Fasting in Shaban & Preparing for Ramadan - Shaykh Mustafa Abu Rayyan

Khutbah: Fasting in Sha'ban & Preparing for Ramadan

Praise be to Allah. We praise Him, ask for His help and ask for His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, none can misguide him. Whom He misguides, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant, His Messenger, and pure of heart. Allah has sent him to all people as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner. He conveyed the message, fulfilled the trust, and advised the Ummah. And He left us on the white path — its night is like its day; nothing escapes it except destruction. Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family and companions, and upon whoever is guided by his guidance, follows his Sunnah, and invites to the Day of Recompense.

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.

O you people, fear your Lord who created you from one soul, and He created from it a wife, and He spread among them many men and women. And fear Allah with whom you ask, and the wombs. Indeed, Allah is ever watching over you.

O you who have believed, fear Allah and say the right words. He will correct your deeds and forgive your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has won a great victory.

My beloved ones in Allah and in Islam, I ask you and myself to fear Allah and do good. Indeed, Allah is with those who fear Him and are doers of good.

The Virtue of Sha'ban

Indeed, Sha'ban is a month that people tend to be neglectful over, because it falls between Rajab and Ramadan. Rajab being the previous month, which was a sacred month — a month among the four that Allah designated with sacredness. That means good deeds are amplified in it, and similarly bad deeds as well. That was Rajab. Rajab is over and now we are in Sha'ban, the 8th month of the Islamic calendar. And this month, something really special happens.

The Prophet ﷺ was asked about this by Usama ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him. He said: "O Messenger of Allah, I have noticed that you fast more in the month of Sha'ban than any other month. Why are you fasting so much in the month of Sha'ban?" And the Prophet ﷺ responded with two reasons.

He would fast most of it. In fact, Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: "The Prophet ﷺ has never completed the fast of a full month except Ramadan. But the closest he got to that was the month of Sha'ban." So he would fast so much of it. We are not talking about just Thursdays and Mondays. We are not talking about just the three days known as the white days. We are talking about most of the month — the Prophet ﷺ would be in a state of fasting.

First Reason: People Are Neglectful

The first reason he mentioned is that it is a time where people are neglectful. They don't really understand, appreciate, or are aware of the importance of Sha'ban. And generally speaking, my brothers and sisters, there is a level of value and virtue attached to being engaged in acts of worship when most people are not aware, or they are heedless, or they are not in a state of ibadah. Hence why there is a lot of virtue in praying at night when the people are asleep. The Prophet ﷺ used to say:

Pray at night when the people are asleep. (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2377; also reported in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim in related wordings)

Because the one who, among the many, many people, chooses to be awake and pray while everyone is resting — or when the many, many people are not fasting and he chooses to fast — there is an element of devoutness and worship associated with that which is appreciated by Allah. So the Prophet ﷺ said: "I fast Sha'ban because most people don't."

Second Reason: The Deeds Are Raised to Allah

And then he mentioned another reason. And this reason — Wallahi — I want my brothers and sisters to pay attention to this:

It is a month in which deeds are raised to the Lord of the worlds, and I love that my deeds be raised while I am fasting. (Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 2357; also reported by Ahmad in his Musnad)

The deeds are taken to Allah. Now I want you to take a moment and think. From last Sha'ban to this Sha'ban — a year. A year of deeds, good and bad. A year where maybe you have fallen to sins, shortcomings, oppressions. All of it documented by the angels. All of it seen by Allah, heard by Allah. All of it — the earth itself being a witness. Where you've been, what you've said, what you've done, what you haven't done, what you were meant to do but didn't. As well as the good that you've done — your Salah, your Istighfar, your everything. All of it is being taken to Allah this month.

The Prophet ﷺ said: "I wish — I hope — that when my deeds are taken to Allah, I will be in a state of fasting." Because fasting is the ultimate form of subservience, submission and servitude to Allah. When you stay away from eating and drinking and all the joys of life for the sake of Allah, he said: "I want my deeds to be taken to Allah while I am in a state of fasting."

This was the advice of the Prophet ﷺ and this was his action. Now if we are claiming to be people that want to follow the Sunnah of our beloved Messenger Muhammad ﷺ, what are we doing not fasting? We should be fasting — a lot. And make sure that you try and do this act of worship that the Prophet ﷺ encouraged.

