The Month of Sha^ban and Preparing for Ramadan

Praise be to Allah and may Allah increase the honor and raise the rank of our Master Muhammad sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam.

Thereafter, dear Muslims know that Allah said in the honorable Qur’an:

 (قَد أَفلَحَ مَن تَزَكَّى وَذَكَرَ اسمَ رَبِّهِ فَصَلَّى)

(قَد أَفلَحَ)

It means that the one who worked purely for the hereafter has won. The reward of every good deed which is done in sincerity for the sake of Allah is multiplied ten times. This is the least reward that the Muslim slave would get, and Allah would multiple it for whomever He wills up to seven-hundred times, or He would multiply it for as many as one hundred thousand times, or even one million times, or even more than that.

Allah also said in the Honorable Qur’an:

(وَلاَ تَنسَ نَصِيبَكَ مِنَ الدُّنيَا)

Which means do not forget to make good use of your lifetime by supplying yourself of the good deeds for the hereafter. So the one who does the good deeds in this life is the one who has supplied his self for the hereafter, and the one who misses that has missed supplying his self for the hereafter. Allah said in the Qur’an:

(والأَخِرَةُ خَيرٌ وَأبقَى)

It means that Paradise is the everlasting abode and is better than this life. So it is required from all of us to be obedient slaves of Allah.

We are urged to spend the night preceding the 15^th of Sha^ban in performing the acts of obedience to Allah.

The night of the 15^th of Sha^ban is a blessed night, the most the person can do on this night is to pray at night and to fast the next day and to be God-fearing.

The Messenger of Allah sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam said:

“إذا كانت ليلة النصف من شعبان فقوموا ليلها وصوموا نهارها“

It means: “Spend the night preceding the 15^th day of Sha^ban in

acts of obedience, and fast the next day.” (Narrated by Ibn Majah)

The acts of obedience meant in this hadith are: Reciting the Qur’an, making supplication (du^a’) to Allah, and praying the recommended prayers.

وينبغي للشخص في هذه الليلة كما ينبغي له في سائر الأوقات أن يتذكر أن الموت ءاتٍ لا محالة. وكم هي عظيمة تلك الكلمات التي تقولها ملائكة الرحمة للأتقياء عند مفارقتهم الدنيا يقولون للمؤمن التقي (نَحنُ أَولِيَاؤُكُم فِي الحَيَاةِ الدُّنيَا وَفِي الآخِرَةِ وَلَكُم فِيهَا مَا تَشتَهِي أَنفُسُكُم وَلَكُم فِيهَا مَا تَدَّعُونَ) سورة فصلت / 31. اللَّهُمَّ توفنا على كامل الإيمان يا رب العالمين.

One should remind himself on the night of the 15^th of Sha^ban as in all other times that death is near and that it is coming to us,

and how great are the words, which the Angels of Mercy would say to the pious ones when they leave this world. Among these good words is that they would bring them the good news that they will have the everlasting enjoyments in the hereafter.

O Allah make us die on the true and full belief.

إخوة الإيمان لابد لنا من أن نبين أن ليلة النصف من شعبان ليست الليلة التي قال الله فيها: (فِيهَا يُفرَقُ كُلُّ أَمرٍ حَكِيم) سورة الدخان / 4. وإن كان شاع عند بعض العوام أن هذه الليلة هي ليلة النصف من شعبان فهذا غير صحيح والصواب أن هذه الليلة هي ليلة القدر ومعنى (فِيهَا يُفرَقُ كُلُّ أَمرٍ حَكِيم) أن اللهَ يُطلِعُ ملائكته في هذه الليلة ليلة القدر على تفاصيل ما يحدث في هذه السنة إلى مثلها من العام القابل من موت وحياة وولادة وأرزاق ونحو ذلك.

Brothers in Islam, we should mention here that the night of the 15^th of Sha^ban is not the night that Allah said about it in the Qur’an:

(فِيهَا يُفرَقُ كُلُّ أَمرٍ حَكِيم)

as it was spread among many ignorant people, the truth is that the night meant in this verse is the Night of Qadr. And the meaning of:

(فِيهَا يُفرَقُ كُلُّ أَمرٍ حَكِيم)

is that during the Night of Qadr, Allah gives the angels the knowledge of what is going to happen during the coming year in what pertains to deaths, births, sustenance, and the like.

ومما ينبغي الإنتباه منه دعاء إعتاد بعض الناس على ترداده في هذه الليلة أي ليلة النصف من شعبان وهو: “اللَّهُمَّ إن كنت كتبتني عندك في أم الكتاب محروما أو مطرودا أو مقترًا علي في الرزق فامح اللَّهُمَّ بفضلك شقاوتي وحرماني وطردي وإقتار رزقي”. فهذا اللفظ روي بعضه عن عُمَر وابن مسعود ولم يثبت. ولايجوز الإعتقاد أن الله تتغير مشيئته فمن اعتقد أن الله يغير مشيئته بدعوة داعٍ فقد فسدت عقيدته ووقع  بالكفر الإعتقادي الذي نحذر منه في دروسنا وخطبنا ومجالسنا كما نحذر من سائر أنواع الكفر الأخرى، فإن مشيئة الله أزلية أبدية لا يطرأ عليها تغيُّر ولا تحول كسائر صفاته: علمه وقدرته وتقديره وغيرها. فلا تتغير مشيئة الله بدعوة داعٍ أو صدقة متصدق أو نذر ناذر.

