The Great Month of Shaʿbān: How the Salaf Prepared Their Hearts for Ramaḍān — the Month of the Reciters of the Qur’an!

Shaykh Sulayman Ar-Ruhayli حفظه الله

The Great Month Many People Are Heedless Of: Between Rajab and Ramaḍān — A Month of Preparation for Ramaḍān!

Sheikh Muhammad Sa’eed Raslan حفظه الله

The Greatest Blessing of All: Greater Than the Treasuries of the World — Guidance to the Methodology of the Salaf!

Shaykh Sulayman Ar-Ruhayli حفظه الله

The Great Month of Shaʿbān: A Forgotten Month That Prepares the Muslim for Ramaḍān!

Sheikh Muhammad Sa’eed Raslan حفظه الله

My dear brother and sister,

The heart of the believer walks a delicate path — a path between hope and fear. For if one outweighs the other, the soul may slip: with too much hope, one may feel secure despite sin; with too much fear, one may despair of mercy. The straight path is to carry both — in equal measure, in every breath.

In our time, you see this imbalance everywhere. Some say, “Allah is Forgiving,” while persisting in what displeases Him — delaying repentance, normalising sin, excusing negligence in prayer, and silencing the voice of accountability with false comfort. Others, when they fall, whisper to themselves, “I am ruined, Allah will never forgive me,” and so they abandon duʿāʾ, leave the prayer, and allow Shayṭān to convince them that mercy is no longer for them. Both paths are dangerous — and neither is the way of the believer.

Imām Aḥmad — may Allah have mercy on him — said: “It is befitting for the believer that his hope and his fear be one and the same.” [Masāʾil Imām Aḥmad – narration of Ibn Hāniʾ]

And he narrated in al-Zuhd from Muṭarrif ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Shikhīr — may Allah have mercy on him — that he said: “If the hope of the believer and his fear were weighed, neither would outweigh the other.”

His son, ʿAbdullāh ibn Aḥmad, reported in his Zawāʾid that al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī — may Allah have mercy on him — said: “Hope and fear are the two mounts of the believer.” They carry him through life — over hardship and ease — neither abandoned, neither ignored.

And in al-Zuhd (vol. 20), it is narrated from ʿAwn ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUtbah — may Allah have mercy on him — that Luqmān said to his son: “O my son, hope in Allah with a hope that does not lead you to feel secure from His plan, and fear Him with a fear that does not cause you to despair of His mercy.”

The son said: “O father, how can that be — when I only have one heart?”

He replied: “O my son, the believer is as if he has two hearts — one with which he hopes, and another with which he fears.”

So hold fast to this balance, O seeker of Allah. Let your fear protect you from complacency, excuses, and delay — from the voice that says, “It is only a small sin,” “Others do worse,” or “There is still time; I will repent later.” Let it restrain you when the nafs feels safe, when obedience feels heavy, and when Shayṭān beautifies what Allah has forbidden.

And let your hope pull you back when you stumble, whispering to your heart: “Return — the door is still open,” “Your Lord’s mercy is greater than what your sins have reached,” and “One sincere repentance can erase what years of heedlessness wrote.”

Walk between the gates of fear and hope, and you will find the door of Paradise standing between them.

O Allah, place in our hearts a fear that shields us from disobedience and a hope that lifts us to Your mercy. Do not let either overcome the other — and make us among those who stand between them until we meet You in safety.

Why the Prophet ﷺ Increased His Fasting in Shaʿbān — Four Profound Reasons Every Believer Should Know!

Shaykh Sulayman Ar-Ruhayli حفظه الله

The Rulings of Ramadan: What Every Muslim Must Know

The Conditions for the Obligation of Fasting in Ramadan: Who Must Fast, and Should Children Fast?

Sheikh Muhammad Sa’eed Raslan حفظه الله

قال الشيخ سليمان الرحيلي حفظه الله:
Shaykh Sulayman ar-Ruhayli, may Allah preserve him, said:

شهر شعبان فيه خير كبير يغفل عنه من العباد الكثير، فقلّ من يجتني جناه ويعمل فيه بما يرضي مولاه، ويا سعادة من عمل بالسنة، وعبد الله وقت الغفلة.
The month of Sha’ban has great goodness that many among the servants are heedless of, so few are those who reap its fruits and act in it in a manner that pleases their Lord. And how happy is the one who acts upon the Sunnah and worships Allah at a time of heedlessness.

