Getting Ready for Ramadaan
6 08 2009
Part I: Getting Ready for Ramadaan
Amongst the many things we can do to get ready for ramadaan is to fast in the month of Sha’baan. A test run you could say like to see if you can hack it especially now as Ramadaan is near the end of summer. As the weather gets hotter, our stomachs get hungrier and inshaAllah our rewards get larger. Even if you can’t hack it it doesn’t matter you will still have to do it but at least you will know that you will have to try harder and if you are finding it hard then your reward lies with Allah.
Aisha [radiAllahu anha] said: And I never saw the Messenger of Allaah (salAllahu alayhi wa salam) complete a month of fasting except Ramadaan, and I never saw him fast more in any month than in Sha’baan. [Bukharee]
The fasting in Shab’aan is like the starters before the main meal. Like the tricycle before the bike. Like the sunnah before the fardh salah. It prepares the soul and mind for the obligatory acts. It will prepare you for what is to come and not only does it prepare you but you get rewarded for preparing.
It was narrated that Usaamah ibn Zayd said: I said: O Messenger of Allaah, I do not see you fasting in any month as you fast in Sha’baan? He said: “That is a month that people neglect between Rajab and Ramadaan, but it is a month in which people’s deeds are taken up to the Lord of the Worlds and I would like my deeds to be taken up when I am fasting.” [Nasaa'i]
On top of being rewarded for fasting, Sha’baan is the month in which the deeds of a person are taken to Allah, the lord of the worlds. And what better time for your deeds to be taken upto your Lord then for you to be fasting purely for the sake of Allah *smiles*
taken from Dhikrullah.com Blog