The Blessings of 'Shabaan'

 

Preparation for the Month of Ramadan

Ḥâ-Mĩm. By the clear Book! We have indeed sent it down on a blessed night [Laylatul Mubarak]. Indeed, We have always been warning. On that night every matter of wisdom is ordained by a command from Us; for indeed, We have always been sending Messengers as a mercy from your Lord, - Surely, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. (Ad-Dukhan 44: 2-7)

Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) recited this duah during the month of Rajab: “Allahumma bariklana fi Rajab wa Shabaan, wa ballighna Ramadan.” [O Allah! Make the months of Rajab and Shabaan blessed for us, and let us reach the month of Ramadan.]

 

If we analyze this verse, there are about five names [and even more] for this night: Laylatul-Mubarak, Laylatul-Rahma, Laylatul Bara’a, Laylatus Sahk ​​and the Laylatul Qadr; but many commentators on this Quranic verse (44: 4) specify that it only applies to the night of mid-Shabaan. But this is not the case. Although the night of mid-Shabaan is filled with blessings but the fact of specifying through the Quran, by specifying this verse of Surah Ad-Dukhan that it applies for the night of mid-Shabaan is not absolutely correct.

'Istighfar': On Divine Forgiveness

‘I do not absolve myself of weakness, for the inner self is surely prone to enjoin evil, except on whom my Lord has mercy. My Lord is of course Protector (against sins), Ever Merciful’.---(Surah Yusuf, 12:54).

This sublime expression of humility in the declaration of Prophet Yusuf (as) points to a larger truth about moral failings in the human condition: only Divine Grace can help us traverse the flood of base passions. As humans, each one of us has an innate proclivity or inborn weakness to be swayed at times by the attractions and colours of this world. Our bodily urges can and will, at times, eclipse our moral responsibility and injure our spiritual self. Satan can induce us to stumble in moments of frenzy and we might forget or even willfully ignore that God watches over us in all that we do, openly and secretly. Whether we remain within the laws of the permissible- respecting the boundaries of the Shari'ah- or commit transgressions and become liable for sins; the reality is that God knows about it all. Indeed the Lord of the Universe knows about the deep desires and other inner passions that fuel all our actions- good and bad- and especially, our many failings. The Qur’an emphatically declares: “Were it not for God’s Grace upon you and His Mercy, not one of you would ever be pure.” (Surah Al-Nur, 24: 22)

Living Islam: Importance of 'Duah'

Invocations (Duah) in Islam

“Seek ways to get closer to Him.” (Al-Ma'ida, 5: 36).

“O Allah, You are forgiving and You love to forgive, so (please) forgive me.” Ameen.

The duah is an imploration, a prayer, a request, a supplication that we, the Muslim Ummah, address to Allah (swt) to satisfy our needs, to grant us His blessings, to forgive our sins, to help us overcome our difficulties, to solve our problems, to correct our faults, to find (and tread upon) the right path, to enlighten our hearts to make the difference between good and evil, to find the true path and inner peace and to draw closer to Him.

The duah is the favourite weapon of all prophets and true believers so as to carry out the difficult tasks assigned to them and to endure the ordeals they have often suffered and shall continue to suffer. That is to say, just like there were the prophets of Allah and the pious people who had to go through all kinds of ordeals in the past and they used to invoke Allah to help them, likewise, presently and in the future also, there shall be such elects of Allah and the pious people who shall also seek the help of Allah in all their ordeals through prayer (duahs). Through various verses of the Holy Quran, we learn how the prophets (Hazrat) Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, Ayub, Zakariah and other messengers made duahs, especially during the difficult moments of their lives. 

And the Holy Book teaches us how the Seal of the Prophets Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) strongly urged believers to seek the help of Allah (swt) in all circumstances. So much so that to start any particular job/ task you have to do a very easy duah, saying: “Bismillah”. The duah is the best way to have a healthy, perfect, agreeable relationship between man and his Creator, as well as his rooting in the notion of faith, since even the prophets who represent the peak of humanity as to their closeness to Allah (swt) and their connection to Him always resorted to duahs.

We must in no case neglect this act of worship, this great and best worship of Allah (swt) – after Salat and Quran reading. For if you meditate of its importance, you shall find that in Salat (prayer), it is mostly Quranic verses and duahs which are recited. It is duahs which embellish our Salat. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) was right and he made it clear about duah: “Duah (Supplication) is the essence of worship.” (Tirmidhi). 

A Poem on ‘Taubah’

On Repentance and Returning to Allah

The time has come for me to see after the darkness of ignorance

My old age is a morning that calls me to its dawning rays

The night of youth is short, so proceed deliberately

The morning is the end of the road for the night traveler.

How have I been deceived by the world and its adornment,

Building my home on the crumbling ground, at the edge of a precipice?

A home whose transgressions remain, but whose delights perish:

How wretched is such a home!

The happy one is not one who is delighted by his worldly trinkets;

Rather, the happy one is the one saved from the torment of Hell.

I have awakened from wickedness, fearful and trembling,

For Allah knows my deeds, open and secret.

If I hold my sins to be grave and they fill me with despair,

I can only hope that they will be eradicated,

By the One who alone can do so…

The All Forgiving.

---(Written by Hadhrat Abul Hasan Abdul Aziz al-Jurjani (ra). Translated from the Arabic by Zaid Shakir)