I was with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when deeds were mentioned, and he said, "There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten."The people asked, "Messenger of Allah, not even striving in the path of Allah?"He considered the question weighty, then replied, "Not even striving in the path of Allah, except for a man who goes out with himself and his wealth in the path of Allah, and the lifeblood of his soul is poured out in it."
كنت عند رسول الله ﷺ قال: فذكرت الأعمال، فقال: ما من أيام العمل فيهن أفضل من هذه العشر. قالوا: يا رسول الله، ولا الجهاد في سبيل الله؟ قال: فأكبره، فقال: ولا الجهاد إلا أن يخرج رجل بنفسه وماله في سبيل الله، ثم تكون مهجة نفسه فيه.
Imam Ahmad (6559), Ibn Abu Asim in al-Jihad (157), and Tayalisi (2397) all narrated it from the hadith of Zuhayr bin Muawiya, who said, Ibrahim bin Muhajir told us, from Abdullah bin Babah, from Abdullah bin Amr, and he related it.Its isnad is hasan, due to the disagreement over Ibrahim bin Muhajir. Abu Hatim declared him daif, while Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Ajli, Ibn Saad, and others accepted him, and his hadith is hasan.His saying "mahjah", with a dammah on the mim and a sakin on the ha, means blood, or the blood of the heart and the soul.It has also been related from Abu Hurairah, from the Prophet ﷺ, that he said, "There are no days more beloved to Allah for worship in them than the ten days of Dhul-Hijjah. Fasting each day of them is equal to fasting a year, and standing in prayer each night of them is equal to standing in prayer on Laylat al-Qadr."This was narrated by Tirmidhi (758), Ibn Majah (1728), Abu Awana (3021), and Bayhaqi in Fadail al-Awqat (174), all from the hadith of Masud bin Wasil, from Nahhas bin Qahm, from Qatada, from Saeed bin Musayab, from Abu Hurairah, and he related it.Masud bin Wasil Azraq was declared daif by Abu Dawud and others, and his teacher Nahhas bin Qahm Qaysi is in a worse state than him, for the majority of scholars declared him daif. Ibn Hibban said, "He used to relate unfamiliar reports from well known narrators, and he contradicted trustworthy narrators. It is not permissible to rely on him." This may well be one such case, for he alone transmitted this from Qatada, and this hadith was not related through any path other than his.Tirmidhi was lenient in grading it hasan despite its rarity, saying, "Hasan gharib. We do not know it except through the hadith of Masud bin Wasil, from Nahhas." He also said, "I asked Muhammad about this hadith, and he did not know it through any path other than this one in this form." He further said, "Something of this has been related from Qatada, from Saeed bin Musayab, from the Prophet ﷺ, as a mursal report. And Yahya bin Saeed criticized Nahhas bin Qahm with regard to his memory." End of quote.On this subject there is also the hadith of Jabir, narrated by Ibn Hibban (3853) and others, which was already mentioned earlier in the chapter on Hajj, under the merit of the Day of Arafah, so refer back to it there.