Sha'ban's Lessons: Preparing Our Souls For Ramadan's Blessings

Preparing for Ramadan: Lessons from the Month of Sha'ban

Respected brothers, elders, mothers, and sisters, Alhamdulillah, by the grace and mercy of Allah, we have just entered into the blessed month of Sha'ban. As you know, today is the first of the month of Sha'ban. It was from the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ that from the beginning of the previous month, the month of Rajab, he would make du'a to Allah:

Now that we've entered into Sha'ban, you can drop the Rajab part. We can still make the same du'a: Allahumma barik lana fi sha'ban, wa ballighna ramadan — O Allah, You grant us blessings, You grant us barakah in this month of Sha'ban, and You take us to the month of Ramadan. Allow us the good fortune of seeing, of witnessing, of benefiting, of experiencing the month of Ramadan.

Broadly speaking, there are three lessons that we can derive from this du'a of the Prophet ﷺ.

Lesson One: Never Take Life for Granted

Number one is that we should never take anything for granted, should never take our life for granted. Look, from the beginning of Rajab, the Prophet ﷺ is already making du'a to Allah: O Allah, wa ballighna ramadan — allow us to see, allow us to witness the month of Ramadan. That just because I'm alive in the month of Rajab, or I've made it to Sha'ban, does not guarantee me life up until the blessed month of Ramadan.

How many individuals we know from the ummah, perhaps from our own family members, our friends, who passed away in the month of Rajab. Many others from the ummah who will pass away in this month of Sha'ban. Just yesterday we got the news of a sister from our community who passed away in the tragic plane crash in Washington D.C., rahmatullahi alayha. May Allah grant her Jannatul Firdaus, and grant all the family members sabran jamilan. Ameen, ya Rabbal Alameen.

But this is life. Anytime a person's life can come to an end, anytime Malakul Mawt can meet a person. Allah says in the Quran:

What is going to happen tomorrow? Who is going to live? Who is going to pass away? This is only known to Allah.

How beautifully one poet puts it:

How many times a person who is healthy, who is young, who is strong, energetic — all of a sudden they pass away. And sometimes you have a person who is going through sickness, who is elderly, who is aged, and yet you see Allah continues to prolong his life. So life and death is in the hands of Allah.

Hence, Nabi ﷺ is teaching us to make this du'a — wa ballighna ramadan — O Allah, You grant us life, so that we are alive and we are able to experience and benefit from the month of Ramadan.

Lesson Two: Creating Excitement and Anticipation for Ramadan

The second broad lesson that we can take from this du'a is the importance of creating a sense of excitement, a sense of shawq, of desire, of anticipation for the month of Ramadan. You know, when there's something major happening in the world or in our country, then everyone starts talking about it. It becomes the talk of the town, the talk of the country. For example, you have the Super Bowl coming up. Look how much time is spent, how people are just speaking about it, creating this hype.

I remember in Seattle where I come from — I was born and raised there — in 2013 and 2014, I believe, the local team, the Seahawks, they made it to the Super Bowl two years in a row. One year they lost, one year they won. Nonetheless, at that time, both years before the Super Bowl, everyone was talking about it. Everywhere you went, you couldn't drive a few hundred feet except that you would see a tent pitched up, people on the side of the road with their tables selling the Super Bowl jerseys, the Seahawks jerseys, the beanies, and the jackets, and everything else. To such an extent, there was such a hype created that even people who have no understanding of football, they don't even know what the Super Bowl is — they become interested. "Oh wow, how come everyone is talking about it? Everyone is dressing up in these clothes. There must be something behind it." And now they also become motivated to watch it.

So likewise, we need to create a similar degree of excitement — or even a greater degree of excitement — for the month of Ramadan. Imagine, from the beginning of Rajab, the Prophet ﷺ is already teaching the companions:

Already he's sowing those seeds, placing them within the hearts of the companions as well as the rest of the ummah — to start looking forward to the month of Ramadan.

The famous hadith of Salman al-Farsi رضي الله عنه. He says:

(Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah, Hadith 1887)

In the last day of Sha'ban, the Prophet ﷺ stood up and gave a khutbah, a sermon, in which he said: "O people, a great month is now dawning upon you." Look at how he introduced the concept of the month of Ramadan to the companions رضي الله عنهم. It's not just, "Oh, it's Ramadan, it's another month." No, there was this excitement, this desire, this sense that now the month of Ramadan is coming like a special guest.

I think this is a point which is very, very important for us to focus on within ourselves, and at home also, amongst our family — that we create this desire, this yearning for the month of Ramadan. That we ourselves should be looking forward to it. Our children should be looking forward to the month of Ramadan.

