Allah’s beloved prophet Hadrat MUHAMMAD{peace be upon him}said:
“Sha’ban is my month,Rajab is Allah’s month and Ramadan is the month of my Ummah[Community]
Sha’ban is expiator,while Ramadan is the prufier.”
Sha’ban is a month between Rajab and Ramadan.People tend to neglcet it,but that is when the deeds of His servants ascend to the Lord of all the Worlds,so I would rather mine rose up while i am fasting.”
” The excellence of Rajab over other months is like the excellence of the Quran over all other books, while the excellence of Sha’ban over other months is like my excellence over the rest of the prophets,and the excellence of Ramadan over other months is like the excellence of Allah[Exalted is He]over all His creatures.
FASTING OF HADRAT MUHAMMAD{peace be upon him}IN THE MONTH OF SHA’BAN
Hadrat Aisha,the wife of our prophet hadrat MUHAMMAD{peace be upon him}is reported,having said: “Allah’s Messenger{peace be upon him}used to fast until we would say he was never going to stop fasting, and he would go so long without fasting thet we would say he was never going to fast,but i never saw Allah’s Messenger{peace be upon him}continue a fast from the begning to the end of any month except the month of Ramadan and i never saw do more fasting in any month than he did in Sha’ban.So i a sked him “how is it i always see you fasting in Sha’ban?” and he{peace be upon him}said: “O’ Aisha,it is the month in which the angel of death has to note down the name of anyone whose soul he must take before the year is out,so i would rather he did not record my name except while i am fasting.” Hadrat Aisha{may Allah be pleased with her}said: ” The dearest of months to our Prophet hadrat MUHAMMAD{peace be upon him} was Sha’ban, which he would link to Ramadan.”
LAST MONDAY OF SHA’BAN.
Allah’s beloved hadrat MUHAMMAD{peace be upon him}said: “Anyone who fasts on the last monday of Sha’ban will be granted forgiveness.”
LAILAT-UL-BARA’T{THE NIGHT OF ABSOLUTION},ITS SPECIAL MERCY, GRACE AND MERITS.
Allah almighty said:”Ha-Mim.By this luminous Book. Undoubtedly we sent it down in a blessed night,verily We are to warn.Therein every affair of wisdom is divided.”[44:1-3] Hadrat Ibn-e- Abbas{may Allah be pleased with him}said,”Ha-Mim means that Allah has predetermined everything in existance till the day of Resurrection. Book means AL-QURAN,which is a mercy from Allah and provid guidance and was revealed in “blessed night”.The ‘blessed night’ is the night of mid-Sha’ban in which every wise and important work is decided and is made distinct.Mid of Sha’ban is the nightof absolution.”
THE SPECIAL [IBADA] WORSHIP OF OUR PROPHET HADRAT MUHAMMAD{peace be upon him}IN THIS BLESSED NIGHT.
Hadrat Aisha{may Allah be pleased with her}said,once Allah’s Messenger{peace be upon him}asked me, “O Aisha,what night is this?”She replied, “Allah and His Messenger know best.”Then he said: This is the night of the middle of Sha’ban,during which worldly actions and the deeds of mankind are carried aloft.In this night as numerous as the wool of the flocks of the tribe of Kalb,are the slaves of Allah, emancipated from the fire of hell. So will you excuse me tonight?” She said :” I said yes,So he performed his prayer like this : He held the upright position only briefly,and recited AL-Hamd and a short Sura then he stayed in prostration till middle of night .then he stood upto begin the second rak’at[cycle] with a recitation similar to the first,and then his prostration lasted untill dawn.”
OUR PROPHET{peace be upon him} WENT TO JANNA-TUL-BAQQI [the blessed cemetry of the city of Madinah-tul-Munwwara].
Hadrat Aisha{may Allah be pleased with her}once said:” I could not find Allah’s Messenger{peace be upon him}one night,So i went outside there he was in Jannat-ul-baqqi{the blessed cemetry},his hand turned up toward the sky.Then he said to me: ‘Were you afraid that Allah and His Messenger would treat you unfairly?’ I replied: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I thought that you had gone to one of your[other] wives.’He{peace be upon him}said:’On the night of mid-Sha’ban,Allah{Exalted is He}descends to the lowest heaven and forgives more than the number of woolly hairs on the flocks and herds of [the tribe of Kalb].”
Hadrat Ibn-e-Abbas{may Allah be pleased with him and his father}said: “In the night of mid Sha’ban,Allah[Exalted is He] arranges the affairs of the year.He transfers[some of] the living to the list of dead,and records those who will make pilgrimage to the house of Allah,neither adding one too many nor leaving a single one of them out.”
THREE HUNDRED GATES OF MERCY ARE OPENED IN THE NIGHT OF MID SHA’BAN:
Hadrat Abu Huraira{may Allah be pleased with him}reported that Rasullullah{salallahu alaihi wassallam}said: “Gabriel{peace be upon him}came to me on the night of mid Sha’ban and said to me:”Ya RasulAllah,raise your head heavenwards!” I asked him: “What night is this?”and he replied: “This is night when Allah{Glorified is He}opens three hundred of the gates of mercy, forgiving all who do not make anything His partner. The only exceptions are those who practice sorcery or divination, are addicted to wine, or persist in usuary and illict sex; these He does not forgive untill they repent.” At a quarter of the night, Gabriel {peace be upon him}came down and said: Ya RasulAllah, raise your head!” So i looked up, to behold the gates of Paradise wide open. At the first gate an angel was calling: “Good news for those who bow in worship this night!” At the second gate an angel was calling: Good news for those who prostrate themselves in worship this night!” At the third gate an angel was calling: “Good news for those who offer supplication this night!” At the fourth gate an angel was calling: “Good news for those who make remembrance this night!” At the fifth gate an angel was calling: “Good news for those who weep this night from the fear of Allah!” At the sixth gate an angel was calling:” Good news for those who submit this night!” At the seventh gate an angel was calling: “Will anyone ask, hat his request may be granted?” At the eight gate an angel was calling:” Will anyone seeks forgiveness, that he may be forgiven?” Rasullullah{salsllahu alaihi wassallam}said: “O Gabriel,how long will these gates remain open?” He replied: From the beginning of the night until the break of dawn.” Then he said: “YarasulAllah, tonight Allah has as many slaves emancipated from the fire of hell as the number of wooly hairs on the flocks and herds of tribe Kalb.”
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN ISLAM!
You read the blessings and mercy of this month. How fortunate is this month that our Prophet{peace be upon him} said that THIS IS MY MONTH, this is the blessed month in which our Prophet{peace be upon him} used to fast more than any month except Ramadan. In the mid of this blessed month,he{peace be upon him}spent the whole night in worshiping of Allah subhanahu ta’ala.He remained in prostration the half night for the maghfirah [forgiveness] of his Ummah.Not only he prayed for his ummah but also he went himself to the blessed cemetry of Janna-tul-Baqqi in Madinah Munawwara and he prayed for maghfirah[forgiveness] for the dead of his Ummah.And he fasted the fifteenth day of Sha’ban.How fortunate are those who worship and seek forgiveness from Allah subhanahu ta’ala and are forgiven.Instead of sleeping in this blessed nitht,spend this night in worshiping,weeping,asking for forgiveness for the whole muslim ummah,reciting Quran,reciting SALAT and SALAM upon Allah’s beloved Prophet hadrat MUHAMMAD{peace be upon him}as many times as we can, as this the month of Allah’s beloved Prophet{peace be upon him}.Allah subhanahu ta’ala is watching us,it is up to us what we decide.