Virtues of Fasting in Sha’ban - Shaykh Wasim Kempson

Virtues of Fasting in Sha'ban

All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, ask for His help, ask for His forgiveness, and ask for His guidance. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the evils of our deeds.

Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him. Whomsoever He misguides, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah. He is alone and has no partner. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

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

O you who have believed, fear your Lord, Who created you from one soul, and created from it its mate, and spread among them many men and women. And fear Allah in Whom you ask for help and mercy. Verily, Allah is ever watching over you.

O you who have believed, fear Allah and say the right words. He will amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great triumph.

Indeed, all praise and thanks is due to Allah, who is free from any partner. I bear witness that there is only one worthy of worship except Allah alone. And that Muhammad is His final Messenger.

A Blessed Season Before Ramadan

My dear brothers and sisters, we have entered into a season, into a time, in which Allah gave a certain virtue. And that the Prophet ﷺ would act and work towards that virtue. There is just between us and the most blessed of months in the year, the month of Ramadan, just a matter of days or weeks.

Indeed, it is a great blessing from Allah that any servant who is able to reach this month is ready for this month, prepared themselves for this month to be from those forgiven servants. We should be constantly making du'a to Allah to allow us to be from those servants to reach that blessed month of Ramadan. But before that, throughout the year there are certain times which we all should take advantage of.

The general Muslim, you ask them when is the best season, the most important season during the year, maybe they mention Ramadan. That they wait for Ramadan each year to exert their efforts and to worship Allah. But if you look very closely at what Allah has given us throughout the year, Ramadan is, you could say, the most important season for us to look forward to. But there are so many other opportunities throughout the year.

When Ramadan finishes and when it comes to an end, us worshipping Allah does not end. The one who has truly been successful in the month of Ramadan will move on to the six days of Shawwal. And once Shawwal is finished, they are looking forward to the days of Dhul Hijjah, the best ten days of the year. Where Allah permits them to make the Hajj, but for sure they will utilize those blessed ten days. And then once Dhul Hijjah finishes, they are waiting for Ashura, the following month.

And even if you put aside throughout the month the blessings that Allah placed there on a weekly basis, even on a daily basis, that servant, that mu'min and mu'mina, is very careful as they are fully aware that their deeds are being raised to Allah daily.

The Month of Sha'ban — When Deeds Are Raised

We are in a month in which the Prophet ﷺ informed us — the month of Sha'ban — that our deeds are raised to Allah. The hadith of Usama ibn Zaid, he said: "Ya Rasool Allah, O Messenger of Allah, I didn't see you fasting in any month like I saw you fasting in this month of Sha'ban."

(Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 2357; also reported in Musnad Ahmad. Narrated by Usama ibn Zaid.)

"This is a month which many people are negligent of. It is a month between Rajab and Ramadan. And it is a month in which the deeds are raised to Allah, Lord of all the worlds. And it is beloved to me that I am fasting when my deeds are raised."

The Four Occasions When Deeds Are Raised

Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahu Allah, in talking about one's deeds being raised, said there are four occasions when our deeds are raised:

First — those deeds which are in the morning and the evening, that the Mala'ikah are witnesses to those at Fajr time and at 'Asr time. It is asked, "What are my servants doing?" — that the a'mal are raised at this time.

Second — every Monday and Thursday, الْأَعْمَالُ تُرْفَعُ — the deeds are raised.

Third — in the month of Sha'ban.

Fourth — when a person passes away, their suhuf, their deeds, come to an end, and the deeds are raised to Allah.

So how important it is, brothers and sisters, for us to take advantage of this month of Sha'ban before the blessed month of Ramadan. If one truly wants to get the most out of Ramadan, they prepare themselves correctly. And as we know, the Prophet ﷺ used to fast the vast majority of this month of Sha'ban.

How to Fast in Sha'ban

Any days that are outstanding — that maybe you didn't make up from last Ramadan — now is the opportunity for you to do that. So fast as much as you can in this month. Do I fast the whole month? It was not the practice of the Prophet ﷺ to fast the whole month. The Prophet ﷺ in fact told us:

Do not precede the month of Ramadan with fasting one or two days before it. So it is a good month for us to fast following the practice of the Prophet ﷺ. It is sunnah, it is recommended for you to fast in this month and not an obligation. And we ask Allah to give us the success, the guidance, that we follow the path of Rasulullah ﷺ in this preparation.