It's not that our children grow up thinking, "Okay, Ramadan — I have to fast because my parents told me I have to fast. I have to come for salah in the masjid, I have to perform Tarawih, because otherwise my parents are going to get angry, they're going to yell, they're going to shout at me." Many of us perhaps grew up with that type of environment, and that worked 15, 20, 30 years ago. But today, if you try that same method of being extremely harsh — just yelling and screaming and forcing a child into doing something — you'll notice in the young ones of today that it will just create resentment. "Why are you forcing me to come for salah? I don't want to come for salah. I don't want to read the Quran."

But if you sow the seeds of love within the heart of that child, so that he's not doing it because his dad told him he has to, or because his mother is going to punish him if he doesn't — but rather he's doing it out of genuine love for Allah — then there won't be this argument, there won't be this attitude from that child. That child will willingly want to do it. "Yes, I want to fast. Yes, I want to exert myself in the tilawah of the Quran. Yes, I am looking forward to the month of Ramadan." Because he understands what he is gaining. He understands the reward that he is going to get from Allah.

This is a point that our elders, our scholars focus on a lot — to know what the fada'il, the virtues of a particular action are. Why am I doing what I am doing? Why am I fasting? Why am I performing my salah? Why am I coming to the masjid? What reward is Allah going to give me in lieu of these actions?

One of my teachers was mentioning the other day very beautifully. He said, "Whenever I take my children to the store, I tell them: come, let's make a million now." What's he referring to? He's referring to the hadith that a person who goes to the marketplace and then recites:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3429)

— he will get one million rewards. But he doesn't tell his children, "Recite this." Many times you tell the little children to recite something and they say, "No, I don't want to recite it. I want to go get my ice cream." But if you tell them, "No, let's make a million" — who's going to say no to that? Now they're interested. "Yes, I want to make my million. Yes, I want to recite the du'a. I also want the reward."

So likewise, when it comes to the month of Ramadan, when it comes to fasting, when it comes to Tarawih — all of these things — we need to teach our children the importance and the fada'il behind them, what they're going to get in lieu of the actions they are performing. It's one thing to tell your child, "Recite Quran. You must recite Quran. Half an hour — sit here and recite Quran." Now the child is just counting down the minutes. But it's another thing to tell that child:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2910)

"Do you know the Prophet ﷺ said: for every letter that you recite, you'll get one good deed, and that one good deed will be multiplied a minimum of ten times. So for every letter of the Quran that you recite, you're going to be getting how much? Ten hasanat, minimum." Now you tell the child that — now he himself is motivated. "Yes, I want to accumulate as many hasanat as I can. Forget half an hour, let me recite Quran for an entire hour."

So when we have the fada'il, the virtues of actions in mind, and when we instill this within our children, then insha'Allah you'll see that there won't be a need for me to force my child — rather, my child will willingly do it, and will want to do even more.

One thing which is very important for us to understand: if you force a child to come to the masjid, okay, now he's coming to the masjid every day — why? Because the father is forcing him. Well, what is going to happen the day the father passes away? Now who is going to take the hand of the child and force him to come? What is going to motivate that child to come to the masjid? The only reason he came was because dad was around. Now dad's no longer there.

But if you instill love within the heart of that child, and make him understand the reward — that as I'm coming to the masjid, for every step I take, Allah is going to write a good deed for me, my sins are being erased, the angels are making du'a for me — if you instill that within his mind, then it doesn't matter whether the father is alive or has passed on. Even after his death, what is motivating that child is not "my dad forcing me," but rather that remembrance of the fada'il, of the virtues. What am I going to get for coming to the masjid? What am I going to get for fasting, for worshiping Allah, for exerting myself in the worship of Allah in the month of Ramadan?

One of the most effective ways of doing this is by establishing ta'lim at home — by sitting down daily, taking a book of hadith, Fada'il Ramadan, Riyadh al-Salihin, the chapter on the virtues of Ramadan, or whatever other book you want to read. Just go through the virtues that a person receives in the month of Ramadan. Insha'Allah, this will create that sense of anticipation and excitement for the month of Ramadan.

Lesson Three: Preparing for Ramadan

The third broad lesson that we can take from this du'a is the importance of preparing for the month of Ramadan. From Rajab itself, the Prophet ﷺ is already making du'a and starting his preparations for Ramadan. And then in the month of Sha'ban, he would take that to the next level.

Fasting in Sha'ban

In the hadith of Bukhari, Aisha رضي الله عنها says:

She said: "I never saw the Prophet ﷺ fast for an entire month other than the month of Ramadan. But after the month of Ramadan, the month when the Prophet ﷺ would fast the most was this month — the month of Sha'ban."

Particularly if we have qadha fasts from last Ramadan or from previous years — fasts that we missed — then this is a very good opportunity, the perfect time, for us to take advantage of these days of Sha'ban to make those fasts up. InshAllah we can start this new month of Ramadan with a clean slate, with no qadha fasts left.

