oath by these nights,” Grandfather said softly. “When Allah swears by something, it means it is very great and important.”
