Second project in the ten blessed days of the trade projects with the Most Generous: The Big Race:
Yes, it is a competition and a special kind of race. The Prophet said about the one who will win it: “The Mufarridoon have gone ahead." They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, who are the Mufarridoon?’ He said: "Those men and women who remember Allah much.”
Capital of this great project
They are a few words that are light on the tongue and heavy on the Scale: Subhaanallaah, Alhamdulillaah, La Ilaaha Illallaah, and Allahu Akbar (Glory be to Allah, praise be to Allah, there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, Allah is the Most Great) for the Prophet said: "There are no days that are greater before Allah or in which good deeds are more beloved to Him, than these ten days, so recite in them a great deal of Tahleel, Tasbeeh, Takbeer and Tahmeed.”
Generally, the best words of Thikr on those days are Subhaanallaah, Alhamdulillaah, Laa Ilaaha Illallaah, and Allahu Akbar. They are Al-Baaqiyaat As-Saalihaat (the good righteous deeds that last).
Profits of this project
Listen to your beloved Prophet when he passed by Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, whilst he was planting some crop so he said: "O Abu Hurayrah! What are you planting?" He said, "Some crops." The Prophet said: "Shall I inform you of crops which are far better than all this? Saying: 'Subhaanallaah, Alhamdulillaah, La Ilaaha Illallaah, and Allahu Akbar (Glory be to Allah, Praise be to Allah, there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and Allah is the most great). With each one of these, a tree will be planted for you in Paradise." [Ibn Maajah; Al-Albaani: Hasan]
Furthermore, Ibn Mas‘ood, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: "I met Ibraaheem on the night I was taken on my night journey (night of Israa’), so he said, 'O Muhammad! Convey to your nation As-Salaam (salutation) from me, and inform them that Paradise is of good soil, palatable water, and that it is a flat place and its plants are: Subhaanallaah, Alhamdulillaah, la ilaaha illallaah, and Allahu Akbar."
Someone may ask, "When do I say these words?"
The answer is this: You have to accustom yourself to do so when you are walking in the street for any purpose, while driving your car, in your spare time, when waiting for something, when lying on your bed before sleeping, when going to the mosque early, and when returning home or going back to work.
If you adhere to that and get used to saying it, then the number of reciting them will not be less than a thousand times per day. That is to say that you will plant 4000 trees in Paradise daily. Can you imagine if you persist in doing that throughout the ten days, how your garden in Paradise will be?
Can you imagine that you will own 40 thousand trees in Paradise in ten days? Can you imagine how the planting of the Most Gracious in Paradise will be?
Dear brother and sister who wishes to trade with Allah The Almighty, do you want more profit?
Our beloved Prophet said: "Whoever says Subhaanallaahi wa bi hamdihi (Glory and praise be to Allah) one hundred times a day, will be forgiven all his sins even if they were as much as the foam of the sea." [Al-Bukhari]
If we see how long such Thikr will take, for example, if we say Subhaanallaahi wa bi hamdih only once, it will take 3 seconds. If we repeat it one hundred times, it will take 300 seconds i.e. 5 minutes. 5 minutes will change our life totally. Five minutes will obliterate our sins even if they are as much as the foam of the sea!
Dear brother and sister who wishes to trade with Allah The Almighty, do you still want more profit out of this project?
Listen carefully to what your beloved Prophet said: "Whoever says Subhaanallaah one hundred times before the sun rises and before it sets, then this will be better than one hundred camels; and whoever says Alhamdulillaah one hundred times before the sun rises and before it sets, then this will be better than one hundred horses upon which you carry (i.e. equipment and people) in the Cause of Allah The Almighty; and whoever says Allahu Akbar one hundred times before the sun rises and before it sets, then this will be better than freeing one hundred slaves; and whoever says Laa ilaaha illallaah wahdahu la shareeka lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu, wa Huwa ‘ala kulli shay’in Qadeer one hundred times before the sun rises and before it sets, then on the Day of Resurrection no one will come with something better than what he came with except the one who said the same or more than that."
Is there more?
