If a person is not able to fast six days in Shawwāl but can fast outside of it, or they are accustomed to fasting other days regularly throughout they year, then Allāh willing, they will have the same reward written for them.
Category: Ḥadīth Benefit
Weakness of Ramaḍān Greeting: “O Allāh, bring it upon us with blessings and faith, and security and Islām, and aid upon the prayer, fast, and recitation of the Qur’ān. O Allāh, deliver us to Ramaḍān and deliver it to us…”
There are supplications attributed to some of the Salaf, but suffice it to say, any such attribution to the Prophet (ﷺ) is without merit.
And Allāh (ﷻ) knows best.
The authenticity of the narration: “If half of Sha’bān remains, then do not fast”
The greater scholars of ḥadīth saw the narration of al-ˋAlā ibn ˋAbd-ir-Raḥmān, from his father, Abd-ur-Raḥmān ibn Yaˋqūb, from Abū Hurayrah about the prohibition of fasting from the middle of Shaˋbān onwards as being a munkar ḥadīth that goes against the authentic narrations which show the permissibility of fasting up until a day or two before Ramaḍan. And for the one who is accustomed to fasting certain days, yet these days happened to fall on either the last or second last day of Shaˋbān, then they may fast these days without fear of sin.
As for the attempts of scholars to reconcile between narrations prohibiting the fast during the second half of Shaˋbān and the narrations permitting it, then no reconciliation is needed since the narrations that prohibit the fast cannot be confirmed to be from the words of the Prophet (ﷺ) according to those who are known for their soundness in ḥadīth and ḥadīth criticism.
An Abridgement of Words Concerning the Ḥadīth of the Virtue of the Night of the Middle of Shaˋbān
The following PDF document (available in Arabic and English) is a look into the narrations concerning the virtue of the night of the middle of Sha’bān and the reason for rejecting these narrations by our Shaykh and Muḥaddith, Abū ‘Alī, al-Ḥārith ibn ‘Alī al-Ḥasanī
An Abridgement of the Most Famous & Important Weak Aḥādīth Related to Fasting
This book discusses 55 of the most famous & important weak Ahādīth related to Fasting and Ramadhān
There is nothing authentic concerning when the Isrā’ and Mi’rāj took place
There is nothing authentic concerning when the Isrā’ and Mi’rāj took place, despite the 27th of Rajab being circled on many calendars. In fact, there is much dispute concerning this.
What is the authenticity of the virtue for reciting sūrat al-Kahf on the day of Jumuˋah? | #PDF
There are confirmed aḥādīth when it comes to the virtues of sūrat al-Kahf, but when it comes to the ḥadīth which states:
مَنْ قَرَأَ سُورَةَ الْكَهْفِ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ، أَضَاءَ لَهُ مِنَ النُّورِ مَا بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الْبَيْتِ الْعَتِيقِ
Whoever recites sūrat al-Kahf on the day of Jumuˋah will have illumination from light in what is between himself and al-Bayt al-ˋAtīq – [the Ancient House, meaning the Kaˋbah]
(or in similar wordings) then we should know the following:
• The narrations can only be confirmed by way of the Ṣaḥābī Abū Saˋīd al-Khudrī (رضي الله عنه). There is nothing authentic from any of the other Ṣaḥābah.
• The only isnād (chain) to the narration of Abū Saˋīd al-Khudrī (رضي الله عنه) comes by way of Abū Hāshim, from Abū Mijlaz, from Qays ibn ˋAbbād, from Abū Saˋīd al-Khudrī (رضي الله عنه). Those who narrated it from Abū Hāshim then differed concerning it.
• Those who narrated the ḥadīth in marfūˋ form – meaning being the words of the Prophet (ﷺ) directly – then these narrations are defective or incorrect. The confirmed narrations are in mawqūf form being from the words of Abū Saˋīd al-Khudrī (رضي الله عنه) and not the words of the Prophet (ﷺ).
• As for whether the mawqūf narration of Abū Saˋīd al-Khudrī can have the ruling of being marfūˋ – meaning he would not have said this unless he heard this from the Prophet (ﷺ), then there are elements of knowledge in the ḥadīth pertaining to future events that a Ṣaḥābī would not say of his own accord (such as the seal being placed under the Throne, the seal not breaking until the Day of Resurrection, protection from the Dajjāl, and the details of the light).
• The addition of “on the day of Jumuˋah (Friday)” in the narrations is munkar – a rejected addition. This can only be found in the confirmed narrations from Hushaym ibn Bashīr from Abū Hāshim. Both the narrations of Shuˋbah ibn al-Ḥajjāj and Sufyān ath-Thawrī from Abū Hāṣhim do not include this addition. Although Hushaym is thiqah (reliable), Yaḥyā ibn Saˋīd al-Qaṭṭān said, “Hushaym is the most-established in memorization that I have seen after Sufyān and Shuˋbah.” There is also doubt concerning whether or not Hushaym heard this narration from Abū Hāshim.
• The addition of “on the night of Jumuˋah” is even more rejected than “on the day of Jumuˋah.”
• What is confirmed from the narrations is that the light will be from where the person stands to Makkah. As for the light being from one Friday to the next, or between the person and the heavens, or even that the recitation of it will expiate what is between the two Fridays, then these are all rejected.
• The virtue of the light is from the recitation of the entire sūrah, as most of the narrations agree, and not just from reciting the end of it as is found in one narration from ˋAbd-ur-Razzāq. It would appear he made a mistake – perhaps confusing this with the narrations having to do with the protection from the Dajjāl.
• Since the virtue is not restricted to a time or place, one can hope to attain it anytime, and is encouraged to recite sūrat al-Kahf whenever possible and as much as possible.
And Allāh knows best.
O Allāh, bless us in Rajab and Sha’bān, and allow us to reach Ramaḍān
In conclusion: Since the essence of this du’ā’ is founded upon two narrators who are unacceptable, and there is no other path to strengthen this narration, then it is not correct to attribute this to be a sunnah of the Prophet (ﷺ) that is to be said when the month of Rajab enters. There is nothing wrong with a person making a du’ā’ to live and reach the month of Ramaḍān, however, the focus is on whether it is a sunnah of the Prophet (ﷺ) to do so, and this cannot be affirmed.
Sunnah Studies 