By: Seyyed Ali Quli Qara’i  (English translator of the holy Qur’an and “Mafatih al-Jenan”)

 

Sha’ban is a month of great merits. Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) used to fast throughout this month. The best supplication during this month is “isteghfar” (seeking forgiveness in the Divine Court). One should say 70 times every day “Astaghfirullaha, wa as’aluhut-tawbah! (I plead to Allah for forgiveness and beseech Him to accept my repentance)!” Another recommended act for this month is “sadaqa” (charity), even if it be as little as half a date, so that God may make immune one’s body from the fire of hell. A highly recommended act is to offer a 2-raka’ah prayer on every Thursday of Sha’ban with recitation of Surat al-Hamd once, followed by “Surat at-Tawhid” 100 times in each “raka’ah”, and after “salaam”, “salawaat” should be recited 100 times. As per a hadith the heavens are adorned every Thursday of Sha’ban and the angels plead with God to forgive those who fast on it and to answer their supplications.

Once, on the 1st of Sha’ban, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) was passing by a group sitting in a mosque and engaged in hot debate with raised voices concerning pre-destination and similar controversial issues. He stopped and greeted them. They answered his greeting and stood up reverently, asking him to join them. He politely declined, saying:

“O people who venture into matters that neither concern you nor are of any benefit to you! Don’t you know that there are servants of God who have been urged to maintain silence, not because they are incapable or dumb, but because of their trepidation? For indeed those who are cognizant of God are the most eloquent, intelligent and wise, yet when they remember the Greatness of God, their tongues fail, their hearts cave in, their minds are perplexed, and their intellects are confused vis-a-vis God’s Might, Majesty and Glory. When they recover from this state, they approach God by the means of pious deeds, counting themselves among wrongdoers and the erring, even though they are exempt from the faults of laxity and negligence. But they are not satisfied with their little service of God, nor do they regard as plenty the works they have done for the sake of God. They do not flaunt their works before Him, and whenever you see them you will find them overcast with sorrow and awe, fearful and apprehensive. So where do you stand in relation to them O band of mavericks? Don’t you know that the most knowledgeable of people concerning predestination are those who are the most reticent concerning it, and that the most ignorant of people concerning predestination are those who are most glib about it? O band of mavericks! Today is the first of Sha’ban, named so by our Lord because of the ramification and branching forth of His blessings during it. To be sure, in it your Lord has flung open the gates of His paradise and presented to you the spectacle of its palaces and good things, attainable at the cheapest of prices, in exchange for the easiest of works, and yet you decline them. The accursed Satan too has presented to you the branches of his multifarious evils and afflictions, and you catch hold of the offshoots sent out by Satan, and turn away from the branches of good, whose gates have been laid open for you.” 

“This is the first day of Sha’ban. The branches of its goods are prayer, fasting, zakat, bidding what is right and forbidding what is wrong, kindness towards parents, relatives, and neighbours, resolving conflicts between people, and giving charity to the needy and the poor. You burden yourself with a task of which you have been spared, and venture to probe Divine mysteries – exercise from which you have been forbidden, as those who try to explore them perish. But if you come to know what our Lord, the Almighty and Glorious, has prepared on this day for His obedient servants, you will cut short what you have been engaged in and start doing what you have been told to do.” 

They said: O Commander of the Faithful, what is it that God has prepared for the obedient on this day?

He replied: “I will not recount for you anything except what I have heard from the Prophet of Allah. Once the Prophet of Allah dispatched a company of troops towards a people who were staunch infidels; the enemy made a sudden attack at night on Muslims. It was a pitch dark night and the Muslims were fast asleep. No one among them was awake that night except four: Zayd bin Harethah, Abdullah bin Rawahah, Qatadah bin Nu’man and Qays bin Asem Minqari. Each of them was engaged in prayer and reciting the Qur’an at one of the sides of the camp. The enemy rained arrows on the Muslims who could not shield themselves from the assailants, as they did not see because of darkness. Such was their predicament when they suddenly saw lights burst forth from the visages of these four men, which illuminated the battlefield for the Muslim warriors. This gave them strength and morale. Drawing their swords they gave a good fight, killing the attackers, wounding some them and taking others captive. On their return when they related the incident to the Prophet, he told them that those lights came from certain acts of theirs performed on the first of Sha’ban. Then he described the acts that each one them had performed.” 

 “Thereafter he (the Prophet) said, ‘When the first day of Sha’ban arrives, Satan spreads out his troops throughout the corners of the earth and its horizons, asking them to try to attract some of God’s servants toward themselves. Indeed God Almighty and Glorious also scatters his angels throughout the earth’s quarters and horizons, telling them ‘Guide My servants and show them the right way, whereat all of them will attain felicity through you, except such of them as refuse and are arrogant and rebellious; these join the party of Satan and enter his hosts. On the advent of the first of Sha’ban, God, Almighty and Glorious, commands the gates of paradise to open, and He commands the Tree of Tuba, whereat it spreads its branches all over the world. Then a herald of our Lord, Almighty and Glorious, calls out: “O servants of God! These are the branches of the Tree of Tuba! Take hold of them so that they may lift you up toward paradise. And those are the branches of the Tree of Zaqqum! Beware of them! Let them not draw you toward hell!” The Prophet of Allah said, “By Him who sent me as the Prophet with the truth! Whoever approaches one of the doors of goodness and piety on this day, adheres to a branch of the Tree of Tuba, and is taken toward paradise. And whoever approaches one of the doors of evil on this day, is stuck to a branch of the Zaqqum Tree which draws him toward hell.”