فعن أسامة رضي الله عنه قال: قلت: يا رسول الله لم أرك تصوم من شهر من الشهور ما تصوم شعبان؟ قال: “ذاك شهر يغفل الناس عنه بين رجب ورمضان…”
Usamah, may Allah be pleased with him, said: I said, “O Messenger of Allah, I do not see you fasting any month as much as you fast Sha’ban?” He said: “That is a month that people are heedless of, between Rajab and Ramadan.”

https://t.me/PearlsofRuhayli

قال الشيخ سليمان الرحيلي حفظه الله:
Shaykh Sulayman ar-Ruhayli, may Allah preserve him, said:

شعبان مقدمة لرمضان، وكثرة الصيام فيه كالسنة الراتبة القبلية لصيام رمضان.
Sha’ban is a prelude to Ramadan, and abundant fasting in it is like the regular Sunnah fasts before the fast of Ramadan.

تقول عائشة رضي الله عنها: “لم أر رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم صام من شهر قط أكثر من صيامه من شعبان، كان يصوم شعبان كله، كان يصوم شعبان إلا قليلا.”
A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said: “I did not see the Messenger of Allah ﷺ fast any month more than his fasting in Sha’ban; he used to fast all of Sha’ban—he used to fast Sha’ban except a little.”

وكان السلف يقبلون فيه على مصاحفهم، تهيئة لأنفسهم لاستقبال شهر القرآن.
And the Salaf would turn to their copies of the Qur’an in it, preparing themselves to receive the Month of the Qur’an.

https://t.me/PearlsofRuhayli

قال الشيخ سليمان الرحيلي حفظه الله:
Shaykh Sulayman ar-Ruhayli, may Allah preserve him, said:

لم يستعد مؤمن لشهر رمضان بأعظم من كثرة الصيام في شعبان، وكثرة قراءة القرآن فيه، وتقوى الله، والتوبة الصادقة من الذنوب، وتقليل فضول الكلام، وتعويد النفس على ترك المشغلات والملهيات كوسائل التواصل الاجتماعي، والعزم الصادق على الاستفادة من شهر الخيرات، وتذكير النفس بسرعة رحيله.
No believer has prepared for the month of Ramadan with anything greater than abundant fasting in Sha’ban, frequent recitation of the Qur’an in it, the fear of Allah, sincere repentance from sins, reducing excessive speech, accustoming the soul to abandoning distractions and diversions such as social media, sincere determination to benefit from the month of goodness, and reminding the soul of its swift departure.

https://t.me/PearlsofRuhayli

The Countdown to Ramadan: Will We Fulfill Our Promises This Ramadan? Preparing for a Transformative Ramadan!

Shaykh Sulayman Ar-Ruhayli حفظه الله

⚠️ A Weak Ḥadīth That Is Widespread on Social Media Regarding the Supplication for Reaching Ramaḍān

On the authority of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him: that the Prophet ﷺ, when Rajab entered, said:

(اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ لَنَا فِي رَجَبٍ وَشَعْبَانَ وَبَلِّغْنَا رَمَضَانَ)
“O Allah, bless for us Rajab and Shaʿbān, and cause us to reach Ramaḍān.”

Reported by al-Bazzār in al-Musnad (117/13, no. 6496).

And the ḥadīth was weakened by al-Bazzār,

and by al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿab al-Īmān (5/349),

and by al-Nawawī in al-Adhkār (189, no. 541),

and by al-Dhahabī in Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl (2/65),

and by Ibn Rajab in Laṭāʾif al-Maʿārif (121),

and by al-Haythamī in Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid wa Manbaʿ al-Fawāʾid (2/165),

and by al-Albānī in Ḍaʿīf al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr (637, no. 4395).

Written by:

Shaykh Dr. Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar ibn Sālim Bāzmūl, may Allah preserve him

On Thursday, corresponding to 3 Shaʿbān 1447 AH.

The Rulings of Ramadan: What Every Muslim Must Know

The Beginning and End of Fasting: Can You Rely on Timetables or Radio Broadcasts to Break Your Fast?

Sheikh Muhammad Sa’eed Raslan حفظه الله

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَعَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ، وَبَارِكْ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَعَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ.

