Preparing for what is to come

The Holy Prophet said: “Verily, the month of Rajab is the Great Month of Allah. No other month can be as sacred and as virtuous as this month…Therefore, if one observes fasting on one day of this month, he will bindingly win the grand pleasure of Almighty Allah and will be taken away from the displeasure of Almighty Allah, and the gates of hellfire will be closed in his face.”
Rajab and Sha’ban serve as spiritual preparatory months before Ramadan. Just as we ready ourselves before going to visit someone, we are preparing ourselves for when we will be the guests of Allah during the month of fasting. By spending our time worshiping Him and disassociating ourselves from whatever we have gotten caught up in, we strengthen our focus on Him.
Our intention is crucial when it comes to the acceptance of our deeds. When doing all of these prayers and reciting these invocations, we must remember why we are doing it: not necessarily for the rewards promised to us, but for attaining nearness to our Lord. He has given us Rajab as a most beautiful gift – let’s not let it come and go without receiving His blessings in this special month.

Prayer of Salman al-Farsi
Salman, a very close companion of the Prophet, learned of this prayer from the Prophet himself. It consists of performing ten units (rak’ats) on the first day, ten on the 15th, and ten on the last day.
The Holy Prophet said: “O Salman, there is no true believing man or true believing woman who performs [this prayer] that Allah does not forgive them their sins and bestows rewards upon them as upon a person who has fasted a whole month. He becomes among those who will be steadfast in their prayers in the year which is to come. For him the deeds of the day are equal to that of the martyr. He will be raised with the Martyrs of the Holy Battle of Badr. For him is written for the fast of each day, one year’s worship. His station is raised 1000 times higher. If he fasts the entire month of Rajab and he performs [this prayer], Allah will give him salvation from the hellfire, make obligatory for him His Paradise, and bestow His Nearness upon him. Angel Gabriel informed me, ‘O Muhammad, this is the sign between you and the polytheists and the hypocrites, because the hypocrites do not perform this prayer.'”

Taken from: Islamic Insight

Find us on Facebook