Mohammad ﷺ our Role Model and the Virtue of Shaban
When we reflect on the biography of the Prophet ﷺ we realize that he set the highest example for his community in all matters. Allah Almighty made it the excellent role model that each Muslim must follow. For Allah Almighty said:
Al Ahzab (33) 21: There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allāh an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allāh and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allāh often.
And the aspects of greatness in the personality of the Messenger ﷺ are too numerous to be contained or to be grasped by one mind or one heart. Therefore, we see that everyone who had the honor of writing about the beloved Prophet ﷺ, in any aspect of his splendid and unique biography, has been guided to a new facet that was not previously revealed to anyone before them. And this is due to the richness of his magnificent personality with all his great qualities.
Allah took an oath that his Prophet ﷺ , in all his affairs, is on the straight path. Allah Almighty said:
Ya-sin (36) 1-4: (1) Yā, Seen. (2) By the wise Qur’ān, (3) Indeed you, [O Muḥammad], are from among the messengers, (4) On a straight path.
And Allah Almighty said:
Al Fath (48) 1-2: (1) Indeed, We have given you, [O Muḥammad], a clear conquest (2) That Allāh may forgive for you what preceded of your sin [i.e., errors] and what will follow and complete His favor upon you and guide you to a straight path
So Allah Almighty’s description of His Prophet Mohammad ﷺ being on the straight path, is a comprehensive description of good and noble qualities. And it is a testimony from Allah Almighty that His Messenger ﷺ is absolved from defects and shortcomings.
And when the believer hears about the guidance of the noble Prophet ﷺ and his authentic sunnah, they are keen to pursue it to attain good deeds and triumph with the reward. And whoever is not eager for that, and does not perform the Sunnah, misses out on the reward. As it is a calamity to be indifferent to the Sunnah and turn away from it and to neglect acting on it and to fall short in it while, at the same time, holding tight to and magnifying the innovated matters having no basis in the religion of Allah Almighty or guidance of His Prophet ﷺ. Such a person’s condition is perilous due to them turning away from the sunnah and not desiring it along with their intense desire for the newly invented matters that have no basis in Allah’s religion. And when the Prophet ﷺ delivered a khutbah he would say:
To proceed, the best speech is the Book of Allah and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ﷺ, the worst matter is the introduction of new practices in Islam and every Bid’ah is a misguidance. [Muslim 867]
Allah Almighty linked His Name and obedience to Him with obedience to our Prophet ﷺ in more than 25 places in His Book. Allah Almighty said:
Al Maidah (5) 92: And obey Allāh and obey the Messenger
And Allah Almighty said:
Al Anfaal (8) 1: And obey Allāh and His Messenger
And Allah Almighty said:
An Nisaa (4) 13: And whoever obeys Allāh and His Messenger.
Allah Almighty even made following the Messenger ﷺ a sign of obeying, following and loving Him the Almighty. Allah Almighty said upon the tongue of His Prophet ﷺ:
Al Imran 31: If you should love Allāh, then follow me, [so] Allāh will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.
And among what one following the example of the Prophet ﷺ attains is the aim of every Muslim; triumphing with paradise, which is promised by the Lord of the worlds and is the reward of those conscious of Allah. Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:
Everyone of my Ummah will enter Paradise except those who refuse. He was asked: Who will refuse? He (ﷺ) said, Whoever obeys me, shall enter Paradise, and whosoever disobeys me, refuses to (enter Paradise). [Bukhari 7280]
So let us be conscious of Allah and adhere to the sunnah and beware of the innovations and newly introduced matters in religion in spite of the ignorant promoting them. And the Prophet’s disavowing those who turn away from his sunnah, his guidance and his way is sufficient for any rational believer to hate innovations in religion and those practicing them and to avoid them. The Prophet ﷺ said:
Whoever turns away from my Sunnah is not of me. [Bukhari 5063, Muslim 1401]
Oh Muslims:Recently the month of Rajab concluded and it is from the sacred months. And today we are well into the month of Shabaan and then afterwards we will enter into the blessed month of Ramadan. And between the sacred month and the blessed month is a month that people are inattentive to. And perhaps they slacken in worship in the month of Shabaan.
And there is a deed authenticated from the Prophet ﷺ in the month of Shabaan and that is to fast most of it. And people, of past and present, introduced new practices that are not found in the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.
And fasting most of Shabaan was authenticated from the Prophet ﷺ. Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said:
Allah’s messenger used to fast to the extent that we said he will not stop fasting, and he would go without fasting to an extent that we said: he will not fast. I never saw Allah’s messenger fast a complete month except Ramadan, and I never saw him fast more in any month than in Shabaan. And in a narration for Muslim: He used to fast Shabaan except for a little of it. [Bukhari 1868, Muslim 1156]
And the Prophet ﷺ clarified the wisdom of fasting the majority of Shabaan in a hadith narrated by Osama 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.” [Sunan an-Nasa’i 2357, Grade: Hasan]
And this presentation of the deeds is the annual presentation. For the deeds are presented daily, weekly and annually. The deeds of the night are presented to Allah in the day and the deeds of the day are presented in the night. And the weekly deeds are presented to Him the Almighty on Mondays and Thursdays. And for that reason the Prophet ﷺ regularly fasted them. And the annual presentation of deeds is in Shabaan. So it is recommended to fast most of it. Thus, he ﷺ used to fast most of it. For fasting in this month is like an established Sunnah before Ramadan. Just as fasting six days in the month of Shawwal is like an established Sunnah after Ramadan. Ibn Rajab, may Allah have mercy on him, said, fasting in the month of Shabaan is better than fasting in the sacred months. And the best voluntary fasts is what is close to Ramadan either before or after it.
And whoever has missed days to make up from the previous Ramadan should hasten to fast them, because delaying making up the missed fasts until after Ramadan without a valid excuse is not permitted. And the debt of Allah Almighty has most right to be repaid.
So let us strive within ourselves to follow the example of our Prophet ﷺ and make all our affairs upon his Sunnah. And let us make the effort and expend energy to perform deeds according to his guidance and learn his blessed biography to follow his way. Allah Almighty said:
Al Imran (3) 31: Say, [O Muḥammad], “If you should love Allāh, then follow me, [so] Allāh will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.”
And let us hold on to what the companions, may Allah be pleased with them, were upon. For whoever opposes them has lost and strayed from the right way. Allah Almighty said:
An Nisa (4) 115: And whoever opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him and follows other than the way of the believers – We will give him what he has taken and drive him into Hell, and evil it is as a destination.
We ask Allah Almighty to make us among those who adhere to the sunnah of His beloved Prophet and make the most of the month of Shabaan. Indeed Allah is All Hearing, Answering.
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