Assalamo Alaikum Brothers & Sisters:
I thought I'd share some virtues of fasting during the month of Sha'aban..May Allah make it a time of repentence and pardon for each of us..and allow us the blessing of fasting Ramadhan..Inshallah!
The Virtues of the Month of Sha'ban
Sha'ban is the name of the (eigth) month of the Islamic lunar calendar, and it is so called because in this month the Arabs used to disperse (tasha'aba) in search of water, or it was said that it is so called because it sha'aba (branches out or emerges) i.e., it appears between the months of Rajab and Ramadan. I thought I'd share some virtues of fasting during the month of Sha'aban..May Allah make it a time of repentence and pardon for each of us..and allow us the blessing of fasting Ramadhan..Inshallah!
The Virtues of the Month of Sha'ban
Fasting in Sha'ban
'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him - PBUH) used to fast until we thought he would never break his fast, and not fast until we thought he would never fast. I never saw the Messenger of Allah fasting for an entire month except in Ramadan, and I never saw him fast more than he did in Sha'ban." (Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim). According to a report narrated by Muslim, "He used to fast all of Sha'ban, he used to fast all but a little of Sha'ban."
A group of scholars, including Ibn al-Mubarak and others, thought that the Prophet did not fast all of Sha'ban, but he fasted most of it. This is supported by a report in Saheeh Muslim narrated from 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: "I never knew of him - meaning the Prophet (PBUH) - fasting for any entire month apart from Ramadan." According to another report also narrated by Muslim, A'ishah said: "I never saw him fast for any entire month from the time he came to Madeenah, apart from Ramadan."
It was reported in al-Bukhari and Muslim that Ibn 'Abbas said: "The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) did not fast any entire month apart from Ramadan." Ibn 'Abbas regarded it as makrooh to fast any entire month apart from Ramadan. Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "He observed more voluntary fasts in Sha'ban than in any other month, and he used to fast most of Sha'ban."
Usamah ibn Zayd (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, I do not see you fasting in any other month like you fast in Sha'ban.' He said, 'That is a month to which people do not pay attention, between Rajab and Ramadan, and it is a month in which deeds are lifted up to the Lord of the Worlds. I like for my deeds to be lifted up when I am fasting.'" (Narrated by al-Nasa'i). According to a report narrated by Abu Dawood, he said: "The most beloved of months for the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) to fast in was Sha'ban, and his fasting in Sha'ban was continuous with his fasting in Ramadan." (Classed as saheeh by al-Albani)
Ibn Rajab (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Fasting in Sha'ban is better than fasting in the Sacred Months, and the best of voluntary fasts are those that are (observed in the months) closest to Ramadan, before or after. The status of these fasts is like that of al-Sunan al-Rawatib which are done before and after fard (obligatory prayers) and which make up for any shortfall in the number of obligatory prayers. The same applies to fasts observed before and after Ramadan. Just as al-Sunan al-Rawatib are better than other kinds of voluntary prayers, so fasts observed (in the months) before and after Ramadan are better than fasts at other times.
The phrase "Sha'ban is a month to which people do not pay attention, between Rajab and Ramadan" indicates that because it comes between two important months, the Sacred Month of Rajab and the month of fasting, people are preoccupied with those two months and they do not pay attention to Sha'ban. Many people think that fasting in Rajab is better than fasting in Sha'ban, because Rajab is one of the Sacred Months, but this is not the case.