Listen to the wonderful glad tidings which the Prophet brought to us: "Shall I not inform you of the best of your works, the purest of them with your Master (Allah), the loftiest of them in your stations, the thing that is better for you than spending gold and silver (in charity), and better for you than meeting your enemies and slaying them and being slain by them?" They (the Companions) said, "Of course!" He said: "Remembrance of Allah The Exalted."
Is there profit that is better than all of that? Yes, it is to have the company of Allah The Almighty and to be mentioned by Him. The Most Gracious, Compassionate, and Generous, The Creator of everything will mention you and you are just a weak sinful slave: (So remember Me; I will remember you) and it was narrated in the Qudsi Hadeeth that Allah The Almighty Says: "Whoever mentions Me to himself, then I will mention him to Myself; and whoever mentions Me in a gathering, I will mention him in a better gathering."
Are not these great profits for an easy and simple project? Who would miss this chance but a loser?
Third Project: Three Million Hasanah (Rewards)
Someone may say, "This project will probably consume all of our time," however, this project will not take more than one hour daily although it has far more profit.
Capital of this great project:
That you try hard to make at least one complete recitation of the Book of your Lord (the Quran) in these ten days.
You may say that this is difficult, or even impossible. Where would you get the time in these short days?
Dear brother and sister, let us calculate it together. You only need 10 minutes before each prayer to recite half a Juz’; and 10 minutes before going to bed. So all you need is 60 minutes i.e. an hour distributed throughout the day. This daily hour will be quite enough to make a complete recitation of the Noble Quran during the ten days. You are now free to ask, what are the profits of this project?
Our beloved Prophet said: "Does not one of you go out in the morning to the mosque and learn or recite two verses from the Book of Allah The Almighty? (For) that is better for him than two she-camels, and three (verses) are better for him than three (she-camels) and four (verses) are better for him than four (she-camels). And the number (of verses read in total) are better than the same number of camels." [Muslim] What would your share be? When you finish reciting the Quran, you will get 6236 great she-camels!
Dear brother and sister who wishes to trade with Allah The Almighty, do you still want more profits?
The Prophet said: "Whoever reads a letter from the Book of Allah will earn a Hasanah (i.e. good deed thereby). And that one good deed will be multiplied by ten. I am not saying that ‘Alif, Laam, Meem’ (a combination of letters frequently mentioned in the Noble Quran) is a letter, rather I am saying that ‘Alif’ is a letter, ‘Laam’ is a letter and ‘Meem’ is a letter."
Do you know what your rewards will be after one complete recitation of the Noble Quran?
The sum of the letters of the Noble Quran is 323,670, so your profits will be about 3.25 million good deeds!
Additionally, the blessings of the Noble Quran will cure the heart and body from all diseases and maladies. Allah The Almighty Says (what means):
{And We send down of the Quran that which is healing and mercy for the believers, but it does not increase the wrongdoers except in loss.} [Quran 17: 82]
{O mankind, there has to come to you instruction from your Lord and healing for what is in the breasts and guidance and mercy for the believers. Say, "In the bounty of Allah and in His mercy - in that let them rejoice; it is better than what they accumulate.} [Quran 10: 57- 58]
Fourth Project: Seventy Years' Distance away from Hellfire
Capital of this project:
It is to fast as many of these ten days as you can. If you fast them all, then that is “light upon light”.
Profits of this project:
It will be as the Prophet said: "Whoever fasts one day for the Sake of Allah, Allah will keep his face seventy years’ distance away from Hellfire because of it."
During these blessed ten days, you can keep Hellfire away from you for seventy years. It is not just seventy years for you will be rewarded seventy years for each day you fast in the Cause of Allah The Almighty. Thus if you fast on these nine days, Allah The Almighty will reward you 630 years' distance away from Hellfire.
Adding to such great profit, there is more profit which Allah The Almighty will bestow upon His worshippers who fast the Day of ‘Arafah in particular. It will expiate the sins of the previous year and that of the coming year, as the Prophet said: “Fasting on the Day of ‘Arafah, I ask Allah that it may expiate for (the sins of) the year that comes before it and the year that comes after it.”