The Virtue of Fasting — A Hidden Act of Worship

Remember, brothers and sisters, the fadilah — the virtue — of fasting. It is that hidden 'ibadah, that hidden worship from others. The Prophet ﷺ said:

Whoever fasts a day for the sake of Allah — one day you fast — Allah will distance your face away from the Hellfire seventy kharif. Kharif meaning 'aman — a year — according to some of the ulema. Seventy years away from the Hellfire. One day that you fast for the sake of Allah.

Qatadah rahimahu Allah said — to help you ensure that people are not aware that you are fasting — go out and apply some perfume. You don't leave your house disheveled, as if to say maybe this person is fasting. You hide these a'mal from the people. For this reason, or one of the reasons, that sawm — fasting — has such a special reward with Allah. As the Prophet ﷺ told us in the well-known hadith qudsi that fasting is for Me, and I will reward it.

Following the Sunnah — True Love for Allah and His Messenger

But at the same time, as much as we want to fall in line and follow the practice of the Prophet ﷺ, we are careful that we do not fall into matters which are not from the sunnah or the practice of the Prophet ﷺ. That you love Allah. You love your Rasul ﷺ. But what is this love and devotion that you have for them? And how is this displayed?

الِامْتِثَالُ لِأَوَامِرِ اللَّهِ جَلَّ وَعَلَا — That you fulfill the obligations. You do as you are told in the way that you are told. And the well-known ayah in Surah Ali 'Imran when Allah says:

Say: If you truly love Allah, then follow me — follow the Messenger ﷺ — and you will attain the love of Allah.

And similarly the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1718. Narrated by 'A'ishah رضي الله عنها)

Whoever does an action — a matter — that we did not command them to do, then it is rejected.

So you find that there are maybe certain practices in this month, or certain things which people believe bring a closeness to Allah, however they do not. And it is important for us to know that. For example, a person who wants to fast every single day — this was not from the practice of the Prophet ﷺ. But he ﷺ, as we find in the hadith of 'A'ishah رضي الله عنها, used to fast nearly all of the month of Sha'ban إِلَّا قَلِيلًا — except a small amount — to differentiate it from the month of Ramadan. So fast as much as you wish, but do not fast one or two days before the month of Ramadan, except the person for whom it is their 'adah — their custom — to do that.

The 15th of Sha'ban — Laylat al-Bara'ah

Secondly, with regards to Laylat al-Nisf min Sha'ban — the 15th of Sha'ban — which is given different names: Sha'b al-Bara'ah, Laylat al-Bara'ah, Laylat al-Bara'. All of these practices — and if we mention the hadith of Ali ibn Abi Talib, quoted in the Sunan Ibn Majah, that whoever fasts the day of the 15th of Sha'ban or whoever stands in prayer on the night of the 15th of Sha'ban — this particular narration is da'if jiddan. It is a very weak hadith. In fact, some of the ulema said it is a fabricated hadith.

So there is nothing specific for us to do on the 15th night of Sha'ban. If voluntarily you want to pray Qiyam al-Layl or you want to fast because of your voluntary actions towards Allah — and not because of the specific day — فَلَا حَرَجَ — then there is no problem. But it is not a night for you to read certain chapters. It is not a night for you to do anything specific. Because this was not the practice of our Nabi ﷺ. And if there was any good in doing that, then we would find this in the practice of the Nabi ﷺ and the salaf who came after them رضي الله عنهم ورحمهم الله تعالى.

Closing — Preparing for Ramadan

So we ask Allah to allow us to prepare ourselves correctly for this blessed month of Ramadan which is very close to us. We ask Allah to allow us to be from those accepted servants whom Allah jalla wa 'ala gives tawfiq — gives success — so that we can truly gain a closeness to Allah so that it can impact us in a very real way.

It is not an Islam that I am acting out but an Islam that I am truly living. It is a sustainable way of me living and loving Allah that I don't feel overburdened. Fulfill your obligations and you'll become a beloved servant to Allah, and do it in the way that the Prophet ﷺ taught us. You'll be a beloved servant to Allah.

وَقُومُوا إِلَى صَلَاتِكُمْ يَرْحَمْكُمُ اللَّهُ