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Commentaries on Fasting Rajab
Those who object to fasting part or all of Rajab and Sha`ban
cite the following:
- `Umar's punishment of the mutarajjibun -- those
who fasted the month of Rajab according to a practice
carried over from the Jahiliyya -- by striking their
hands until they broke their fast.
However, this does
not constitute a valid objection as `Umar's act was
solely due to some people's emphasis of Rajab -- which
used to be fasted during the Jahiliyya -- over Ramadan as
the fasting month. This is clearly not feared for
present-day Muslims. There was also a sacrifice named rajabiyya
performed in that month, a practice carried over from the
Jahiliyya. Several hadiths in Abu Dawud and Ahmad show
that it became obligatory in Islam until the obligation
was abrogated. Certain pre-islamic survivals were fought
even in the time of `Umar, as is shown by the latter's
uprooting of a tree for fear of its veneration by some
people.
It must be understood that Umar never said "Don't
fast," rather, he said: "Break your fast,"
i.e. do not complete it as you would be obliged to if it
were Ramadan. And no-one fasted Rajab and Sha`ban
completely, this was reserved for Ramadan. However, if
someone makes the intention to fast Rajab and Sha`ban
completely, it is permitted in the Shari`a, with the
understanding that it is mustahabb to break it
shortly before Ramadan begins.
Ibn Qudama states in al-Mughni:
It is disliked that Rajab be singled out for fasting.
Ahmad said: "If a man fasts during that month, let
him break the fast for one day in it, or several, just so
as not to fast it all."
The reason for this is what Ahmad has narrated with
his chains:
· from Kharasha ibn
al-Hurr: I saw `Umar striking the hands of the mutarajjibin
until they helped themselves to the food, and he would
say: "Eat! For it is only a month which the
Jahiliyya used to magnify";
· from `Abd Allah ibn
`Umar that he would dislike to see the people make
preparations for Rajab and would say: "Fast some of
it and break fast some of it";
· from Ibn `Abbas,
something similar;
· from Abu Bakrah: He saw
his household preparing new baskets and clay jugs and
said: "What is this?" They said: "For
Rajab, so that we may fast it."He said: "Did
you change Rajab into Ramadan?" Then he took apart
the baskets and broke the jugs.
Ahmad said: "Whoever fasts all year round may
fast all of Rajab. Otherwise, let him not fast all of it
but only some of it so that he will not liken it to
Ramadan."13
The above makes it clear that:
- Singling out the month of Rajab for fasting is
not forbidden, but at worst disliked;
- It is not even disliked as long as fast is broken
to the extent that the similitude with the month
of Ramadan is eliminated;
- Even unbroken fast is not disliked if the person
fasts all year round.
- Others cite Sayyid Sabiq's statement in Fiqh as-Sunnah:
- Fasting during Rajab contains no more virtue than
during any other month. There is no sound report
from the sunnah that states that it has a special
reward. All that has been related concerning it
is not strong enough to be used as a proof. Ibn
Hajar says: "There is no authentic hadith
related to its virtues, nor fasting during it or
on certain days of it, nor concerning exclusively
making night prayers during that month."14
The opinion of Sayyid Sabiq whereby "Fasting
during Rajab contains no more virtue than during any
other month" etc. is certainly incorrect in view of
the fact that Rajab is a sacred month, and the Prophet
emphasized the merit of fasting in the sacred months and
in Sha`ban. This is established by Nawawi's commentary of
the hadith of Sa`id ibn Jubayr in Muslim cited above, as
well as the following hadiths:
- In Abu Dawud and Bayhaqi: From Mujiba
al-Bahiliyya who reported that her father or
uncle was told by the Prophet three times:
"Fast some and leave some in the sacred
months."15
- In Ahmad: From Usama ibn Zayd: "O Messenger
of Allah... I never saw you fast any month
(besides Ramadan) as much as you fast during the
month of Sha`ban?" He said: "The people
become inattentive during that month between
Rajab and Ramadan (i.e. between two great
months), and it is a month in which actions are
raised to the Lord of the worlds, therefore I
like that my actions be raised while I am
fasting."16
- In Bukhari and Muslim from `A'isha: The Prophet
used to fast the whole of Sha`ban but for a
little.
- In Muslim from Abu Hurayra: The best month to
fast after Ramadan is Muharram.
As for hafiz Ibn Hajar's opinion it only applies to
the pure singling out of the month of Rajab at the
exclusion of Ramadan, or Sha`ban, or the sacred months,
or the rest of the entire year, which does not have a
basis. But his opinion does not provide a basis for the
claim of the objectors that fasting during Rajab is
forbidden or that it is an innovation: for neither the
Imams of the fours schools, nor Bayhaqi, nor Nawawi, nor
Ibn Hajar, nor even Sayyid Sabiq have claimed this!
Furthermore, there is also no sound hadith from the
Prophet forbidding the fast of Rajab or disavowing its
merit.
- As for those who object by quoting the hadith in Bukhari
and Muslim whereby the Prophet emphasized that the one
who fasts all his life has not fasted, then their
understanding of this hadith is diametrically opposed to
that of the Companions and the Salaf, Abu Hanifa, Malik,
Shafi`i, and Ahmad, who did not dislike perpetual fasting
as long as it did not include the days of `Id and tashriq.
- As for the narration from Ibn `Abbas whereby the Prophet
forbade the fast of Rajab, then only Ibn Majah reports
it, with a chain containing Dawud ibn `Ata' al-Muzani
concerning whom Buhakri, Ibn Abi Hatim, and Abu Zur`a
said: "His hadith is rejected" (munkar
al-hadith), and Nisa'i declared him da`if, and
Ahmad said: "He is nothing." The chain also
contains Abu Ayyub Sulayman ibn `Ali al-Hashimi about
whom Yahya ibn Sa`id al-Qattan said: "His case is
not known," although Ibn Hibban declared him
trustworthy, but Ibn Hibban's leniency in this is known.
- As for the hadiths in Tirmidhi, Ahmad, Abu Dawud, and
Darimi concerning the Prophet's injunction to refrain
from fasting in the second half of Sha`ban, then as
Tirmidhi explained it applies to those who would
deliberately intend to fast only then: it should not be
done in view of the proximity of the month of Ramadan. As
for those who were fasting before, then they may fast in
the second half of Sha`ban.
In conclusion, it is at the very least allowed to fast Rajab
and Sha`ban in part or in whole, and we say it is recommended, as
the clarity of the intention to follow the Sunna and the
knowledge that only the fast of Ramadan is obligatory, preclude
the reprehensibility of those who used to honor Rajab in rivalry
with Ramadan. Sufficient proof of the month of Rajab's status as
a great month lies in the fact that it is the month of the
Prophet's rapture and ascension to his Lord (al-isra' wa
al-mi`raj), and they are blessed who commemorate this month
and that night for the sake of Allah's favor to His Prophet and
the Community of His Prophet. And Allah knows best.17
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Commentaries on Fasting Rajab
