Author: Abdul Hai Lay'yan
Sha‘ban: A School of Preparation for Ramadan (the 5th and final part)
Shaʿban: The Month of Restoring Relationships
One of the most delicate yet often neglected educational dimensions of the month of Shaʿbān is the restoration of relationships with people. Usually, when self-reform is discussed, minds turn toward personal acts of worship. However, in the logic of the Qur’an and the Sunnah, self-purification is not complete without the rectification of human relationships. Shaʿbān is a month that calls a person to reassess his social and moral bonds.
It is narrated that the deeds of the servants are presented before the Lord in this month. The Prophet (PBUH) said: «هُوَ شَهْرٌ تُرْفَعُ فِيهِ الأَعْمَالُ إِلَى رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ»¹ Translation: It is a month in which deeds are raised to the Lord of the worlds.
This reality raises a profound question in the heart of the believer: When the record ascends, what content does it carry?
The Noble Qur’an repeatedly warns that rancor, envy, hostility, and the violation of people’s rights hinder the acceptance of deeds. Allah says: «إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ»² Translation: The believers are but brothers, so make reconciliation between your brothers.
This verse presents the rectification of relationships not merely as a simple moral recommendation, but as a faith-based obligation.
Shaʿban is the month of removing the dust of resentment from hearts. A heart filled with hatred and envy—even if devoted to worship—is not prepared to enter Ramadan. Regarding inner purity, the Qur’an states: «وَنَزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِم مِّنْ غِلٍّ»³ Translation: And We shall remove whatever rancor is in their breasts.
This verse shows that purity of the heart is a condition for attaining the higher degrees of nearness to Allah.
From an educational perspective, Shaʿbān is a month for ending estrangements and restoring violated rights. It is the month of reconciliation—reconciliation with Allah through repentance, and reconciliation with people through forgiveness and fairness. The Qur’an regards forgiveness as a sign of nobility of soul: «وَلْيَعْفُوا وَلْيَصْفَحُوا أَلَا تُحِبُّونَ أَن يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ»⁴ Translation: Let them pardon and overlook. Do you not love that Allah should forgive you?
Ultimately, Shaʿbān teaches us that the record that ascends to the heavens is not weighed down merely by prayer and fasting; rather, it gains value through a purified heart, restored relationships, and fulfilled rights. Such a Shaʿbān makes a person worthy of entering Ramadan—a Ramadan in which the relationship with Allah deepens and the bond with creation becomes purer and more humane.
Conclusion
An examination of Qur’anic teachings, Hadith literature, and the Prophetic Seerah (PBUH) demonstrates that the month of Shaʿban holds a status far beyond an ordinary time period in the Islamic devotional calendar. It should be regarded as one of the fundamental pillars of faith-based tarbiyah (spiritual-ethical formation) in preparation for Ramadan.
This month serves as a bridge between abandoning sin in Rajab and realizing conscious and profound servitude in Ramadan. Its primary function is the gradual preparation of the individual at the levels of intention, behavior, ethics, and human relationships.
Analysis of the religious texts shows that one distinctive feature of Shaʿbān is the general neglect of it. In the tarbiyah-oriented logic of Islam, such neglect itself becomes a unique opportunity for cultivating sincerity, truthfulness in worship, and purification of intentions. Thus, worship in Shaʿbān not only possesses intrinsic value, but—because it is performed in the absence of social pressure—plays a more effective role in measuring the depth of religiosity and the quality of a servant’s relationship with his Lord.
Furthermore, the presentation of deeds during this month highlights its accounting-oriented and reformative dimension. This truth calls the believer to an honest reassessment of his annual record and shows that the acceptance of deeds does not depend solely on the quantity of acts of obedience; rather, it is tied to purity of heart, sincerity of intention, and the soundness of human relationships. In this sense, reforming one’s relationship with Allah through repentance and reforming one’s relationship with people through forgiveness, justice, and fulfillment of rights are among the essential pillars for properly benefiting from this month.
Moreover, the special connection of Shaʿban with the Seerah and Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH) turns it into a practical arena for moral and behavioral emulation. The Prophetic commitment to fasting and worship during this month conveys a clear message to the Ummah: the necessity of gradual preparation, avoiding seasonal religiosity, and transforming worship into a continuous and conscious spiritual path. From this perspective, Shaʿban is a bridge between personal self-reform and social responsibility within the framework of the Prophetic model.
Footnotes
-
Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Aḥmad ibn Shuʿayb al-Nasāʾī, Sunan al-Nasāʾī, Hadith no. 2357.
-
Qur’an, Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt 49:10.
-
Qur’an, Sūrat al-Aʿrāf 7:43.
-
Qur’an, Sūrat al-Nūr 24:22.
Continues…
References:
- Qur’an, Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt 49:10.
- Qur’an, Sūrat al-Aʿrāf 7:43.
- Qur’an, Sūrat al-Nūr 24:22.
- Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Aḥmad ibn Shuʿayb al-Nasāʾī, Sunan al-Nasāʾī, Riyadh: Dār Ṭawq al-Nashr wa al-Tawzīʿ, 1429 AH, Hadith no. 2357.
- Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Abū al-Faḍl Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad, Fatḥ al-Bārī bi Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. Egypt: al-Maktabah al-Salafiyyah, 1390 AH.
- Ibn Rajab, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad, Laṭāʾif al-Maʿārif fīmā li Mawāsim al-ʿĀm min al-Waẓāʾif. Beirut: Dār Ibn Kathīr, 1420 AH.
- Ibn Fāris, Aḥmad ibn Fāris ibn Zakariyyā, Muʿjam Maqāyīs al-Lughah. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1422 AH.
- Ibn Manẓūr, Muḥammad ibn Mukarram, Lisān al-ʿArab. 3rd ed. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1414 AH.
- Al-Nasāʾī, Aḥmad ibn Shuʿayb, Sunan al-Nasāʾī. Riyadh: Dār Ṭawq al-Nashr wa al-Tawzīʿ, 1429 AH.
- Al-Bukhārī, Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. Damascus: Dār Ibn Kathīr, 1423 AH.
- Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. Riyadh: Bayt al-Afkār al-Dawliyyah, 1419 AH.
- Al-Fayrūzābādī, Majd al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb, Al-Qāmūs al-Muḥīṭ. Cairo: Dār al-Ḥadīth, 1429 AH.
