✨The Virtue of Shabaan

All praise is due to Allah the entirely Merciful the Especially Merciful. The Most Generous Bestower. He bestowed Iman (faith) to His servants. He guided them to the best of deeds and the virtuous times in which rewards are multiplied.

The Prophet ﷺ used to offer a lot of acts of worship in general and he ﷺ used to perform the most voluntary fasts in the month of Shabaan. And with that, he ﷺused to pray and rest. He used to fast and break his fast on other days. He married women. This is his way and whoever turns away from it is not from him.

Be conscious of Allah Almighty and obey Him. And fill your time with His remembrance. For the term is near and the accounting is severe. And death comes in a an instant without notice. And there are no deeds after death. For there will be accounting and recompense.

Al Imran (3) 185: Every soul will taste death, and you will only be given your [full] compensation on the Day of Resurrection. So he who is drawn away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has attained [his desire]. And what is the life of this world except the enjoyment of delusion.

The astute believer is the one who gives this worldly life its proper weight. And gives it what it is due. And does not make it his hope, purpose and end. For this worldly life is the stage of deeds and striving. It is followed by death and the “barzakh” life in the grave. A person does not know how long he dwell in it. Maybe he will stay there for 1000 or 2000 years, or more or less. Then it will be followed by an eternal life in the hereafter. And it is a great injustice for a person to focus on the worldly life and it is only a few decades. It may reach a century if a person lives for a long time. And he forgets about his “barzah” life that may stretch throughout centuries. And he ignores the eternal house that has no death. Rather permanence and eternity. Either blessed or tormented. Whoever truly realizes this will work more for after his death than he does for this world.

And the month of Shabaan is a great month. It falls between the sacred month Rajab and the blessed Ramadan. And the Prophet ﷺ used to perform plenty of fasts within it. As in the Hadith narrated by Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) who said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to fast until we said: ‘He will not break his fast.’ And he used not to fast until we said: ‘He will not fast.’ And I never saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ fast more in any month than in Shabaan.”[alBukhari 1969, Muslim 1156]

And the Prophet ﷺ indicated the reason for his frequent fasting in Shabaan. As was related in the Hadith of Osamah bin Zaid (may Allah be pleased with them) who said:
I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I do not see you fasting any month as much as Shaban.’ He said: ‘That is a month to which people do not pay much attention, between Rajab and Ramadan. It is a month in which the deeds are taken up to the Lord of the worlds, and I like that my deeds be taken up when I am fasting.”‘ [AnNisai 2357]

The Prophet ﷺ mentioned two reasons for his fasting in Shabaan. First, the inattentiveness of the people to it. And the reason for this is that Shabaan falls after the month of Rajab which is a sacred month. And Allah the Exalted said about the sacred months:
At-Tawbah (9) 36: So do not wrong yourselves during them

And before Ramadan and it is the month of fasting, night prayer, Quran and doing good.

And this hadith is a basis for remembering Allah Almighty at times of inattentiveness. And reviving the neglected times with acts of obedience has benefits:
– And from them is that it is concealed. And concealing a voluntary act of worship is more virtuous.

– And from them is that it is harder on the inner self. And the best of deeds are those that are more difficult for the inner self. And the reason for this is that people copy what they see other people do. So if people’s acts of obedience increase, then the people of obedience will increase due to the increased number of people for them to emulate. Thus the acts of obedience become easier. And if heedlessness and it’s people increase, then the general population emulates them. And acts of obedience become more difficult to perform due to the decrease in the number of people for them to follow.

– And from them is that a single person performing acts of obedience can repel the calamity from the rest of the people. So it is as if he is protecting and defending them.

And from what the Prophet ﷺ mentioned of the reasons of fasting Shabaan is his words:
It is a month in which the deeds are taken up to the Lord of the worlds, and I like that my deeds be taken up when I am fasting. [AnNisai 2357]

Thus the deeds of the year are raised in Shabaan. Just as fasting Shabaan is training for Ramadan.

Oh Muslims: A believer should increase reciting the Quran in Shabaan so that he gets accustomed to that. So that Ramadan does not enter except that he is used to reciting much. So that boredom and weariness do not befall him. And he trains his soul to delight in reflecting on the Quranic verses. Salamah bin Kuhayl ( سَلَمَةُ بْنُ كُهَيْلٍ) said: it was said : the month of Shabaan is the month of recitation. And when Shabaan entered Habib bin Abee Thabet said: This is the month of recitation. And when Shabaan entered, Amr bin Qays ( عَمْرُو بْنُ قَيْسٍ الْمُلَائِيُّ ) closed his shop to free himself for reciting the Quran.

And the middle night (15th) of Shabaan was related in two weak Hadiths which should not be relied upon. And it does not have any preference over any of the other nights. So one should not designate its day for fasting or its night for prayer. Rather it is like the other nights. So whoever regularly fasts in Shabaan, fasts on the 15thbecause he usually fasts during Shabaan. And whoever regularly prays night prayer , prays the night of the 15th because it is usual for him to observe the night prayer. And not because it is the 15th of Shabaan.

And it is prohibited to fast the last part of Shabaan if it is done as a precautionary measure for Ramadan. Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) related that the Prophet ﷺ said:
None of you must fast one day or two days just before Ramadan, except in the case of a man who has been in the habit of observing a particular fast, for he may fast on that day. [alBukhari 1914, Muslim 1082]

So if it coincides with a day that he usually fasts such as Monday or Thursday, there is no harm in him fasting it because he does not intend through his fasting to include Ramadan.

And in every case, a Muslim should change his condition in Shabaan. And he should plentifully fast and recite Quran in it. So that he is not among the heedless and so that he prepares for Ramadan. So that it does not enter except that he is accustomed to fasting and reciting Quran and he more actively worships during Ramadan.

We ask Allah Almighty to teach us what benefits us. And to bestow on us acting upon what we learn. And to help us with remembering Him, being Grateful to Him to worship Him in the best manner. Indeed He is All Hearing, Answering.

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