17. THE VIRTUES
OF SHA’BAN
Sha‘ban (شَعْبَان) is the 8th month consisting of 29 days in Islamic
calendar. The word means “scattered.” The expression تَشَعَّبَ الْقَوْمُ means “people dispersed.”
The word shu‘bah originally means “a group of people, فِرْقَة.” Now
it means “section, division, department.” In this month the Arabs in the past scattered
searching for water.
It is reclommended that
we do much fasting in the month of Sha‘bān following the examples of Prophet
Muhamad s.a.w. There are many ḥadīths (traditions of the Prophet)
stating that the Prophet s.a.w. fasted the whole month of Sha‘bān, whereas
others say that he fasted most of the days of this month, as follows:
عَنْ أُمِّ سَلَمَةَ رضي
الله عنها قَالَتْ : مَا رَأَيْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ
وَسَلَّمَ صَامَ شَهْرَيْنِ
مُتَتَابِعَيْنِ إِلا أَنَّهُ كَانَ يَصِلُ شَعْبَانَ بِرَمَضَان
(رواه أحمد وأبو داود والنسائي وابن ماجه)
Ummu Salamah r.a. said: “I never saw the
Messenger of Allah
s.a.w. fast two consecutive months apart from the fact
that he used to join Sha‘bān and
Ramaḍān.” (Reported by
Ahmad, Abū Dā’ūd, al-Nasā’ī, and
Ibn Mājah)
‘Ā’ishah r.a. said,
لَمْ يَكُنِ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ
يَصُومُ شَهْرًا أَكْثَرَ مِنْ شَعْبَانَ،
فَإِنَّهُ
كَانَ يَصُومُ شَعْبَانَ كُلَّهُ (رواه البخاري)
The Prophet s.a.w. did not
fast in a month more
than his fasting in Sha‘bān, for he fasted the
whole
month of Sha‘bān (Reported by Bukhārī)
These ḥadīths indicates that the
Prophet fasted the whole month of Sha‘bān. But other ḥadīths indicate
that he fasted most of the days of Sha‘bān, among which are as follows:
عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ قَالَ
: سَأَلْتُ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا عَنْ صِيَامِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ
صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ
وَسَلَّمَ ، فَقَالَتْ : كَانَ يَصُومُ حَتَّى نَقُولَ قَدْ صَامَ ، وَيُفْطِرُ حَتَّى
نَقُولَ قَدْ أَفْطَرَ
، وَلَمْ أَرَهُ صَائِمًا مِنْ شَهْرٍ قَطُّ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ صِيَامِهِ مِنْ شَعْبَانَ
،
كَانَ يَصُومُ شَعْبَانَ
كُلَّهُ ، كَانَ يَصُومُ شَعْبَانَ إِلا قَلِيلا (رواه مسلم).
Abu Salamah said: “I asked ‘Aa’ishah r.a. about the fasting
of the Messenger of Allah s.a.w. and she said:
‘He used to fast
until we thought that he would always fast,
then he would
not fast until we thought that he would always
not fast,
but I never saw him fast in any month more
than he
fasted in Sha‘bān. He used
to fast all of Sha‘bān,
and he used to fast all of
Sha‘bān apart from
a few days.’” (Reported by
Muslim)
عَنْ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا، قَالَتْ:
كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ "
يَصُومُ حَتَّى نَقُولَ:
لاَ يُفْطِرُ، وَيُفْطِرُ حَتَّى نَقُولَ: لاَ يَصُومُ، فَمَا رَأَيْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ
صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ
اسْتَكْمَلَ صِيَامَ شَهْرٍ إِلَّا رَمَضَانَ، وَمَا رَأَيْتُهُ أَكْثَرَ
صِيَامًا مِنْهُ فِي شَعْبَانَ
(رواه البخاري و مسلم) "
Ā’ishah
r.a. said: “The Messenger
of Allah s.a.w.
used to fast until we thought he would never break his
fast, and he did not fast until we thought he would never
fast. I
never saw the Messenger of Allah s.a.w. fasting for
an entire month except in Ramadan, and I never
saw him fast more than he did in Sha‘bān
(Reported by Bukhārī and Muslim
(
Based on the above
traditions there are two different views:
aa.
The Prophet fasted
most of the days of Sha‘bān, but occasionally he fast the whole month of Sha‘bān.
According to the traditionist and Qur’an
commdentator al-Imām al-Ḥusayn al-Ṭībī (d. 743/1342) it is possible that he
fasted the whole month of Sha‘bān, and in other occations he fasted most of the
days of the month, so that people would not think that fasting in the whole
month of Sha‘bān is also enjoined for Muslims besides Ranmaḍān. This is the
view favoured by Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Ibn Bāz (d. 1999) in his fatwā.
b. The Prophet fast
most of the days of Sha‘bān, and he never fasted the whole month of Sha‘bān.
