Rajab by Hjh Rukiye #3

Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm

Madad Ya Sayyidi Ya Rasul Allah ﷺ, wa Mashayikhina Sheikh Nazim Adil Al-Haqqaniق, Sheikh Muhammad Ar-Rabbaniق

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuhu

Tariqatuna as-sohbah, wa-l khayru fi-l jam‘iyyah.
Our Way is through sohbah, and all goodness is in gathering.

In sha’ Allah, today is the first of Rajab, the month of Allah ﷻ. Rajab is the month of Allah, Shaban is the month of the Prophet ﷺ, and Ramadan is the month of his Ummah ﷺ.

Alhamdulillah, we reached Rajab safely and in good health. Some of our sisters and brothers have passed away. In sha’ Allah, their place there is much better than our place here. In sha’ Allah, they are near the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and near our Shaykh. May Allah ﷻ have mercy on them, bless their souls, and place them in His oceans of mercy. We read Fatiha for them.

We have two holy nights in the month of Rajab. One of them is coming in a few days. This coming Thursday is the holy night of Laylat al-Raghaib. It is the night when the Prophet ﷺ physically honoured this world. It is also the wedding night of Sayyidatina Aminahر and Sayyidina Abdullah, the parents of the Prophet ﷺ. It is a very holy night. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said not to neglect this night.

If you can, pray Salat al-Tasabih. If you can gather and make dhikr together, do so. Otherwise, you can make a small dhikr in your house, prepare some food, and make a small feast.

The Prophet ﷺ loved milk. Whenever he ﷺ ate anything, he thanked Allah ﷻ for that food and asked Allah ﷻ to provide what is better. Only when he ﷺ drank milk did he make the du‘a that Allah ﷻ increase it, and not replace it with something better. The Prophet ﷺ praised milk.

So on that night, make some dessert with milk and serve your family. If you can, give to neighbours or to someone you know, for the honour of the Prophet ﷺ and for the honour of this night. This is very good.

There are twelve rakats to be prayed on that night between Maghrib and Isha. If it is not possible because you have work or you are not at home, you may pray them after Isha as well. You pray these twelve rakats in the honour of the Prophet ﷺ and the honour of this night.

In each rakat, read one Fatiha, three Surah al-Qadr, and twelve Ikhlas. After every two rakats, you give salam. These are twelve rakats for the honour of Laylat al-Raghaib, this coming Thursday.

After you finish the twelve rakats, you read seventy times:
Allahumma salli ala Muhammadin wa ala ali Muhammadin wa sallim.

Then you go into sajdah and ask Allah ﷻ, and pray for whatever you like. In sha’ Allah, it is accepted, because on this holy night all the angels descend to the Kaaba, make tawaf, and ask forgiveness for the people who are honouring that night by praying and worshipping.

There are also countless angels who descend, and they all have banners with La ilaha illa Allah Muhammadur Rasulullah written on them. In this holy night, they make tawaf around the Kaaba and ask forgiveness. They gift the reward of all their worship to the people who are honouring that night.

We should also fast the coming Thursday and Friday, in sha’ Allah. If possible, we should try to fast Mondays and Thursdays in Rajab as well. You may also count these fasts from the days you have to make up from Ramadan.

I want to clarify something. In a sohbah a few days ago, Mawlana Shaykh Mehmet spoke about kaffarah. Kaffarah means penalty. If someone breaks their fast in Ramadan without a valid excuse, regrets it, and wants to ask forgiveness and erase the sin, then that person must fast the kaffarah and then make up the missed days. This applies especially to those born Muslim.

Now many people are asking permission to fast the three months: Rajab, Shaban, and Ramadan. Ramadan is obligatory fasting. Mawlana Shaykh gave permission and advised them to make the intention for kaffarah as well, so that old records may be cleared.

The kaffarah fasting must be sixty days without interruption. Because some Hijri months are twenty-nine days and some are thirty days, if someone wants to fast Rajab and Shaban with the intention of kaffarah, they may need to start one or two days before Rajab. This applies to men and to women who are in menopause.

