Al-Salam ‘Alaykum, this is Syed Ali Imran – and you are listening to the Forties podcast, brought to you by Mizan Institute.
This is episode 45 – The Gifts of God to Those Fasting in Sha’ban
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص وَ قَدْ تَذَاکَرَ أَصْحَابُهُ عِنْدَهُ فَضَائِلَ شَعْبَانَ قَالَ شَهْرٌ شَرِیفٌ وَ هُوَ شَهْرِی وَ حَمَلَهُ الْعَرْشِ تُعَظِّمُهُ وَ تَعْرِفُ حَقَّهُ وَ هُوَ شَهْرٌ زَادَ اللَّهُ فِیهِ أَرْزَاقَ الْمُؤْمِنِینَ لِرَمَضَانَ وَ تُزَیَّنُ فِیهِ الْجِنَانُ وَ إِنَّمَا سُمِّیَ شَعْبَانَ لِأَنَّهُ یَتَشَعَّبُ فِیهِ أَرْزَاقُ الْمُؤْمِنِینَ لِرَمَضَانَ وَ هُوَ شَهْرُ الْعَمَلِ فِیهِ تُضَاعَفُ الْحَسَنَهُ سَبْعِینَ وَ السَّیِّئَهُ مَحْطُوطَهٌ وَ الذَّنْبُ مَغْفُورٌ وَ الْحَسَنَهُ مَقْبُولَهٌ وَ الْجَبَّارُ جَلَّ جَلَالُهُ یُبَاهِی فِیهِ بِعِبَادِهِ یَنْظُرُ مِنْ عَرْشِهِ إِلَی صُوَّامِهِ وَ قُوَّامِهِ فَیُبَاهِی بِهِمْ حَمَلَهَ عَرْشِهِ
In Hadith #4 we read: The Prophet (p) was speaking with his companions regarding the merits of the month of Sha’bān and said: it is a noble month and it is my month, the carriers of the Throne of Allah venerate it and recognize its due right. It is a month in which Allah increases the sustenance for the believers for the sake of Ramaḍān and paradise is also beautified. It is called Sha’bān because the sustenance of the believers is distributed for the month of Ramaḍan, and it is the month of action, the reward of good deeds is increased by seventy-times, bad deeds are looked over, the sins are forgiven, and the good deeds are accepted. Allah – may his glory be glorified – is happy with His servants in this month, He looks at the one who fasts in the month and those who rise up for prayers from His throne with mercy, and due to them He is also happy with the carriers of His Throne.
This narration shows us how blessed the month of Sha’bān is, a month where Allah (swt) bestows His blessings and favours upon us. Any good deed that you do, prayers, fasting, giving charity, being respectful to your parents, any good deed, Allah increases the rewards for these deeds by 70 folds. He overlooks your mistakes and sins, in fact if you repent, Allah will forgive your sins. All of this is to show the sacredness and loftiness for the month of Sha’bān, it is a month that should be respected.
We ask Allah (swt) to give us the opportunity to benefit from the month of Sha’bān. But so far we’ve spoken about the month of Rajab and Sha’bān – where fasting is merely recommended, and yet there is so much reward, but these two months were merely a lead up to the most significant of these months, and that is the month of Ramaḍān. In the next episode, we’ll read a narration from Imam Baqir (a) who cites a sermon from the Prophet (p) regarding the merits of the month of Ramaḍan.
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Sayyid Ali studied in the seminary of Qom from 2012 to 2021, while also concurrently obtaining a M.A in Islamic Studies from the Islamic College of London in 2018. In the seminary he engaged in the study of legal theory, jurisprudence and philosophy, eventually attending the advanced kharij of Usul and Fiqh in 2018. He is currently completing his Masters of Education at the University of Toronto and is the head of a private faith-based school in Toronto, as well as an instructor at the Mizan Institute and Mufid Seminary.