The expression “he fasted the whole month of Sha‘bān” does not necessarily mean
that he fasted the entire month, but this expression could also mean most of
the days of Sha‘bān. It is like the expression, “he knows everything” if he
knows many things, or “he does not know anything,” if he does not know many
things. Ibn al-Mubārak (d. 181 AH) said, as reported by al-Tirmidhī, that it is
linguisticly possible in Arabic
expression to say that if someone fasted most of the days of the month, that he
fasted the whole month. This is also the view of al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Rajab (d.
795/1393) and Abū l-Ḥasan al-Sindī (d. 1138/1726).
The
argument of this view is the ḥadīths stating that the Prophet did not
fast the whole month except Ramadan, among which are as follows:
عن عائشة رضي الله عنها
أنها قالت : وَلا أَعْلَمُ نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ
صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ
وَسَلَّمَ قَرَأَ الْقُرْآنَ كُلَّهُ فِي لَيْلَةٍ ، وَلا صَلَّى لَيْلَةً
إِلَى الصُّبْحِ ، وَلا
صَامَ شَهْرًا كَامِلا غَيْرَ رَمَضَانَ (رواه النسائي) .
Ā’ishah r.a. said: “ I do not know that the Prophet
of
Allah s.a.w. recited the entire Qur’an in one
night, or
spent an entire night in prayer until dawn, or
fasted
an entire month apart from Ramaḍān.”
(Reported by al-Nasā’ī)
عَنْ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ
اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا قَالَ : مَا صَامَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ
عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ شَهْرًا
كَامِلا قَطُّ غَيْرَ رَمَضَانَ (رواه البخاري ومسلم)
Ibn
‘Abbās r.a. said: “The Prophet s.a.w. never
fasted any month in full
apart from Ramaḍān.”
(Reported by al-Bukhārī and Muslim)
Among the virtues and the wisdom behind fasting in Sha‘bān,
as mentioned by al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Rajab are in the following ḥadīth:
عَنْ أُسَامَة بْن زَيْدٍ
قَالَ : قُلْت : يَا رَسُول اللَّه ، لَمْ أَرَك تَصُومُ مِنْ شَهْر
مِنْ الشُّهُور مَا تَصُوم
مِنْ شَعْبَان , قَالَ : ذَلِكَ شَهْرٌ يَغْفُلُ النَّاس عَنْهُ بَيْنَ
رَجَبٍ وَرَمَضَان , وَهُوَ
شَهْر تُرْفَعُ فِيهِ الأَعْمَال إِلَى رَبّ الْعَالَمِينَ،
فَأُحِبُّ أَنْ يُرْفَعَ
عَمَلِي وَأَنَا صَائِمٌ (رواه النسائي و أبوداءود)
Usāmah ibn Zayd said: “I
said, ‘O Messenger of
Allah,I do
not see you fasting in any month more than
in Sha’bān.’
He said, ‘That is a month concerning which
many people are heedless, between Rajab and
Ramaḍān.
It is the month is which people’s deeds are taken
up to
the Lord of the Worlds, and I would like my deeds
to be taken
up whilst I am fasting.’
(Reported by al-Nasā’ī and
Abū Dā’ūd)
According to Ibn al-Qayyim
al-Jawziyyah the wisdom behind the Prophet’s frequent fasting in Sha‘bān has
many aspects, among which are as follows:
a.
The Prophet used to fast three days every
month; he might have missed some months, and he made them up in Sha‘bān before
doing the obligatory masting in of Ramaḍān.
b.
He did it to honour the obligatory fasting
in Ramaḍān. It is like doing the recommended prayer before doing the obligatory
one.
c.
It is the month in which people’s deeds are
taken up to Allah, and he likes his deeds are taken up to Allah while he was
fasting, as mentioned in the above ḥadīth.
The taking up of our deeds
to Allah can be divided into three stages:
a.
daily, at the time of fajr (dawn), and
‘aṣr (late afternoon) prayers, as narrated by Abū Hurayrah, the Prophet s.a.w.
said:
يَتَعَاقَبُونَ فِيكُمْ مَلاَئِكَةٌ بِاللَّيْلِ
وَمَلاَئِكَةٌ بِالنَّهَارِ، وَيَجْتَمِعُونَ فِي صَلاَةِ العَصْرِ
وَصَلاَةِ
الفَجْرِ، ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ الَّذِينَ بَاتُوا فِيكُمْ، فَيَسْأَلُهُمْ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ
بِهِمْ: كَيْفَ
تَرَكْتُمْ عِبَادِي؟ فَيَقُولُونَ: تَرَكْنَاهُمْ
وَهُمْ يُصَلُّونَ، وَأَتَيْنَاهُمْ وَهُمْ يُصَلُّونَ "
(رواه البخاري و مسلم)
Angels come after the other among you at night and in
the
day time, and
they gather together at asr and dawn praying
times, thenthe angels who stayed at night among you,
would
ascend, and
Allah askes them (although He knew more about
them): ‘How did
you leave my servant?” They will say
‘We were
leaving them while they were praying, and
we came to them while they were praying.”
