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Hadith: "Rajab is Allah's month,
Sha`ban is my month, and Ramadan is my nation's month." Question: Is any of these
authentic? 22/Jul/2008 Wa`alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious,
Most Merciful. All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and
blessings be upon His Messenger. Dear brother in Islam, thank you for your question,
which is a sign of good faith and keenness to abide by Islam and not to
attribute any fabricated saying Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon
him). There are many reported hadiths that clarify the excellence of Rajab, but very few
of these are authentic. Muslim scholars, imams, and da`iyahs
(Arabic for: callers to Islam) should warn Muslims about the
false and weak hadiths that were attributed to the
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). A Muslim should be always
keen on never attributing any untrue or false
saying to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). In his response to your question, eminent Muslim scholar Sheikh
Yusuf Al-Qaradawi
stated, No stated hadiths
are reported on the virtue of the month of Rajab other than being one of the
Sacred Months to which Almighty Allah referred in the glorious Qur'an, [of them [i.e. the twelve months] four are Sacred] (At-Tawbah 9:36). These Sacred Months are Dhul-Qi`dah,
Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram, and Rajab, and all are
distinguished months. However, no authentic hadith is reported on the virtue of Rajab in particular,
except for one hasan (Arabic for: classified
as "good" in terms of Hadith methodology) hadith, which states that the Prophet (peace and blessings
be upon him) used to observe fasting repeatedly in Sha`ban,
and when he was asked about the reason, he answered, "It is a
month that people neglect between Rajab and Ramadan." This hadith
indicates that Rajab has a virtue. However, the hadith
stating, "Rajab is Allah's month, Sha`ban is my
month, and Ramadan is my nation's month," is a munkar
(Arabic for: classified as "falsified" in terms of Hadith methodology) and very weak hadith
that many scholars deem it Maudu`
(Arabic for: classified as "fabricated" in terms of Hadith methodology) which means that it has no religious or
practical value. There are some other hadiths on the virtue of Rajab that delve
on the reward for praying or for asking forgiveness at particular times.
In fact, all these hadiths are mere exaggerations and
lies. Among the indications of the
falseness of such hadiths are the exaggerations they
contain. In this regard, scholars state that the
promise of great rewards for insignificant deeds or the threat of
painful punishment for committing a minor sin indicate that such a saying
is a fabricated hadith. An example for this is the false hadith attributed to the Prophet as saying, "A morsel
in the stomach of a hungry person is better than building a thousand
mosques." The falsity of this hadith is quite
clear, as it is not logical that the reward of a morsel is greater than that of
building a thousand mosques. The hadiths
related on the virtue of Rajab are of the abovementioned kind, so scholars
should warn people and draw their attention to the falsity of such fabricated hadiths. Imam Muslim reported in the
introduction of his book Sahih Muslim that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon
him) said, "Whoever narrates a hadith knowing
it is false, is one of the liars." However, if someone does not know
that he or she is in fact narrating a fabricated hadith,
then he or she should learn hadiths from reliable
books, which are well-known. In addition, there are books on weak and
fabricated hadiths, among which areAl-Maqasid Al-Hasanah
by As-Sakhawi,TamyeezAt-Tayyeb
min Al-Khabeeth lima Yadour
`ala Alsenat An-Nas min Al-Hadith " by Ibn Badi`, andKashfAl-Khafa' by Al-`Ajluni. There are many other
books that preachers should be familiar with in order to narrate hadiths that are reliable. Fabricated and weak hadiths are among the most dangerous burdens in our Islamic
culture, especially when they are so common among people in sermons and books. We have a duty of purifying our Islamic culture from
such hadiths. To achieve this aim, we should make use
of the efforts of previous scholars who have managed to distinguish between
authentic and fabricated hadiths and narrations. Related Questions Month of Rajab: Names & Merits Fasting in Rajab: Recommended? Virtue of Fasting in Rajab
and Sha'baan Can I Keep Fasting in Rajab and Sha'baan Till Ramadan? Authenticity of the Prophet’s Sunnah http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?cid=1216122874730&pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar%2FFatwaE%2FFatwaEAskTheScholar |
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