In the hadeeth quoted above there is an indication that even though certain times, places and people may be commonly thought to posses a particular virtue, there may be others that are better than them. It also indicates that it is mustahabb (recommended) to make good use of the times when people tend to be negligent, by doing acts of worship. A group of the Salaf used to fill the time between Maghrib and 'Isha' with prayer, saying that it was a time when many people were negligent. Another example is the remembrance of Allah (dhikr) in the marketplace, because this means one is remembering Him in a place where people tend to be negligent and among people who are negligent. There are a number of benefits that come from making good use of times when people are often negligent, and using these times for worship, including the following:
It is more concealing of one's good works, and hiding and concealing nawafil (supererogatory) actions is better, especially fasting, because it is a secret between a slave and his Lord. Hence it was said that there is no element of showing off in fasting. One of the Salaf used to fast for years without anybody knowing about it; he would go from his home to the marketplace carrying two loaves of bread, which he would give away in charity, and he would fast. His family thought that he ate the bread, whilst the people in the marketplace thought that he had eaten at home. The Salaf thought it was mustahabb for a person who was fasting to do things that would conceal the fact that he was fasting. It was reported that Ibn Mas'ood said: "When you get up in the morning and you are fasting, then apply perfume." Qutadah said: "It is mustahabb for the [man] who is fasting to apply perfume so that there will be no sign that he is fasting."
By the same token, doing righteous deeds at times when people are distracted and negligent is more difficult. One of the indications of how virtuous a deed is, is how difficult it is: if everyone is doing a certain action, it is easy, but if most people are negligent, this makes it more difficult for those who do remember Allah. Muslim narrated from the hadeeth of Ma'qil ibn Yasar: "[The Prophet (PBUH) said:] 'Worship at times of tribulation (fitnah) is like Hijrah to me.'" (The phrase "worship at times of tribulation" refers to times of upheavals and trials, when people follow their own desires, and those who adhere to Islam are doing something difficult.)
The scholars differed as to the reasons why the Prophet (PBUH) fasted so much in Sha'ban. Their various opinions were as follows:
That he had been unable to fast three days out of every month because he was traveling or for some other reason, so he made them all up together in Sha'ban. When the Prophet (PBUH) began to do some nafl (supererogatory) action, he would persist in it, and if he missed it, he would make it up later.
It was said that his wives used to make up the days that they missed of Ramadan in Sha'ban, so he used to fast because of that. This is the opposite of what was reported from 'A'ishah, that she used to delay making up days that she had missed in Ramadan until Sha'ban because she was too busy with the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) to fast.
It was said that it was because this is a month which people do not pay attention to. This is the most correct view, because of the hadeeth of Usamah quoted above, in which it says: "That is a month to which people do not pay attention, between Rajab and Ramadan."
When Sha'ban began, if the Prophet (PBUH) still had some voluntary fasts outstanding that he had not fasted, he would make them up during Sha'ban so that his nafl fasts would be complete before Ramadan came. Similarly, if he had missed some Sunnah prayers or he had missed Qiyam al-Layl (night prayer), he would make it up. 'A'ishah used to make the most of this opportunity to make up any obligatory Ramadan fasts that she had missed because of menstruation; during other months she was too busy with the Prophet (PBUH) to fast.
We should also note here that anyone who has any missed fasts to make up has to make them up before the next Ramadan comes. It is not permissible to delay it until after the following Ramadan except in cases of necessity (such as a valid excuse that continues between the two Ramadans). Whoever is able to make them up before the (second) Ramadan and does not do so, has to make them up after the (second) Ramadan and in addition to that, he has to repent and to feed one poor person for each day that he missed. This is the view of Malik, al-Shafa'i and Ahmad.
Another benefit of fasting in Sha'ban is that it is a kind of training for the Ramadan fast, in case a person finds it difficult to fast when Ramadan starts; if he fasts in Sha'ban he will have gotten used to fasting and he will feel strong and energetic when Ramadan comes. Sha'ban is like an introduction to Ramadan and it has some things in common with Ramadan, such as fasting, reciting Qur'an and giving in charity. Salamah ibn Suhayl used to say: "The month of Sha'ban is the month of reciters (of the Qur'an)." Habeeb ibn Abi Thabit used to say, when Sha'ban came, "This is the month of reciters (of the Qur'an)." When Sha'ban came, 'Amr ibn Qays al-Mala'i used to close his store and devote his time to reading the Qur'an.
