What you need to know about the Month of Rajab
We have just entered the month of Rajab. This month is marked as one of the four sacred months in Islam.
What many of us may have failed to recognize however, is that any sacred month of Allah should be respected as it is given a special status and carries greater importance.
Allah says in the Quran:
“Indeed, the number of months ordained by Allah is twelve—in Allah’s Record since the day He created the heavens and the earth—of which four are sacred. That is the right religion, so do not wrong yourselves during them.….” (9:36)
The four sacred months are: Rajab, Dhu’l-Qa’dah, Dhu’l-Hijjah and Muharram as mentioned in a sahih hadith in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The year is twelve months, of which four are sacred: three consecutive months, Dhu’l-Qa’dah, Dhu’l-Hijjah and Muharram, and Rajab Mudar which comes between Jumaada and Sha’baan. (Bukhari and Muslim)
So what does it mean when Allah says “sacred”?
Months which are sacred entail two things:
1. War and fighting are prohibited during these months (unless initiated by the enemy)
2. As Allah mentions in the above verse: ” so do not wrong yourselves therein.”. This means that committing sins in these months should be strictly avoided since their implications are greater, more serious and carry more weight than sins committed in any other month.’
To clarify, this does not imply that we shouldn’t wrong ourselves by committing sins only in sacred months, rather we should be extra cautious and conscious of our deeds since any sin committed in these sacred months are worse. Likewise, from the Mercy of Allah, good deeds will also carry more weight.
INNOVATIONS (BID’AH)
Furthermore, many innovations are being committed during this sacred month and these practices are baseless and have no ground for authenticity which means they should be avoided at all costs. These innovations include:
1. Salat Al-Ragha’ib (praying on the night of the first Friday of Rajab). There is no such hadith which states that there is specific worship on the night of Rajab and if such statement exists, it’s a fabricated practice.
2. Fasting in Rajab. Again, there is no sahih hadith which indicates that fasting in Rajab has special virtues. There is nothing wrong with fasting on Mondays and Thursdays or the three white days of Rajab or any days of the year. But singling out certain days of Rajab believing it has virtues, has no basis in the Prophetic tradition.
3. Celebrating the 27th of Rajab (which many claim to be the Night of Isra’ and Miraj) by praying its night and fasting its day. This is a great misconception which many Muslims fall into. Not only is the Night of Isra’ and Miraj not confirmed in any sahih hadith, but performing special acts of worship on this night and day is a complete bid’ah and going astray.
4. Performing Umrah. Many Muslims believe that performing Umrah in this month brings about many virtues. However, there is no evidence of such and in fact, Ai’sha (may Allah be pleased with her) stated in a sahih hadith of Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet (peace be upon him) ” never performed ‘Umrah in Rajab”. So performing Umrah in this month believing it has special virtues has no basis.
5. Konday (Preparing & Distributing Sweets) – Usually popular in the Indian subcontinent, many Muslims distribute a special kind of sweet amongst family, friends, relatives after reciting specific verses and prayer on them. These are all fabricated practices which have absolutely no basis in Islam.
6. Visiting Graves- There is a belief upon many Muslims that visiting graves during this month brings goodness for the dead and a virtuous act which brings reward. This is baseless and does not entail any more reward than visiting the grave in any other day.
7. Offering Sacrifices – It was also stated that during the days of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah), pre-Islamic Arabs would offer sacrifices to their false gods in this month. Later on, the custom changed where sacrifices were offered to Allah. This again has no basis in the religion and sacrificing an animal specifically in this month was not practiced by the predecessors
* Remember that Islam is a perfect religion. We should always follow the footsteps of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his sunnah. We must be keen to avoid any practices in the religion which were never taught by the Prophet (peace be upon him) and stay away from deviated culture practices.
And Allah knows best.
