Significance of Shaban
Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah, in less than two weeks we shall Insha-Allah be blessed once again with
the coming of the month of Ramadan, the month of Allah wherein He has ordained
all His submitted servants to observe fasting and to observe His Remembrance
more than in any other month so that they may be admitted into His mercy and
proximity. Like you all know, before the month
of Ramadan, there is the month of Shaban which we are currently living and
which is also an important month in the life of a Muslim.
Hazrat Abdul Qadir
Jilani (ra) once described the letters forming the word Shaban as thus:
1. Sheen for Sharaf –
Respect
2. ‘Ayn for ‘Uluu –
Elevation
3. Baa for Bir – Goodness
4. Alif for Ulfat –
Friendship
5. Nun for Nur – Light.
It is in the month of Shaban, the
eighth month of the Islamic calendar that our beloved Holy Prophet Hazrat
Muhammad (pbuh) used to prepare himself physically, morally and spiritually to
welcome the month of Ramadan. He (pbuh) said: “Many people are unaware of this month’s significance; it is between
Rajab and Ramadan. In this month the deeds of people are lifted to the Lord of
the worlds. I like my deeds to be lifted while I am in a state of fasting.”
(Nasai).
Imam Bukhari reports in his Book of Hadiths a narration from Hazrat Aisha (ra) in which she said: “The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) used to fast until we thought he would never break his fast, and he would not fast until we thought he would never fast. I never saw the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) fast for an entire month except in Ramadan, and I never saw him fast more than he did in Shaban.”
It is not advisable for a Muslim to
welcome Ramadan by fasting the last one or two days of Shaban. Hazrat Abu
Huraira (ra) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “Do not anticipate Ramadan
by fasting one or two days before, except for a man who has a
habitual pattern of fasting, in which case let him fast.” (Bukhari)
This Hadith gives us the notion to distinguish
the Obligatory from the Voluntary, for in another Hadith found in An-Nasai and
narrated by Hazrat Umm Salama (ra), it is reported that the prophet (pbuh) would
not fast any month of the year in full except Shaban and he used to join it to
Ramadan. This means that as a man used to fast on a regular basis, the Holy
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) would occasionally also observe the fast and join it to
the first and complete days of Ramadan, or he would prefer to skip fasting the
ending days of Shaban and fast only in the month of Ramadan as it was not an
obligatory act, but rather a voluntary act. But he liked honouring the month of
Ramadan by beginning his preparations for it in Shaban.
15th of Shaban: Shab-e-Baraat
In addition to fasting, Nabi Kareem
(pbuh) used to maximise his time in additional prayers (Nafl Salat), supplications (dua)
and Remembrance of Allah (Zikrullah).
Furthermore, in many ahadiths though not in the famous Sahih Hadith books,
Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) has been reported to give the importance to the night of
mid-Shaban.