Rajab by Hjh Rukiye #5

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

In less than fifteen days the month of Rajab is approaching. The three holy months, Rajab, Sha‘ban and Ramadan, are the season for barakah and blessing, for worshipping and for extra thawab and rewards, and for getting extra close to Allah ﷻ and His Prophet ﷺ.

According to the Prophet’s ﷺ famous hadith, the month of Rajab, shahru’Llah, is the month of Allah ﷻ. Sha‘ban, shahri, is the month of him ﷺ, and Ramadan is the month of his ﷺ Ummah, his ﷺ nation. Rajab is the most powerful month because it is the month of Allah, and we have to get ready for it, in sha’ Allah.

Those who like to fast the three months, Rajab, Sha‘ban and Ramadan, it is a good chance now since winter is coming and the days are short. If you have some days owing for fasting, you can make them up in the months of Rajab or Sha‘ban for more blessing, or as kaffarah.

Kaffarah is required if you have broken your fast intentionally or purposely, without any excuse, in the past Ramadans. If it is outside Ramadan, you must fast one day for one day, but for Ramadan, if you break your fast without any excuse, you need to make kaffarah. It is a penalty, and then you make up the days you missed, one day for one day.

Kaffarah is of three kinds, and the most known one is fasting. It is to fast sixty consecutive days. If you broke your fast without excuse only one day in a Ramadan, or if you did not fast many Ramadans before, the kaffarah is still one. You have to fast sixty consecutive days without break, and then you have to make up all the missed days, one day for one day, outside Ramadan. I hope nobody has to do this, that in sha’ Allah we are all fasting. The fasting for new, converted Muslims does not count for before accepting Islam, but after Islam.

If you intend to fast the sixty days of kaffarah, you must start one or two days before Rajab so that the sixty days are completed before Ramadan. This is one of the things that most people like to do in the three holy months, to fast ninety days one after the other. May Allah help them, in sha’ Allah.

Last year Mawlana Sheikh Mehmetق was telling about it, and he was even encouraging people to do this because the days are short and the fasting is easy, in sha’ Allah. If you do not have the intention for fasting the months of Rajab and Sha‘ban, then as a rule in Tariqah, and it is also a Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, we fast Mondays and Thursdays and also the holy days in these two months.

Laylatu l-Ragha’ib, the holy night of Ragha’ib, is the first Thursday of Rajab. It is when the Prophet ﷺ was physically in his mother’s womb. It is a night of celebration, and you can fast the first Thursday, or you may fast Thursday and Friday.

The other night is Laylatu l-Mi‘raj, the Ascension of the Prophet ﷺ to the Heavens. This also is a holy night to celebrate, and we fast the next day. So approximately it is ten days in Rajab and ten in Sha‘ban that we fast. Each day that you fast in Rajab has different rewards and more thawab and promises from Allah ﷻ to the person who fasts. Fasting for even one day in Rajab is the door to Heavens, and its thawab is counted more and more, like you fasted one year other than Ramadan.

There are many tasabeeh and wird to be done. In Rajab mostly, astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah. You may read daily one hundred to one thousand astaghfirullah until the end of Rajab. Read extra Salawat Sharifah, one hundred to three hundred every day in Rajab.

Also, we have the Khatm of Tawhid, La ilaha illa’Llah. Try to read it from the beginning of Rajab till the end of Ramadan, to the day of Eid. Every day we read one thousand La ilaha illa’Llah and one hundred La ilaha illa’Llah Muhammadun Rasulullah ﷺ. So in ninety days we complete one hundred thousand La ilaha illa’Llah.

When you finish it, it is said that this is your book from Heaven, that Allah ﷻ sets you free from Hell. For Sha‘ban read extra Salawat, one thousand times more than your wird. This is for the normal people who want extra worshipping in these holy months.

Also, in our Tariqah tradition we have khalwah, seclusion, for people. There are two times for seclusion. One is from the beginning of Rajab till the tenth of Sha‘ban, for forty days, and the second one is in the beginning of Dhu’l-Qi‘dah till the tenth of Dhu’l-Hijjah, till the day of Eid. Two times of the year we can make seclusion in our Tariqah.

There are two types of seclusion. One is full-time seclusion. This is not permitted that you do it without the order of the Sheikh. Only the Sheikh can give the order for this khalwah. You cannot ask, “Sheikh, can I go into seclusion?” No. The seclusion comes as an order from Allah ﷻ, and the Sheikh will tell you. It is very powerful and very heavy on your ego and on your personality. Spiritually it is a heavy thing to carry. If you do it yourself without a clear order from the Sheikh, you may lose your mind.

And since every murid should make seclusion even once in his or her lifetime, our Sheikhs offer part-time seclusion so we can fulfil the mission of being a murid in Tariqah. Part-time khalwah is performed at night from Tahajjud time to Ishraq, until sunrise. That means three hours or more at night. You get up and have wudu.

If you can, have a shower once every day for part-time seclusion. You pray your prayers, read Qur’an, make your tasabih, read Dala’il al-Khayrat, make Salawat more than usual, more than your wird, more Tawhid, more Bismillahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim, and more Ikhlas. You fill this time with worshipping, not talking to anybody, and try to be in the presence of Allah ﷻ.

Another time of it is from Asr till Maghrib and from Maghrib till Isha. This too is approximately three hours. This is part-time seclusion, and the Sheikh always gives permission for you to do this. Every year the Sheikh renews it. When you start the seclusion you say, “Nawaitu l-‘uzlah, nawaitu l-khalwah li’Llahi Ta‘ala.” This is good.

Also, for the forty-day full-time seclusion they eat only one bowl of soup, one in the morning and one in the evening, mostly lentil soup. They eat only one kind of food, and every ten days they may eat whatever they like in the morning and the evening.

But with part-time seclusion you may eat anything you like, but make it the same kind of food every day for the morning and evening, or what you have in the evening you may eat in the morning. To eat like this is for training your ego. It is less heavy on you, but it is fulfilling the mission of making khalwah while you are in Tariqah, and as a murid you are trying to be spiritually better for yourself and for Allah ﷻ.

May Allah make it easy for us to do it, in sha’ Allah, and to make our prayers. There are thirty rak‘ats in Rajab to make. They are mentioned as prayers of Rajab. Each rak‘at is one Fatiha, three Qul ya ayyuhal-kafirun and three Ikhlas Sharif. You pray them two rak‘ats, two rak‘ats. You can pray them all on the same day, or ten in the beginning, ten in the middle, and ten at the end of the month. Or you can pray them in the holy nights in Rajab. We have two of them, and they are from the biggest and most holy nights celebrated in the Muslim world and very blessed.

Wa min Allahi at-tawfiq.

Al-Fatiha.

Al-Fatiha.

• Hjh Rukiye Sultan

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