About the month of Shawwal

About the month of Shawwal : Is the tenth month of the Islamic Calendar.

Meaning of the word Shawwal: Uplift/breakage. Before Islam, Arabs believed that any marriage held in Shawwal would always turn out to be unsuccessful. Hence, the month deprived the above mentioned meanings, however the superstitious belief was later abolished.

The month Shawwal: From the months of Hajj, Shawwal is the first of them. The first day of Shawwal is Eidul Fitr and also the day when sins are forgiven.

Six fasts of Shawwal: In the month of Shawwal it is Sunnah to keep six fasts, as narrated in the following Hadith by Abu Ayyub Ansari that Rasulullah has said, “If one throughout his life keeps the fasts of Ramadan and keeps six consecutive fasts in Shawwal it will be as though he has kept a whole life time of fasts, and if one keeps the six consecutive fasts for one Shawwal month it will be as though he has observed fast all year round.”

Events which took place in Shawwal:

1) Hadhrat Aa’ishah Siddiqah was born in Shawwal four years after Prophet hood which is nine years before Hijraah.

2) Hadhrat Aa’ishah Siddiqah was married in this month ten years after Prophet hood which is three years before Hijraah.

3) The fight between Banu Qaynaqaa took place between the battle of Badr and Uhud (Shawwal 2 A.H. after Hijraah.)

4) The battle of Uhud also took place in Shawwal, three years after Hijraah.

5) Hadhrat Hussain the grandson of Rasulullah (son of Hadhrat Fatimah was born in the month of Shawwal four years after Hijraah.

6) The Holy Prophet married Hadhrat Umme Salamah in Shawwal in the fourth year after Hijraah.

7) Hadhrat Aa’ishah Siddiqah’s mother passed away in 5 A.H.

8) The Holy Prophet’s uncle Abu Talib departed from this world during the middle of Shawwal in the year 5 A.H.

9) Imam Bukhari (R.A.) was born on a Friday of Shawwal in the year 194 A.H.

Since the Devil ( Shaytaan ) is out I thought of reminding ourself of some of his deceptive efforts !

Iblees once came to Hazrat Musa and told him, “you are the chosen messenger of allah and have been blessed with the privilege of speaking directly to Allah. I wish to repent, so please intercede on my behalf before Allah so that he may accept my repentance.”

Hazrat Musa was happy and thought that Shaytaan’s repentance would put an end to sins. He therefore made wudu, performed salah and prayed to Allah. Allah told Hazrat Musa , “Iblees is lying. He merely wishes to deceive you. If he is really sincere, test him by telling him to prostrate before the grave of Hazrat Adam . If he does this, his repentance will be accepted.”

Hazrat Musa was extremely overjoyed, thinking that this was a very easy condition for Iblees to comply with. When Hazrat Musa informed Iblees about the condition, Iblees became a whirlwind of fire and said, “I did not prostrate to him while he was alive, how can I prostrate to him when he is dead? Nevertheless, you have done me a good turn by interceding on my behalf. I shall therefore inform you of 3 conditions wherein you should be wary of me.

1) When man is angry, I run in his veins like his blood.

2) I incline the heart of the person fighting in jihad towards his wife, children and wealth, thereby causing him to desert the battlefield. Shaytaan also attempts to dissuade the student of Deen in this manner. Strengthening one’s resolve may combat him.

3) When a strange man and woman are in isolation, I become the emissary between the two and incline each one towards the other. I remain engaged in this task until the two are tainted in sin.”

[extracted from Tanbeehul Ghafileen]

And inshallah brothers as we r weak in our Iman we have to keep pushing ourselves to the straight path and since the devil has been released it might become harder so in order to save ourselves we have to Inspire ourselves by listening to some talks of the pious on this I would recommend all of you to listen to this inspirational talk by Maulana Sulaiman Moola from South Africa inshallah ….

The link :-The Devils have been released !

May Allah make it easy for all of us …

Ameen

Six Fasts in the Month of Shawwal

It is commendable to keep six fasts in the month of Shawwal. The Holy Prophet has said:
“Whoever completes the fasts of Ramadhan then adds to them the fasts of six days in the month of Shawwal, it will carry the thawab of fasting for the whole year.” (Sahih Muslim)
This Hadith had described the great thawab of six fasts of this month. The scholars have interpreted this Hadith by saying that according to the recognised rules of Shari‘ah, every good deed is rewarded ten times more thawab of its origin, therefore, the thawab of 30 days of Ramadhan amounts to the thawab for 300 days. If the fasts of Ramadhan are followed by six more fasts, they carry the thawab of 60 days more, raising the aggregate thawab to 360 which is the number of dais in one year according to the Islamic calendar. Therefore, the Muslims should take this opportunity of acquiring such an enormous reward from Allah. It is more preferable to start these fasts from the 2 nd of Shawwal and keep fasting up to the 7 th of Shawwal. However, if they are kept in other days, it is hoped that the requirement of the above Hadith may also be fulfilled.

source: Darul Uloom Bury, United Kingdom http://www.inter-islam.org/