One needs to be cautious in his understanding of a supplication which some people recite on the night of the 15^th day of Sha^ban:

يقولون دعاء معناه فاسد وهو: “اللَّهُمَّ إن كنت كتبتني عندك في أم الكتاب محروما أو مطرودا أو مقترًا علي في الرزق فامح اللَّهُمَّ بفضلك شقاوتي وحرماني وطردي وإقتار رزقي…“.

Some of this particular supplication was narrated from the route of ^Umar and Ibn Mas^ud; however it was not confirmed

When reciting this (aforementioned) supplication, some people erroneously understand that they are asking Allah to change His Will. That is, they understand the words they recite to mean: “O Allah, if you willed for me to be miserable, poor, and deprived of the good things, change Your Will and make me happy and solvent.”

It is not permissible to believe that Allah changes His Will, whoever believes that Allah changes His Will has committed blasphemy of belief, which we warn people from committing as we warn from all other kinds of blasphemy in our lessons, speeches, and circles.

The Will of Allah is an eternal and everlasting attribute, it does not change same as the other attributes of Allah like: His Knowledge, His Power, and others.

So the Will of Allah does not change due to a supplication or a charity (sadaqah) or a vow (nadhr).

أما قول الله تعالى: (يَمحُواْ اللهُ مَا يَشَاءُ وَيُثبِتُ) سورة الرعد /39 فمعناه أن الله تعالى يمحو ما يشاء من القرءان ويرفع حكمه وينسخه ويثبت ما يشاء من القرءان فلا ينسخه كما فسرها إبن عباس رضي الله عنهما وليس المراد به أن الله يغير مشيئته لدعوة أو صدقة أو نذر أو غير ذلك. وصدق من قال: “سبحان الذي يغير ولا يتغير“، فلو كان الله يغير مشيئته بدعوة لغيرَّها لحبيبه المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلّم حيث إن الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلّم قال: “سألت ربي أربعًا فأعطاني ثلاثًا ومنعني واحدة: سألته أن لا يُكَفِر أُمتي جُملَةً فأعطانيها، وسألته أن لا يهلكهم بما أهلك به الأمم قبلهم فأعطانيها، وسألته أن لا يُظهر عليهم عدوًا من غيرهم فيستأصلهم فأعطانيها، وسألته أن لا يجعل بأسهم بينهم فمنعنيها”  وفي رواية: قال لي يا محمد إني إذا قضيت قضاء فإنه لا يردّ.

As for Allah’s saying:

(يَمحُواْ اللهُ مَا يَشَاءُ وَيُثبِتُ وَعِندَهُ أُمُ الكِتَابِ)

Some understand that the meaning of this verse is that Allah changes His Will. Truly, this is not the meaning of this verse as interpreted by the famous companion, Ibn ^Abbas who said that this verse refers to the abrogations, that is, Allah willed for some verses of the Qur’an to be abrogated, and not for others to be abrogated. It does not mean that Allah changes His Will due to a supplication or a charity (sadaqah) or a vow (nadhr).

And how truthful is the saying of some people which means: “All praise to the One Who changes things and does not change, certainly He is clear of any imperfection.”

The Messenger of Allah sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam asked Allah four matters:

1. That his nation would not be destroyed by famine;

2. That his nation would not be completely destroyed by any enemy;

3. That his nation would not be completely destroyed by a torture similar to the torture which destroyed the previous nations; and

4. That the people of his nation would not fight one against the other.

The Prophet said that Allah granted him the first three matters but did not grant him the fourth one. So, although it was Prophet Muhammad, the beloved one to Allah, who made that supplication, Allah did not grant him all what he asked. In another narration Allah revealed to Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam :

“يا محمد إني إذا قضيت قضاء فإنه لا يرد“

It means: “ [O Muhammad], if I willed for something to happen,

My Will would not change.”

إخوة الإيمان… من أراد الدعاء لا بد له من العلم، من أراد الذكر لا بد له من العلم، من اراد الصلاة واجبة كانت أو نافلة لا بد من العلم، من أراد الصيام لا بد له من العلم فعليكم بعلم الدين فعلم الدين هو حياة الإسلام.

Dear Muslim brothers, whomever seeks supplication to Allah needs knowledge, whomever seeks utterance of statements of glorification of Allah needs knowledge, whomever seeks the prayer be it obligatory or supererogatory needs knowledge, whomever seeks fasting needs knowledge. Be keen to acquire the religious knowledge; indeed the Religious Knowledge is the life sprout of Islam.

اللَّهُمَّ ارزقنا علمًا نافعًا وإيمانًا قويًا وثباتًا على الحق يا أرحم الراحمين.

O Allah, we ask You to grant us beneficial knowledge, strong belief and steadfastness to the truth.