ISRA WAL MERAJ - 27th Night Programs and Virtues
Traditional Islam
Excellence of the month of Rajab “Allah’s Month” and the significance of the 27th of Rajab
As Muslims living in the western world we tend to miss out on the traditional Islamic environment that is dominant in most of the Muslim countries. This month Muslims around the world from Morocco to Indonesia will be engaging in special prayers and fasting. Particularly Muslims congregate to worship in Masjid's for the night of the 27th and fast the following day. Lectures on the grand event of Miraj are shared with the community followed by a night of worship and a day of fasting. Let us work together to revive this beautiful culture in our homes and mosques so that one day our progeny would reap the rewards of our efforts. The day is not far when we inshallah will witness the beautiful Islamic culture flourish in the Western world.
Significance of Rajab
Anas bin Malik (May Allah be well pleased with him) reported that the Prophet Sallalaho Alaihi wa alihi wa salam once said: “Rajab is Allah’s month, Sha’ban is my month, and Ramadan is the month of my community”
رجب شهر الله، وشعبان شهري، ورمضان شهر أمتي.
أبو الفتح ابن أبي الفوارس في أماليه - عن الحسن مرسل[i]
Someone then asked him: “O Messenger of Allah, what do you mean exactly, when you say that Rajab is Allah’s month?” So he explained (Allah bless him and give him peace):
“(I call it Allah’s month) because it is specifically associated with forgiveness, because in it the shedding of blood is brought to a halt, because in it Allah (Exalted is he) relents toward his Prophets, because in it he rescues his saints (awliya) from the hands of their enemies, and because anyone who fasts during this month becomes entitled to receive three things from Allah (exalted is he). The first and second of these are forgiveness for all the sins he has previously committed, and endless virtue for the remainder of his life. As for the third, he will be safe from the thirst on the Day of Judgment.”
The Messenger of Allah (Sallaho Alahi Wasalam) said: “Time is running in the same manner as it was on the day Allah (swt) fashioned the universe. A year comprises of twelve months, four of which are sacred, three in a succession, i.e. (1) Zul Qa’da (2) Zul Hijjah and (3) Muharram and (4) Rajab the most sacred month of Muzar Tribe which falls between Jamadi and Sha’ban.”[ii]
[i] It has bee mentioned by Abu’l Fath ibn Abi’l-Fawaris in his ‘Amali’ (dictations and transmissions) and Allama Suyuti has also mentioned in his Jami Saghir from Hasan Basri. Hasan Basri is revered as one of the greatest saints of Islam. Born in Medina in A.H. 21/642 C.E., he was brought up in Basra where he met many Sahaba’s. He died in A.H. 110/728 C.E. Al-Ghunya li-Talibi Tariq Al-Haqq vol. 3 by Shaykh Abd Al-Qadir Al Jilani.
[ii] Abu Bakr Nufai in Bukhari and Muslim
Abu Huraira (Rad) reported that the Prophet Sallalaho Alaihi wa alihi wa salam once said: “If someone keeps fast on the twenty-seventh day of Rajab, he will be credited with the same reward as that which is earned by fasting for sixty months (5 years). [i]
Abu Huraira and Salman Farsi (Rad) reported that the Prophet Sallalaho Alaihi wa alihi wa salam once said: “Rajab contains a very special day and a very special night. If someone fasts during that day, and keeps vigil throughout that night, he will be entitled to reward like the one that would be earned by a person who fasted for a hundred years, and who kept vigil throughout all the nights in that period.”[ii]
Ibn Rajab Al Hanbali, a great Muhaddith who wrote the best commentaries of collections of hadith including Bukhari also mentions in his books of the significance of Islamic months that the best of the Sahaba’s (Al Rijal) were seen worshipping on this night followed by the fast. There are accounts of over 70 Sahaba’s in this category from his works.
We should attend the Masjid’s on the 27th night and hear the lectures and then continue to perform worship till the dawn. The same night we should prepare to fast the next day inshallah. There is no denial that this was the practice of Muslims in majority for centuries. One trip to Africa, Middle East (Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, etc.), South-Asia (Afghanistan, Indo-Pak-Bangladesh), Eastern Europe (Turkey, Bosnia, Albania), Central Asia( Azerbijan, Uzbekistan), Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia (Chechnya, Dagestan, Tartaristan, etc will prove this. In fact most Muslims who grew up in Muslim countries and migrated to the west recall these nights they stayed awake in worship. We encourage people to do extra ibadat which is perfectly good.
[i] See above
[ii] See above reference. It should be noted that the majority of Hadith masters hold it permissible to use weak hadith's in other than the derivation of legal rulings, such as in the encouragement to good and discouragement from evil (al-targhîb wa al-tarhîb), as countless Hadith masters have indicated as well as other scholars, such as Imam al-Safadi, etc.