Sha’ban: Recalibrating The Heart
All Praise is due to God, The One God, Most High, the Consolidator of all affairs.
We ask Him to send His infinite Peace and Blessings upon The Last Messenger, Our Master Muhammad, His family, His nation, and those to yearn for Him until the end of time.
It is related in al-Nasai that one of the companions of the Messenger of God ﷺ, Usama bin Zaid, may God be pleased with him, once asked Him, “O Messenger of Allah, I do not see you fasting any month as much as you fast during Sha’ban.” To which The Prophet responded, “It is a month people neglect between the months of Rajab and Ramadan. It is a month in which the deeds are raised to the Lord of the worlds and I like for my deeds to be raised while I am fasting.”
Sha’ban comes from the root word sha’b, which refers to a gathering or an assembly. It's used in general to refer to a group of people, as God mentions “We made you into shu’ub (people) and tribes, so you may know one another. (Qur’an 49:13)
This beautiful month that precedes the noble month of Ramadan is when the virtuous actions of the entire ummah are presented to God. This is also the month where the qibla, or direction of prayer, changed from Jerusalem to Makkah. As our prayer has a qibla, so does our heart. Through time, routine, ups and downs, that qibla tends to change. Maybe it turns towards a worldly desire, the egocentric qualities of greed or envy, or even towards nothing. It seems that Sha’ban seems to come just in time to remind us where our hearts’ qibla should be pointed.
The Messenger of Allah when describing this month says, “A month in which many people neglect.” The scholars say that this is the month in which The Messenger of God made up for any outstanding fasts he had to make up. In fact, it is known that the wives of the Messenger ﷺ would use Sha’baan to make up for their missed fasts before Ramadan, and He used to fast with them to make it easy for them. The scholars of Hadith also maintain that one of the meanings of “neglect” here is tribulation or hardship that leads to lack of awareness. Neglect is the inherent nature of the Devil’s plan. We know that the demons are chained in the Ramadan, and so their impact is much greater in Sha’ban–the devil’s last stand, so to speak. The accursed devil’s plan is a mighty tribulation, and when his plan works, tribulation leads to neglect. On the flip side, when we recognize God’s presence, we go from being neglectful to wakeful. That is the tremendous nature of this month.
Imagine for a moment that you are presenting your entire years’ work to the CEO of your company, or your dissertation to the respected department at a university. Or maybe you remember trying out for a high school team after an entire summer worth of preparation. Do you remember the feeling you had before that meeting? The cold shivers, agitation, the jitters? Did anything else matter at that moment? Did you ponder upon the latest gossip? Ruminate on the uncertain future? Did you have the headspace to hold onto outrage about what someone had done to you in the past? Or were you simply thinking about that meeting? How then would you be when you present yourself to the King of kings in His celestial courtyard?
Sha’ban plunges the believers ego onto a humble plain, and raises the soul to the reorganization of the heavens. This process prepares us for Ramadan and gives us the fortitude to defend ourselves against the devil’s last stand. As the Enemy seeks to cause dissent between the hearts and a loss of inner sight as to what's important, the believers duel him with prayer and fasting. They fight the devil and the ego by revisiting what is real. God is real. Your Prophet ﷺ is real. God’s Promise is real. All of this is manifested in the smile of a loved one, the prayer of an elder, a reunion with an old friend, thoughts of a loved one that has passed, the patience that comes with pain, and works of virtue and truth.
One of the more difficult things that I have experienced in past Sha’bans is hearing of a loved one, a friend, or a community member returning to God. Almost every year at this time, I hear of a series of people passing, many of them being younger in age. This is the most difficult of tribulations. I truly do not understand why that is. It may certainly well be that I am simply more aware of such news during this time. Whatever the case may be, it intensified the meaning to The Prophet's prayer “O Allah, bless us this Sha’ban, and allow for us to reach Ramadan.” I’ve learned that one of the greatest signs of God's grace is valuing what you have. Valuing your faith, family, time, body and mind, and everything else.
Two things that we are taught to hold on to in order to recognize the gifts of this month and prepare for Ramadan are: increase your worship (prayer, fasting, and prayer upon the Prophet ﷺ), and to offer a secret between you and God.
Regarding worship, when headlessness and tribulations are brought forth, we can choose to be neglectful, or in full awareness. Our awareness is generated through one thing: worship. Prayer, fasting, remembrance of God and His Prophet ﷺ, and reciting God’s book is irrigation of the heart in times of difficulty. The Messenger of God ﷺ told us “Worship in times of hardship is like migrating to me!” Let every word of worship be your migration to the Divine and towards His Messenger ﷺ.
In regard to offering a secret to God, it was related that one of the salaf, or early generation of Muslims maintained a fast for years without anyone knowing. He would go from his home to the market with two loaves of bread with him, one from home and that he’d buy at the market. His family at home would think he’s eaten a loaf of bread at the marketplace, while the folks in the market would think that he had taken bread home to eat. It ended up that he would feed the hungry without anyone knowing. In our tradition, it is considered mustahab, or recommended to conceal the virtuous actions that you partake in when fasting. This is your secret with God. Maintain a deed that only you and God know of. Your little secret for your Lover, between the lover and the Beloved. This keeps the heart sincere and calibrates your hearts qibla towards the Most High.
We ask God in this noble month to bless us and to allow us to reach a fruitful Ramadan