Alhamdulillah, right now the days are still relatively short. The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 21804; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 797)

"Fasting in the winter is an easy, attainable booty." It's something which is very short, but you get a lot of reward for it. So now, when the days are short, if we have qadha fasts from previous years, we should utilize these days to make them up. And even if a person doesn't have qadha fasts, we can still definitely take advantage of these short days to fast the Sunnah fasts — be it the 13th, 14th, and 15th of the month, be it Mondays and Thursdays, or whatever else a person is able to do.

Usamah ibn Zayd رضي الله عنه, in the hadith of al-Nasa'i, says: I asked the Prophet ﷺ:

(Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 2357)

"O Prophet ﷺ, I see you fasting so much in this month of Sha'ban. I don't see you fasting like this in any of the other months." — of course, excluding the month of Ramadan. So Nabi ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 2357)

"This is a month when many people become negligent of Allah." Rajab, the previous month, was from the sacred months — it had its own virtues to it. The next month, the month of Ramadan — we all know the great virtues which are attached to it. But the month of Sha'ban, Nabi ﷺ said: "People become very, very negligent. They don't remember Allah as much in this month." Hence, he said, "I love to exert myself as much as I can and to fast as much as I can in this month of Sha'ban."

Tilawah of the Quran

Together with fasting, our tilawah goals are extremely, extremely important. Allah says:

Ramadan is the month of the Quran. But in order for us to truly benefit from the month of Ramadan and to be able to engage in excessive tilawah in it, we have to start from now. From now itself, we have to get our tongues accustomed to the recitation of the Quran.

One of my teachers, I think yesterday or the day before, told one of my classmates that he wanted him to gather all the stories — from the time of the companions رضي الله عنهم till the present day — of scholars and saints of the past who would recite a lot of Quran in the months of Sha'ban and Ramadan. So he started working on it, and earlier this morning he was showing me a part of it. SubhanAllah, it was amazing to see how much tilawah our salaf al-salih, our pious predecessors, used to do.

Imam al-Shafi'i رحمه الله — it's mentioned about him that he completed the memorization of the Quran at the tender age of seven. And from the age of seven till the day he passed away, every single day he would complete one khatam of the Quran. And then when the month of Ramadan would come, he would complete two khatams of the Quran — one during the day and one by night.

Imam Malik رحمه الله, who was Imam Dar al-Hijrah, the muhaddith of Madinah al-Munawwarah in his time, who was well known for narrating a great deal of hadith — even a personality like him — it's mentioned about him:

When the month of Ramadan would enter, he would stop narrating hadith, he would stop his duroos, and he would dedicate 100% of his time to the tilawah, to the recitation of the Quran.

To give an example of somebody closer to our time: Mawlana Ilyas رحمه الله, who was the reviver of the effort of da'wah and tabligh — it's mentioned about his mother that she used to complete 40 khatams of the Quran in the month of Ramadan. 40 — four, zero — khatams of the Quran in the month of Ramadan.

This is how our pious predecessors would use their time in the month of Ramadan. They would take maximum advantage, especially when it came to the recitation of the Quran. But in order for us to get into that mode and be able to engage in a similar amount of tilawah, we have to begin our preparations from now. We need to get our tongues used to reciting large amounts of Quran.

Imagine a person who never exercises, never works out, and one day he decides to go and run 5 miles. What's going to happen? He's going to burn out and become exhausted. The next day he'll be knocked out. But if every day he works on it — runs half a mile, then next day two miles — slowly he builds up. Within two or three weeks he'll be able to run 5 miles without any issue.

So likewise, if a person leaves it for Ramadan — making no preparations, then trying to become a different person when the crescent of Ramadan is sighted — he'll start on a high note, he'll try and exert himself, but very quickly all of that will dwindle away. He'll crash, and he won't be able to maintain that same pace through the entire month of Ramadan.

Summary and Conclusion

So briefly, just to summarize and conclude — we mentioned that the du'a of the Prophet ﷺ:

Broadly speaking, there are three lessons that we can derive:

Number one: We should never take it for granted that we will be granted life to witness the month of Ramadan. Rather, we should make du'a to Allah that He allows us to witness the month of Ramadan.

Number two: The importance of creating the shawq — this anticipation, this excitement — in our homes, amongst our family, and our children, for the month of Ramadan.

Number three: To exert ourselves as much as possible in preparing for the month of Ramadan — be it by fasting, be it by the recitation of the Quran, by the dhikr of Allah, by du'a, whatever amal a person is able to do.

May Allah grant us the tawfiq. Ameen, ya Rabbal Alameen.

Jazakum Allahu Khairan. Wa akhiru da'wana anil hamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen.

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