Aiming for days in Paradise – this ought to be our focus in the first ten days of Thul-Hijjah; the Paradise of closeness and connection with Allah The Great and Most High, wherein we feel the impact of its warmth and bliss in our hearts; the Paradise of closeness, longing, repentance, devotion, and tranquility.

However, reaching Paradise has certain conditions which are met only by a select few. The slogan of those who strive for it is: "If faith is on the Pleiades, it shall be attained by those men”, and "If Paradise is the precious commodity of Allah The Almighty, we swear by Allah to strive hard in His cause until we enter it." Let us go ahead and take look at the steps to approach its gardens.

Step one: Undying Determination and Resolve as Lofty as Mountains

Achieving this requires that you must be cautious with every moment, doing your utmost to utilize it and renew your faith. You will see the one who follows this way extremely careful with his time and competing with the likes of Hammaad ibn Salamah . Moosa ibn Ismaa‘eel At-Taboothaki said, "If I told you that I have never seen Hammaad ibn Salamah laugh, I would be truthful. He was very busy either narrating Hadeeth, reciting Quran, glorifying Allah, or praying. He divided the day between these acts."

Thus, spend the minutes and seconds of the ten days of Thul-Hijjah as carefully as a miser spends his money. You should not be seen except engaged in remembering Allah The Almighty, reading the Quran, praying and engaged in prostration to draw close to Allah The Almighty, calling to Him with the best speech, spending your money or effort on charitable acts, being dutiful to parents, or having good morals and this is the heaviest in the Scale.

Step two: High Motivation in Competing with the Righteous

Who has burning enthusiasm when he hears accounts of righteous people in the past?

One of them said,

I was living in the vicinity of Bakkaar ibn Qutaybah, and when I left my home after the evening prayer, I heard him reading what Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {[We Said], "O Daawood (David), indeed We have made you a successor upon the earth, so judge between the people in truth and do not follow [your own] desire, as it will lead you astray from the Way of Allah…} [Quran 38:26] Then I returned in the early dawn and found him still reading the same verse and weeping. I realized that he had been reciting it since the beginning of the night.

It is the ideal reflection in which the Quran touches the heart and makes the man take his soul to account and reproach it. This is the most effective spiritual cure, so who will step forward?

Who will strive hard like Ibn Khafeef?

It was reported that Ibn Khafeef was suffering from groin pain that made him unable to move. Nevertheless, when the call for prayer was announced, he would be carried on the back of a man [to go to the Masjid]. People said to him, "Why are you not merciful to yourself?" He said, "When you hear the call for prayer and you do not see me in the row, look for me in the grave."

During the "Days in Paradise", revive an act of the Sunnah every day:

For instance, the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah is that he used to say while bowing in prayer:

"Allahumma laka raka‘t wabika aamant walaka aslamt, khasha‘a laka sam‘i wa basari wa mukhkhi wa ‘athmi wa ‘asabi (O Allah, I bow to You, believe in You, and submit to You. My hearing, vision, mind, bones, and nerves are humble to You)." [Muslim]

What is required is to feel the pleasure of worship in bowing, because bowing brings submission and veneration to Allah The Almighty.

Correcting it falls under what Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {…And whoever honors the Symbols of Allah - indeed, it is from the piety of hearts.} [Quran 22:32] Honoring the Symbols of Allah The Almighty is an act of worship in the ten days, which are the greatest days of the year.

Al-‘Imaad used to say, "O Allah, forgive the one who has the hardest heart among us, commits the gravest sin among us, carries the heaviest burden among us, and practices the worst offense among us."

"O Allah Who guides the confused! Guide us to the way of the truthful, and make us among Your righteous slaves."

Remember:

These days are better than the days of Ramadan, so greater deeds are required.

They are the most loved by Allah The Most Merciful, so what is needed is {…The Most Merciful will appoint for them affection.} [Quran 19:96]

They are equal to the reward of the Mujaahidoon (those who strive in the Cause of Allah): {And strive for Allah with the striving due to Him…} [Quran 22:78]

They are the season of the delegations of Ar-Rahmaan, who say: "O Allah, we have been detained from Hajj involuntarily, so do not deprive us of reward."