Prayer of the First Ten Nights of Dhu l-Hijja

The prayer of the first ten nights of Dhu l-Hijja is a mustahab prayer, recommended to be performed in the first ten nights of Dhu l-Hijja. In this prayer, verse 142 of Qur'an 7 should be recited after the recitation of Qur'an 112.

How to Perform

The prayer of the first ten nights of Dhu l-Hijja are performed from the first night of Dhu l-Hijja until the eve of Eid al-Adha, between Maghrib and Isha' Prayers.

The prayer consists of two rak'as, in each of which Qur'an 1 (Sura al-Hamd) is recited after takbirat al-ihram, and then Qur'an 112 (Sura al-Ikhlas), followed by the recitation of Qur'an 7:142,

“ وَوَاعَدْنَا مُوسَىٰ ثَلَاثِينَ لَيْلَةً وَأَتْمَمْنَاهَا بِعَشْرٍ فَتَمَّ مِيقَاتُ رَبِّهِ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً ۚ وَقَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِأَخِيهِ هَارُونَ اخْلُفْنِي فِي قَوْمِي وَأَصْلِحْ وَلَا تَتَّبِعْ سَبِيلَ الْمُفْسِدِينَ

We made an appointment with Moses for thirty nights, and completed them with ten [more]; thus the tryst of his Lord was completed in forty nights. And Moses said to Aaron, his brother, 'Be my successor among my people, and set things right and do not follow the way of the agents of corruption

” — Qur'an 7:142

Source

The source of this prayer is a hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (a) according to which his father, Imam al-Baqir (a), had recommended him not to abandon this prayer in the first ten nights of the month of Dhu l-Hijja, and if he recites it every year, he will share the rewards of actions done by hajj pilgrims, even if he never goes to hajj.

The oldest written source in which the prayer is cited is Iqbal al-a'aml by al-Sayyid b. Tawus. He cites a book by Ibn Ushnas as his own source. According to Wasa'il al-shi'a, Ibn Ushnas's book was Amal Dhi l-Hijja (the practice of Dhu l-Hijja).

The prayer is cited in Mafatih al-jinan in chapter six of the second section, that is, the section on the practices of the month of Dhu l-Hijja.