Preparing for Ramadan

My brothers and sisters, as we are in the month of Sha'ban, clearly Ramadan is approaching. And what should be the mindset of the Muslim as Ramadan approaches? We should be welcoming this great guest. There should be an element of enthusiasm, joy, and hope in the fact that we are near Ramadan. Ramadan is not a month where you should be concerned — "Oh, I have to fast again, oh, it's going to be difficult." It should be something that you wish for and welcome, because so much great reward and blessings are coming our way. May Allah allow us to reach it — say ameen.

I want to share with you a few points of advice as it relates to preparing yourself for Ramadan, insha'Allah ta'ala. And one could argue we are still a number of weeks out, but Wallahi it will go very quickly. And before you know it, Ramadan is being announced, the moon has been sighted, and it is time to come and pray taraweeh. So I urge you all to really pay attention to this and apply the following pieces of advice, insha'Allah ta'ala.

1. Renew Your Intention

Start by renewing your intention and making a firm niyyah this year that you will truly do as good as you possibly can and benefit from this month as it is meant to be benefited from. Be already in the mindset: "This Ramadan will be different. This Ramadan I will do more. This Ramadan I will try my best to be more charitable than I was previously. To pray more than I did previously. To read more Qur'an than I've done previously." Let your fast, your dhikr, everything — start now. And if you start with that mentality early on and you start making du'a — "Oh Allah, give me the azeemah, give me the determination and the ability" — this will, insha'Allah ta'ala, allow you to start your Ramadan in a very high place of iman.

2. Repent from Your Sins

Repent from your sins before you get to Ramadan. Generally speaking, we need to have a practice of repenting from our sins regularly. The Prophet ﷺ would repent to Allah more than 70 times a day — some narrations say more than 100 times a day. Repentance is something that we have to practice as often as possible. We are constantly falling short. We are constantly falling into sin. We are constantly transgressing upon ourselves and others.

Repent, O believers, so that you may be successful. Your success is directly linked to the amount of time that you repent, that you feel remorse, that you go back to Allah. Return to your Lord. And I want us to start repenting from our sins — getting rid of bad habits that we have developed, building up good habits, and asking Allah to forgive us for our shortcomings. If we cleanse our hearts and we have a clear conscience when Ramadan begins, this will have an impact on our salah, on our fast, and on everything else as well.

3. Strengthen Your Relationship with the Qur'an

My brothers and sisters, we also have to strengthen our relationship with the Qur'an — the book of Allah. The one that we claim we love, and we do love it. The message that came from our Lord, Allah jalla jalaluhu. Allah mentions it is هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ — a guidance to all of mankind. It is a light that came from Allah. It is nur. It is hudan lil muttaqeen — a guidance to the pious.

Indeed, this Qur'an guides to that which is most upright and the best — the best morals, the best values, the best character, the best worship, the best stories. It is our book and a gift from Allah. We should have it as a priority in our lives — to read it, to benefit from it, to ponder over it, to reflect on it.

Wallahi, the Qur'an should be a bigger part of our lives. And we have the month of Qur'an coming up — the month of Ramadan, wherein the Qur'an was revealed. What makes Ramadan special is that Allah made it special by revealing the Qur'an in that blessed month. So it is the month of Qur'an. What are we going to do? Start now by reattaching yourself to the book of Allah. Reflecting over the ayat. Learning the tafsir. Maybe the prayer that you pray, the ayat that you recite, the smaller chapters — you read their meanings. Whatever form it takes, build a relationship with the book of Allah.

The Qur'an is not something we merely recite melodiously, my brothers and sisters. The Qur'an is a message from Allah. And what is the point of listening to the message if you do not understand it?

And speaking of the Qur'an — it is also a hujjah. It will be either speaking on your behalf or against you. At a time where people have taken the Qur'an as something to be mocked — where they try to insult Islam and Muslims by burning the book of Allah — do they not know that the book of Allah is in the hearts of the Muslims? If every single mushaf was burned today, the Qur'an will be replicated in an instant. Because Allah says:

The Qur'an is in the hearts of those who have knowledge. All they are doing is admitting that they cannot go toe-to-toe with the morals and the values of this Qur'an, and they resort to things that children would resort to. You can burn as many Qur'ans as you want — we will recite it from A to Z, all 114 chapters. It is in the Lawh al-Mahfuz. Allah will protect it and preserve it. And what tends to happen is that as the publicity for the Qur'an increases through the constant talking about it, more people will be interested in the book of Allah, will learn it, and they will revert to Islam. So no matter what they do, remember my brothers and sisters that the book of Allah is preserved and protected. You build a strong relationship with the Qur'an. As for those people — Allah will deal with them.