O Allah, send Your Ṣalāh (praise, grace, honour, and mercy) upon Muḥammad and upon the family of Muḥammad, as You sent Your Ṣalāh (praise, grace, honour, and mercy) upon Ibrāhīm and upon the family of Ibrāhīm; indeed, You are Praiseworthy, Most Glorious. And bless Muḥammad and the family of Muḥammad, as You blessed Ibrāhīm and the family of Ibrāhīm; indeed, You are Praiseworthy, Most Glorious.

The Greatest and Most Virtuous Deed on the Best of Days: Sending Peace and Blessings Upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ

Shaykh Sulayman Ar-Ruhayli حفظه الله

Do Not Miss the Hour When Supplication Is Answered on Friday!

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“The day of Friday has twelve hours. There is no Muslim who asks Allah, Mighty and Majestic, for anything except that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, grants it to him. So seek it in the last hour after ʿAṣr.”

[Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd (1048), and it was authenticated by al-Albānī]

The Rulings of Ramadan: What Every Muslim Must Know

What Is the Ruling on Eating When the Time of Fajr Enters—If the Fajr Adhān Is Called While One Is Eating or Drinking, Must He Stop?

Sheikh Muhammad Sa’eed Raslan حفظه الله

📖✨ We are live right now — join us and learn Tawḥīd, the foundation of this religion and the light by which hearts are guided and deeds are accepted.

In today’s blessed lesson, we will be explaining Chapter 5 of the Book of Tawḥīd: “Calling to the Testimony that None Has the Right to Be Worshipped Except Allah.”

A profound chapter that establishes the essence of daʿwah, clarifies the mission of the prophets, and teaches us that every call, reform, and rectification must begin with Tawḥīd before all else.

Join us and benefit, my dear brothers and sisters — may Allah grant us sincerity in our worship, insight in our daʿwah, and steadfastness upon Tawḥīd until we meet Him.

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/live/kVuvK5sapyQ?si=JHfkmgJm2XFbD9Cq

My dear sisters, may Allah protect your hearts and grant you firmness,

From the quietest dangers to one’s dīn is not open rebellion—but delay. A delay dressed as ease, a postponement justified by “there is still time.” How many women begin with a valid excuse for not fasting in Ramaḍān, then tell themselves that the days of make-up are expansive, forgiving, wide? So they do not hasten in Shawwāl. Shawwāl passes. Then Dhul-Qaʿdah slips away. Then Dhul-Ḥijjah. One month after another disappears, until suddenly—without warning—another Ramaḍān arrives, standing at the door while the debt of the first still weighs upon the soul.

Know, my dear sister, that this is not a light matter. The time between two Ramaḍāns is indeed a period of allowance to make up what was missed—but when the next Ramaḍān arrives and those days remain unpaid, then sin has entered the record. A sacred obligation was delayed beyond its permitted time. This is not mere forgetfulness; it is culpability. Along with repentance, there is the duty of feeding a poor person for every day delayed—an obligation affirmed by the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

More frightening still is what follows for some women: a second Ramaḍān comes, and again there is a valid excuse. The missed days multiply. The burden grows heavier. And Shayṭān whispers, “The days are many now—later, later.” Until years pass. Until death approaches. Until a woman meets Allah with days of Ramaḍān still unpaid. This, my dear sister, is a grave crime and a tremendous sin. To die without making up the fasts of Ramaḍān is to die upon a major sin—destructive, ruinous, and perilous.

Fear Allah, O sisters. Fear Allah before the sudden arrival of death, for death does not knock—it storms. Fear Allah, for procrastination does not serve the religion, and delay does not soften the reckoning. You will stand—alone—before the Lord of the heavens and the earth. Today is a time for deeds without account; tomorrow is a time for account without deeds. A day will come—the Day of the Overwhelming Calamity, the Striking Hour, the Earth-Shaking Terror—when even the hair of children will turn white from its horror.

So hasten. Do not wait. Do not bargain with time. Rush to make up what you owe to Allah. Guard your obligations as you would guard your life, for by Allah, your life itself is shorter than you think. Fear Allah and do not be lax with the days you owe. Fear Allah, for the affair is severe and the standing is great.

I ask Allah to protect me and you from the Fire, to grant us sincere repentance, and to allow us to meet Him with obligations fulfilled and hearts at peace.

Essential Preparations for the Muslim Before Ramaḍān: Cultivating Righteous Intention for the Blessed Month of Fasting!

Shaykh Abdussalam As-Shuway’ir حفظه الله