Source : Seekers Guidance / 09 Jun 2014

It is recommended to bestow abundant blessings and peace upon the Beloved of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). It was in this month that Allah revealed:

"Allah and His angels bestow their blessings upon the Prophet. O you who believe bestow blessings and peace upon him in abundance!" [Al-Aḥzāb, 33:56]

Perhaps this is why the Prophet called Sha`bān “my month,” when he said in the hadith: “Rajab is the month of Allah, Sha`bān is my month, and Ramaḍān is the month of my Ummah.” [Narrated by al-Suyūṭī]

Bestowing blessings upon him is one of the greatest means of strengthening our connection to him in this life and also the next, as he informed us (may Allāh bless him and grant him peace): “The closest people to me on the Day of Rising will be those who bestow the most blessings upon me.” [Narrated by al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Ḥibbān]

It was also the habit of some of the early Muslims to recite the Qur’ān in abundance during Sha`bān. This along with fasting gives us the best preparation for Ramaḍān, as it takes time for the soul (nafs) to become accustomed to doing these things in abundance. If we are already accustomed to doing them before Ramaḍān it will enable us to do more when the month begins. Perhaps this is why Imām Abū Bakr al-Warrāq said: “in Rajab you sow the seeds, in Sha`bān you irrigate them and in Ramaḍān you reap the harvest.”

Two momentous events occurred in Sha`bān. The scholars of Sīrah say that it was the month in which the moon was split in half for the Messenger of Allāh (may Allāh bless him and grant him peace). It was also the month in which the Qiblah (direction of prayer) was changed from Bayt al-Maqdis in Jerusalem to the Ka`bah in Makkah. While these events have now passed there is one momentous event which comes around every year, and that is the Fifteenth Night of Sha`bān, one of the greatest nights of the year. We intend to deal with it in detail closer to the time.

We end by asking, as the Prophet (may Allāh bless him and grant him peace) asked:

اللَّهُمَّبَارِكْلَنَافيرَجَبٍوَشَعْبَانَوَبَلِّغْنارَمَضَانَ

“O Allah bless us in Rajab and Sha`bān and enable us to reach Ramaḍān!” [Narrated by Aḥmad]