Prep for Ramadan (Abdullah Cheng)
1/3 主麻講稿 Khutbah (Eng Below) {Imam Abdullah Cheng 鄭平}
sins committed in this month are worse than in other months, as mentioned in the Qur’an:
إِنَّ عِدَّةَ ٱلشُّهُورِ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًۭا فِى كِتَـٰبِ ٱللَّهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ مِنْهَآ أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌۭ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلدِّينُ ٱلْقَيِّمُ ۚ فَلَا تَظْلِمُوا۟ فِيهِنَّ أَنفُسَكُمْ
Indeed, the number of months ordained by Allah is twelve—in Allah’s Record since the day He created the heavens and the earth—of which four are sacred. That is the Right Way. So do not wrong one another during these months. [9:36]
We know as a fact that Rajab is indeed one of the blessed and sacred months, however, there are many misconceptions regarding the blessings of this month. According to the authentic Hadiths, there isn’t any specific deeds and rituals that are related to this month, yet perhaps due to culture and traditions, we may mistakenly attribute certain deeds to the Prophet (SAW), such as praying a specific prayer called Salah Al-Ragha’ib, or celebrating Al-Isra wa Al-Mi’raj, or fasting on specific days, and so on, thinking that these are part of the Sunnah, while these are newly invented rituals that are not based on any authentic evidence.
At the same time, even though we know that following these traditions isn’t the correct way to follow the Sunnah, it shouldn’t lead us to something even worse than what it is, which is to cause disputes and conflicts and break the ties of kinship just because of these differences of opinions. We should indeed always try to maintain open conversations and discussions to find out which opinion is closer to the truth, but they shouldn’t make us hate each other, when those very same people who follow these actions also believe in Allah and His Messenger, and also pray towards the same Qiblah. There are many issues that exist within our Muslim Ummah, but we should prioritize the problems that are more relevant and more serious in front of us.
Therefore during the month of Rajab, instead, we can try to perform more extra good deeds in this month, such as fasting, giving charity and praying Tahajjud, while at the same time being aware that these are not taught specifically by the Prophet (SAW) to do these actions, particularly in the month of Rajab, simply because these are good deeds that can be done at any time during the year, and these are good deeds that can earn the pleasure of Allah and help us get prepared for the month of Ramadan.
If we do not prepare ourselves beforehand, then we can easily get tired in the first few days of Ramadan. Similar to how we would teach our children how to pray and fast, we would try to teach them even way before they reach the age of puberty, because we hope that by the time praying and fasting become obligatory for them, they are already prepared to perform them. Therefore, the month of Rajab is the perfect time for us to start training ourselves and get used to praying the night prayers, and fasting, and other deeds.
The scholars would describe the month of Rajab as the month of planting the seeds, and the month of Sha’ban as the month of watering them, and the month of Ramadan as the month of harvesting the fruit. This is the attitude that we need to have while spending our time during these months.
May Allah make us among those who bear wisdom, may Allah accept our intentions and our deeds, and may Allah allow us to reach Ramadan.