For women who have their monthly cycles, it is not possible to complete sixty consecutive days within Rajab and Shaban. They would need nearly three months to complete kaffarah because fasting would be interrupted. They may complete it at another time of the year or calculate and plan accordingly. Kaffarah must be sixty consecutive days without break.

Kaffarah fasting is different from making up missed Ramadan fasts. Kaffarah erases the sin of breaking a fast without excuse. The missed days must still be made up later, slowly, whenever possible.

Women who miss fasting due to menstruation, postnatal bleeding, pregnancy, or breastfeeding have a valid excuse. They do not owe kaffarah, only the missed days. The same applies to illness or travel.

If someone forgets and eats or drinks while fasting, and then remembers, they should continue fasting. The fast is not broken. If they continued eating thinking the fast was broken, they only need to make up the day, without penalty.

This is the ruling regarding fasting and kaffarah as explained by Mawlana Shaykh Mehmetق. In sha’ Allah, it will be explained further in upcoming lessons.

For Rajab and Shaban, we have specific wird to read. The links have been shared so you can learn what to read during the month of Rajab.

The other holy night in Rajab is the 27th of Rajab, the night of Isra and Miraj. Allah ﷻ sent Jibril to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ on this night and told him that he would meet his Lord. Jibril brought a Buraq, and the heavens were adorned like a festival to receive the Prophet ﷺ.

The Prophet ﷺ was taken from Makkah to Jerusalem, where he met all the Prophets and led them in prayer as Imam. Then he ascended through the heavens. This journey was long and beautiful. He ﷺ visited the heavens, saw Paradise and Hell, and reached Sidrat al-Muntaha, the final point before the Divine Presence.

Jibril could not proceed beyond that point. The Prophet ﷺ alone entered the Divine Presence. He ﷺ wished to remove his shoes, but he was told not to, so that the Throne would be honoured by the dust of his shoes. This shows how beloved he ﷺ is to Allah ﷻ.

This journey was with both body and soul. It was not a dream. Allah ﷻ is All-Powerful and does as He wills. On this night, the obligation of the five daily prayers was given.

We fast on the day of Isra and Miraj. Fasting that day is rewarded like sixty months of worship. Worship during its night is rewarded like one hundred years of worship.

On this night, pray two rakats. In each rakat, read one Fatiha and twenty Ikhlas. After finishing, read ten times:
Allahumma salli ala Muhammadin wa ala ali Muhammadin wa sallim.

Then you read this du‘a if you can:

Allahumma inni asaaluka bimushahadati asrari-l muhibbeen
wa bil khalwati-llati khassasta biha sayyida-l mursaleen
haythu asrayta bihi laylata-s sabi’ wa-l ‘ishreen
an tarhama qalbi-l hazin
wa tujiba da’wati
ya Akrama-l Akrameen

اللهم إني أسألك بمشاهدة أسرار المحبين
وبالخلوة التي خصصت بها سيد المرسلين
حيث أسريت به ليلة السابع والعشرين
أن ترحم قلبي الحزين
وتجيب دعوتي
يا أكرم الأكرمين

After that, you may make any du‘a you wish. It is accepted, in sha’ Allah.

Next week is the Hijri anniversary of Mawlana Shaykh Nazimق, on the 7th of Rajab. Many of you knew him, met him, and sat with him. We are honoured to be his children and his murids. Allah ﷻ honoured us by appointing Mawlana Shaykh Mehmetق as his successor.

Mawlana Shaykh Nazimق lived his life entirely in the way of Allah ﷻ. He was a father, a guide, a murshid, and a true inheritor of the Prophet ﷺ. He was the fortieth Grandshaykh in the Naqshbandi Way.

When asked what to read for him, he said to read Yasin and Fatiha. Please read Yasin and Fatiha on Friday, the 7th of Rajab, and gift it to his blessed soul.

Al-Fatiha.

• Hjh Rukiye Sultan

---