(Reported by Bukhārī
and Muslim)
b. weekly, on every Thursday
evening, as narrated by Abū Hurayrah the Prophet s.a.w. said:
إِنَّ أَعْمَالَ بَنِي آدَمَ تُعْرَضُ كُلَّ خَمِيسٍ
لَيْلَةَ الْجُمُعَةِ، فَلَا يُقْبَلُ
عَمَلُ
قَاطِعِ رَحِمٍ )رواه أحمد)
The deeds of the children of Adam are exposed
every
Thursday night, and so the deeds of a person who
breaks off his family relationship will
not be accepted
(Reported by Ahmad)
c.
yearly, in the month of Sha‘bān, as
mentioned earlier in the above ḥadīth.
The voluntary fasting in
Sha‘bān can be considered a kind of spiritual and physical warming up and
training for the coming of the obligatory fasting in Ramadan. In the beginning of the days of fasting the
body begins to consume its stored reserves of fats, proteins, and others to
compensate its shortage because of lack of food. Some poisons flow in blood
before the body gets rid of them with the leftovers. Consequently, the fasting
man feels some symptoms of sickness, such as headache, weakness, ill-temper,
etc. These symptoms will disappear after a few days of fasting when the
hormones ratio in blood returns to their nature, and after the body has
adjusted itself with the shortage of food in fasting.
It
is also advisable for a person who fasts, especially recommended fasting, not
to let people know that he is fasting, to avoid showing-off, because it is a
secret between him and his Lord. It is said that some of the salaf (companions
of the Prophet and people of later generation) fasted for forty-years without
being known by anybody. He left home and went to the market with two pieces of
bread which he gave away as charity. People at home thought that he ate the
bread, whereas people in the market thought that he had taken his meal at home.
The Prophet’s companions ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ūd and Qatādah
advised the faster of recommended fasting to remove any sign of fasting from
his body to keep his fasting secret.
Although it is recommended
to fast in Sha‘bān, fasting one or two days before Ramaḍān is not recommended.
Narrated by Abū Hurayrah that the Prophet s.a.w. said:
لاَ تَقَدَّمُوا شَهْرَ رَمَضَانَ بِصِيَامٍ قَبْلَهُ
بِيَوْمٍ أَوْ يَوْمَيْنِ، إِلاَّ أَنْ يَكُونَ
رَجُلٌ كَانَ يَصُومُ صَوْمًا فَلْيَصُمْهُ.
(رواه الترمذي وأحمد)
None of you should fast a day or two before the
month
of Ramadan unless he has the habit of fasting
(voluntary
and if
his fasting coincides with that day ) then he can
fast that day (Reported by al-Tirmidhī
and Aḥmad)
Therefore,
a person who has a habit of fasting on Monday and Thursday can fast them even
at the end of Sha‘bān.
Many
ḥadīths emphasize the merits of fasting in the month of Sha‘bān,
especially the first half of it, including the 15th day of it where
its night should be spent in prayers and other forms of worship. Muslim
scholars give many names for the night of the midst of Sha‘bān
due to its virtues, such as: “the blessed night” (اللَّيْلَةُ اْلمُبَارَكَة), “the night of atonement” (لَيْلَةُ التَّكْفِيْر), “the
night of forgiveness” (لَيْلَةُ اْلغُفْرَان), “the night
of intercession”ليلة الشَّفَاعَة)), “the
night of the acceptance of supplication”(لَيْلَةُ اْلإجَابَة) , and
“the night of life” (لَيْلَةُ اْلحَيَاة).
In conclusion: Although
the ḥadīths relating the virtues of fasting on the 15th of Sha‘bān are
weak, it can be done as a measure of precaution, not taken as Sunnah, but as an
advisable practice. Muslim scholars, such as al-Nawawī, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Ibn
al-Mubārak, Sufyān al-Thawrī, and Abū Zakariyyā al-‘Anbarī agree that it is
possible to accept weak ḥadīths and act upon them, as long as they do
not contain injunction or prohibition, or making ḥalāl what is ḥarām,
and vice-versa, but rather the virtues of good deeds.
(CIVIC, 22 May, 2015)
Bibliography:
al-Maktabah al-Shāmilah
http://en.islamway.net/article/12087/the-virtues-of-shaban
http://www.saaid.net/mktarat/12/8-21.htm
(شهر شعبان ماذا
فيه ؟للعلامة السيد الدكتور محمد علوي المالكي الحسني)
