Month Of Sha'baan

Sha’baan is the name of the (eighth) month, 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 they dispersed to carry out raids and forays. 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. The plural forms of the word Sha’baan are Sha’baanaat and Sha’aabeen.

Fasting in Sha’baan

‘Aa’ishah (RA) said: “The Messenger (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 Allaah fasting for an entire month except in Ramadan, and I never saw him fast more than he did in Sha’baan.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, no. 1833; Muslim, no. 1956).

“He used to fast all of Sha’baan, he used to fast all but a little of Sha’baan.” Muslim (no. 1957),

A group of scholars, including Ibn al-Mubaarak and others, thought that the Prophet (PBUH) did not fast all of Sha’baan, but he fasted most of it. ‘Aa’ishah (RA), 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 (no. 1955), ‘Aa’ishah said: “I never saw him fast for any entire month from the time he came to Madeenah, apart from Ramadan.” Saheeh Muslim (no. 1954)

It was reported in al-Saheehayn that Ibn ‘Abbaas said: “The Messenger of Allaah (PBUH) did not fast any entire month apart from Ramadan.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, no. 1971, and Muslim, no. 1157).

Ibn ‘Abbaas regarded it as makrooh to fast any entire month apart from Ramadaan. Ibn Hajar (RA) said: “He observed more voluntary fasts in Sha’baan than in any other month, and he used to fast most of Sha’baan.”
Usaamah ibn Zayd (may Allaah be pleased with them both) said: “I said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, I do not see you fasting in any other month like you fast in Sha’baan.’ 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-Nasaa’i, see Saheeh al-Targheeb wa’l-Tarheeb, page 425).

According to a report narrated by Abu Dawood (no. 2076) she said: “The most beloved of months for the Messenger of Allaah (PBUH) to fast in was Sha’baan, and his fasting in Sha’baan was continuous with his fasting in Ramadan.” (Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani, see Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood, 2/461).

Ibn Rajab (RA) said: “Fasting in Sha’baan 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-Rawaatib which are done before and after fard (prayers) and which make up for any shortfall in the number of obliagtory prayers. The same applies to fasts observed before and after Ramadan. Just as al-Sunan al-Rawaatib 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’baan 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’baan. Many people think that fasting in Rajab is better than fasting in Sha’baan, 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 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.

The scholars differed as to the reasons why the Prophet (PBUH) fasted so much in Sha’baan.

Their various opinions were as follows:

1. That he had been unable to fast three days out of every month because he was travelling or for some other reason, so he made them all up together in Sha’baan. When the Prophet (PBUH) began to do some naafil action, he would persist in it, and if he missed it, he would make it up later.

2. It was said that his wives used to make up the days that they missed of Ramadan in Sha’baan, so he used to fast because of that. This is the opposite of what was reported from ‘Aa’ishah, that she used to delay making up days that she had missed in Ramadan until Sha’baan because she was too busy with the Messenger of Allaah (PBUH) to fast.

3. 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 Usaamah quoted above, in which it says: “That is a month to which people do not pay attention, between Rajab and Ramadan.” (Narrated by al-Nasaa’i, see Saheeh al-Targheeb wa’l-Tarheeb, p. 425)

When Sha’baan began, if the Prophet (PBUH) still had some voluntary fasts outstanding that he had not fasted, he would make them up during Sha’baan so that his naafil fasts would be complete before Ramadan came. Similarly, if he had missed some Sunnah prayers or he had missed Qiyaam al-Layl, he would make it up. ‘Aa’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

Another benefit of fasting in Sha’baan 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’baan he will have gotten used to fasting and he will feel strong and energetic when Ramadan comes. Sha’baan is like an introduction to Ramadan and it has some things in common with Ramadaan, such as fasting, reciting Qur’aan and giving in charity. Salamah ibn Suhayl used to say: “The month of Sha’baan is the month of reciters (of the Qur’aan).” Habeeb ibn Abi Thaabit used to say, when Sha’baan came, “This is the month of reciters (of the Qur’aan).” When Sha’baan came, ‘Amr ibn Qays al-Malaa’i used to close his store and devote his time to reading the Qur’aan.

Some ignorant people may think that the reason why we do not fast just before Ramadan is so that we can make the most of eating and have our fill of our desires before we have to deny ourselves by fasting. This is an ignorant mistake on the part of those who think this. And Allah knows best.