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The Month of Sha’ban - By Shaykh Ashraf Salah
The Month of Sha’ban
By Shaykh Ashraf Salah
Dear Muslims: Fasting is a wide and expansive avenue for
developing one’s strength in all areas; abstention from food, drink and
marital-relations during the day, being patient on that, waking up in the night
for prayers and remaining steadfast on these are some of the apparent means of
strengthening one’s will. Allah (SWT) says:
(And whosoever strives, he strives only for himself.
Verily, Allah stands not in need of any of the mankind (jinn and all that
exists)” (29:6).
According to another verse He (SWT) says: “As for
those who strive hard in Us (Our cause), We will surely guide them to Our
Paths. And verily, Allah is with the Muhsineen (good doers)”. (29:69).
Dear
Muslims: Sha’ban, this current
month, is one of the months in which fasting
is recommended. We should follow these elements of strength, resoluteness and
strong will that are indispensable tools for one who wants to attain high
degrees and prosperity in this world and the Hereafter.
‘Aa’ishah
(RAA) said: “The Messenger (PBUH) used to fast until we thought he would never
break his fast, and not fast until we thought he would never fast. I never saw
the Messenger of Allah fasting for an entire month except in Ramadan, and I
never saw him fast more than he did in Sha’ban.” (Bukhaari and Muslim).
According to a report narrated by Muslim, “… he (PBUH) used to fast all but a
little of Sha’ban.”
A
group of scholars, including Ibn al-Mubarak and others, thought that the
Prophet (PBUH) did not fast all of Sha’ban, but he fasted most of it. Ibn
‘Abbas regarded it as makrooh (disliked) to fast any entire month apart from
Ramadan. Ibn Hajar (RAA) said: “He observed more voluntary fasts in Sha’ban
than in any other month, and he used to fast most of Sha’ban.”
Dear
Brothers And Sisters In Islam: Usamah ibn Zayd (RAA) said: “I said, ‘O
Messenger of Allah, I do not see you fasting in any other month like you fast
in Sha’ban.’ He said, ‘That is a month to which people do not pay attention,
between Rajab and Ramadan, and it is a month in which deeds are lifted up to
the Lord of the Worlds. I like for my deeds to be lifted up when I am
fasting.’” (al-Nasaa’i).
Ibn
Rajab (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Fasting in Sha’ban is better than
fasting in the Sacred Months, and the best of voluntary fasts are those that
are (observed in the months) closest to Ramadan, before or after. The status of
these fasts is like that of al-Sunan al-Rawaatib which are done before
and after fard (prayers) and which make up for any shortfall in the number of
obligatory prayers. The same applies to fasts observed before and after
Ramadan. Just as al-Sunan al-Rawaatib are better than other kinds of
voluntary prayers, so fasts observed (in the months) before and after Ramadan
are better than fasts at other times.
The
phrase “Sha’ban is a month to which people do not pay attention, between Rajab
and Ramadan” indicates that because it comes between two important months, the
Sacred Month of Rajab and the month of fasting, people are preoccupied with
those two months and they do not pay attention to Sha’ban. Many people think
that fasting in Rajab is better than fasting in Sha’ban, because Rajab is one
of the Sacred Months, but this is not the case.
In
the hadeeth quoted above there is an indication that even though certain times,
places and people may be commonly thought to posses a particular virtue, there
may be others that are better than them. It also indicates that it is
recommended to make good use of the times when people tend to be negligent, by
doing acts of worship. A group of the Salaf used to fill the time between
Maghrib and ‘Isha’ with prayer, saying that it was a time when many people were
negligent. Another example is the remembrance of Allah (dhikr) in the
marketplace, because this means one is remembering Him (SWT) in a place where
people tend to be negligent and among people who are negligent.
Dear
Muslims:
There are a number of benefits that come from making good use of times when
people are often negligent, and using these times for worship, including the
following:
It
is more concealing of one's good works, and hiding and concealing voluntary
actions is better, especially fasting, because it is a secret between a slave
and his Lord. Hence it was said that there is no element of showing off in
fasting. One of the Salaf used to fast for years without anybody knowing about
it; he would go from his home to the marketplace carrying two loaves of bread,
which he would give away in charity, and he would fast. His family thought that
he ate the bread, whilst the people in the marketplace thought that he had
eaten at home. The Salaf thought it was mustahab (liked) for a person
who was fasting to do things that would conceal the fact that he was fasting.
It was reported that Ibn Mas’ood said: “When you get up in the morning and you
are fasting, then apply perfume.” Qatadah said: “It is mustahab for the
fasting person to apply perfume so that there will be no sign that he is
fasting.”
By
the same token, doing righteous deeds at times when people are distracted and
negligent is more difficult. One of the indications of how virtuous a deed is,
is how difficult it is: if everyone is doing a certain action, it is easy, but
if most people are negligent, this makes it more difficult for those who do
remember Allah (SWT). Muslim narrated from the hadeeth of Ma’qil ibn Yassaar:
“[The Prophet (PBUH) said:] ‘Worship at times of tribulation (fitnah) is like
Hijrah to me.’” (The phrase “worship at times of tribulation” refers to times
of upheavals and trials, when people follow their own desires, and those who
adhere to Islam are doing something difficult.)
Dear Muslims: Another
benefit of fasting in Sha’ban is that it is a kind of training for the Ramadan
fast, in case a person finds it difficult to fast when Ramadan starts; if he
fasts in Sha’ban he will have gotten used to fasting and he will feel strong
and energetic when Ramadan comes. Sha’ban is like an introduction to Ramadan
and it has some things in common with Ramadan, such as fasting, reciting Qur’an
and giving in charity. Salamah ibn Suhayl used to say: “The month of Sha’ban is
the month of reciters (of the Qur’an).” Habeeb ibn Abi Thaabit used to say,
when Sha’ban came, “This is the month of reciters (of the Qur’an).” When
Sha’ban came, ‘Amr ibn Qays used to close his store and devote his time to
reading the Qur’an.
Dear Brothers And Sisters In Islam: The fifteenth night of Sha’ban is a
blessed occasion. Hadrat ‘Ali (RAA) reported that Allâh’s Messenger (PBUH)
said: “When it is the fifteenth night of Sha’ban, observe prayer during the
night and observe fast during the day; for Allâh, the Exalted and Glorious,
descends to the heaven of the world as the sun sets and says: Is there anyone
to seek forgiveness so that I should forgive him? Is there anyone to seek
sustenance so that I should provide him? Is there anyone in trouble so that I
may relieve him? And so on and so forth, until the dawn breaks.” [Ibn Majah].
Moreover, Hadrat
Abû Mûsa Ash’ari (RAA) reported Allâh’s Messenger (PBUH) as saying: “Allâh, the
Exalted and Glorious, looks down on the middle night of Sha’baan and forgives
all His creation except a polytheist or one who is hostile.” [Ibn Majah].
May Allah (SWT)
help us to do whatever pleases Him, bless, guide and forgive us all. (Ameen).
