Excerpted Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path Truth
Al-Ghunya li-Talibi Tariq al-Haqq Volume 3, pg 34
By Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani, tran: Holland
–
Traditional reports in which great emphasis is placed on the special
merit of fasting on the first Thursday in Rajab, and of performing the
ritual prayer [salat] during the first Friday night of that month.
The following report has been conveyed to us by Shaikh Imam
Abu’l-Barakat ['Father of Blessings'] Hibatu’llah ibn al-Mubarak
as-Saqati (may Allah bestow His mercy upon him), who cites good
traditional authority in support of its authenticity: Allah’s Messenger
(Allah bless him and give him peace) once said:
Rajab is Allah’s month, Sha’ban is my month, and Ramadan is the month of my Community [Ummati].
Someone then asked him: “O Messenger of Allah, what do you mean
exactly, when you say that Rajab is Allah’s month?” So he explained
(Allah bless him and give him peace):
” [I call it Allah's month] because it is specifically associated
with forgiveness, because in it the shedding of blood is brought to a
halt, because in it Allah (Exalted is He) relents toward His Prophets
[anbiya'], because in it He rescues His saints [awliya'] from the hands
of their enemies, and because anyone who fasts during this month becomes
entitled to receive three things from Allah (Exalted is He). The first
and second of these are forgiveness for all the sins he has previously
committed, and impregnable virtue ['isma] for the remainder of his life.
As for the third, he will be safe from thirst on the Day of the
Greatest Review [Yawm al-'Ard al-Akbar].”
At this point a feeble old man stood up and said: “O Messenger of
Allah, I am physically incapable of fasting through the whole of the
month,” so Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) went
on to say:
“Fast during the first day of the month and during the day that comes
in the middle of it, and also during the very last day of the month,
for then you will be given the same reward as someone who has fasted
through the whole of the month, since one good deed is equal in value to
ten of the same kind.
” It is most important, however, that none of you should neglect the
first Friday in Rajab, for it is the night that the angels call the
Night of [the Granting of] Wishes [Lailat ar-Ragha'ib]. This is because,
by the time the first third of the night has elapsed, there will not be
a single angel still at large in the heavens, nor in any region of the
earth bar one. They will all be gathered together in the Ka’ba and the
area immediately surrounding it. Allah (Exalted is He) will condescend
to notice that they have assembled there, and He will say: “My angels,
ask Me for whatever you wish!” Their response to this will be: “Our
Lord, the request we wish to make is that You grant forgiveness to those
who faithfully keep the fast in Rajab,” whereupon Allah (Exalted is He)
will tell them: “That I have already done!”
Then Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
” No one will go unrewarded if he fasts during the daytime on
Thursday, the first Thursday in Rajab, and if he then performs twelve
extra cycles of salat-prayer during the period between sunset [maghrib]
and late evening ['isha'], i.e., during the first segment ['atama] of
the night of Friday. In each cycle [rak'a] he must recite the Opening
Sura of the Book [Fatihat al-Kitab] one time only, then the Sura that
begins with “Behold, We sent it down on the Night of Power” three times,
and the Sura that begins with “Say: ‘He is Allah, One’” twelve times.
The twelve cycles must be divided into sets of two, with a salutation
[taslima] to mark the conclusion of each pair.”
When he has completed his salat-prayer, he must invoke blessings upon me, by repeating seventy times:
O Allah, bestow blessings and peace upon Muhammad, the Holy Prophet,
and upon his family. He must then bow down low in an act of prostration
[sajda], repeating seventy times while he is in the posture of
prostration [sujud]:
All-Glorious, All-Holy,n Lord of the Angels and of the Spirit! Then he must raise his head and repeat seventy times:
My Lord, forgive and have mercy m pardon that which You well know,
for You are the Mighty, the Supreme. f Then he must bow down low for the
second time and repeat the words he uttered during the first
prostration [sajda]. Finally, while he is still in the posture of
prostration [sujud], he should ask Allah to grant his personal request,
for that request will surely be fulfilled.
Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) also said:
” By Him in whose Hand is my soul [wa 'lladhi nafsi bi-yadih], I
assure you that no servant [of His], whether manservant ['abd] or
maidservant [ama], will ever perform this particular salat-prayer
without Allah forgiving all the sins of which that individual has ever
been guilty, even if they are like the flecks of foam upon the ocean, as
numerous as all the grains of sand, as heavy as the mountains, and as
many as the drops of rain and the leaves on all the trees. On the Day of
Resurrection [Yawm al-Qiyama], he will be allowed to intercede on
behalf of seven hundred members of his family.”
On the first night that worshipful servant spends in his grave, the
reward for this salat-prayer will come to visit him [in the shape of a
human being], with a cheerful face and an eloquent tongue. “O my dear
friend,” it will say to him, “rejoice in the good tidings, for I am here
to tell you that you have been delivered from every severe affliction!”
This will prompt the servant to exclaim: “Who are you? By Allah, I
swear that I have never seen a man with a better-looking face than
yours. Never have I heard a form of speech more charming than your way
of speaking, and never have I smelled a fragrance more delightful than
that of your perfume.” So then it will tell him: “O my dear friend, I am
the reward for that salat-prayer, the one you performed on whichever
night it was, in whichever month it was, in whichever year it was. I
have come here tonight in order to fulfill your request, to entertain
you in your solitary state, and to banish your loneliness from you.
Later on, when the trumpet is sounded, I shall provide you with shade to
protect your head from the scorching heat on the Fields of the
Resurrection ['Arasat al-Qiyama]. So rejoice in the good tidings, for
you will never be deprived of the blessing that comes from your Master
[Mawla].”
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