And of course, this goes without saying — but I guess I have to say it. As Muslims, we are people of justice and we are people of peace. We do not transgress upon anyone. Transgression is not allowed, and we do not condone any harming of any individuals. But we will say that there is a Day of Justice, a Day of Judgment, for those that dare humiliate the scriptures that came from Allah.

4. Make Up Your Missed Fasts

Another advice, my brothers and sisters, as it relates to Sha'ban: make up the missed fasts. Maybe you were sick. Maybe you were traveling. And for our sisters, you had your natural cycle — and maybe you've delayed it, and delayed it, and delayed it, and now you're in the month of Sha'ban. Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, our mother, mentioned that they would make up their missed fasts even in the month of Sha'ban — it is possible. But the one thing you are not allowed to do is delay it until Ramadan starts. So if there are any missed fasts that you haven't made up yet, now is the time to do so, insha'Allah ta'ala.

Second Part of the Khutbah

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Through Him we seek help in the affairs of this world and the religion. And peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his family and companions.

My brothers and sisters, like I mentioned — make sure that if there are any fasts that you owe, you do them before Ramadan starts. For those among you who are not able to do so due to an extended circumstance or exception, there are other alternatives.

5. Educate Yourself on the Rulings of Ramadan

Educate yourselves on the rulings of Ramadan. Every year the same brothers and sisters will be asking the same questions about fasting and Ramadan. And you have to ask yourself: why is it that you keep forgetting the rulings of fiqh as they relate to Ramadan and fasting? It is something you should know like the back of your hand. You should know the ahkam and the rulings of fasting — what breaks it, what should you give, what should you do if you're too old, what should you do if you're too sick. Do you not care about your religion?

So brothers and sisters, now is the time to refresh. To join a course. To look up the ahkam and the rulings of Ramadan and fasting so that you can worship Allah upon knowledge. I am not just talking about the halal and the haram and the obligations. I'm talking about everything, including the virtues. What acts of worship are the most recommended in the month of Ramadan? How did the Prophet ﷺ used to spend his days in Ramadan? What did the sahaba do in Ramadan? Educate yourself on all things related to fasting and Ramadan. Because it is you who is responsible for that. Like the Prophet ﷺ said:

Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim. (Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 224)

When we say seeking knowledge is an obligation, what is being talked about is things like this — things related to your daily worship. So insha'Allah ta'ala, educate yourself on the ahkam, the rulings, and the virtues of Ramadan and fasting. And insha'Allah ta'ala, I believe there will be a conference here in this masjid where we will be doing just that. I encourage you all to attend insha'Allah ta'ala.

6. Increase Your Ibadah Now

My brothers and sisters, as well as educating yourself, it is also important that we generally start increasing our ibadah and our worship as we get closer to Ramadan — especially as it relates to the night prayer and the recitation of the Qur'an. So that when Ramadan comes, you don't already feel that you have to suddenly do so much. Right now, start getting used to waking up at night and praying. Right now, start getting used to fasting — as we have already mentioned. So insha'Allah ta'ala you have some level of momentum to carry you into Ramadan.

7. Welcome Ramadan with Joy and Enthusiasm

And finally, my beloved brothers and sisters — welcome Ramadan with joy and with enthusiasm. Welcome Ramadan and let it be apparent. Let it be apparent in your household. Let it be clear that we are excited, hopeful, and joyous that Allah is going to bless us with another great gift. The month of Ramadan, the night prayer, the coming to the masjid, and all the different rewards — the shayateen being chained up, the doors of Jannah being opened up, Allah freeing people every night from the fire. May Allah make us among those, insha'Allah ta'ala.

Closing Reminder

My brothers and sisters, now is the time to benefit and to prepare yourself for that great month that is about to come. But let us not only look towards Ramadan. Remember — you are in Sha'ban. Remember what your Prophet ﷺ would do in Sha'ban. Remember that he would fast so much. Remember that your deeds will be taken to Allah this year. And remember that you want your deeds to be taken to Allah while you are in a state of fasting, just as the Prophet ﷺ was.

O Allah, make faith beloved to us and adorn it in our hearts, and make us from the righteous.

O Allah, make the best of our lives the end of it, and the best of our deeds the last of them, and the best of our days the day when we meet You.

O Allah, make us reach Ramadan, and bless us in Sha'ban, O most merciful of the merciful.

O Allah, support the weak Muslims everywhere. O Allah, support the weak Muslims in Palestine and Gaza, O most merciful of the merciful.

And our last supplication is that all praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And establish prayer.