![The Hajj kicks into full gear by Fadi El Binni of Al Jazeera English (The Hajj kicks into full gear) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/The_Hajj_kicks_into_full_gear_-_Flickr_-_Al_Jazeera_English_%285%29.jpg "The Hajj kicks into full gear by Fadi El Binni of Al Jazeera English (The Hajj kicks into full gear) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons")
The Hajj kicks into full gear by Fadi El Binni of Al Jazeera English (The Hajj kicks into full gear) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Hady refers to the sacrificial animals that Hajj pilgrims offer for Allah's sake in the Haram (Makkah) between 10th and 13th of Dhul-Hijjah.
Image showing Muharram written in Arabic
Abu Bakarah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The year is twelve months of which four are sacred, the three consecutive months of Dhul-Qa'dah, Dhul-Hijjah and Muharram, and Rajab Mudar which comes between Jumadah and Sha'ban."
Shawwal written in Arabic
Shawwal is the Islamic month that is immediately after Ramadan, the first day being 'Eid Al-Fitr.
![By Al Jazeera English (The sprawling Jamarat bridge) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/The_sprawling_Jamarat_bridge_-_Flickr_-_Al_Jazeera_English.jpg "By Al Jazeera English (The sprawling Jamarat bridge) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons")
By Al Jazeera English (The sprawling Jamarat bridge) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Hajj is one of the best forms of worship and is one of the most sublime deeds because it is one of the pillars of Islam that Allah sent Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) with. A servant's religion is incomplete without it.
Sha'ban is the name of the (eighth) month, and it is so called because in this month the Arabs used to disperse (tasha'aba) in search of water, or it was said that they dispersed to carry out raids and forays. Or it was said that it is so called because it sha'aba (branches out or emerges) i.e., it appears between the months of Rajab and Ramadhan. The plural forms of the word Sha'ban are Sha'banat and Sha'abin.
'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to fast until we thought he would never break his fast, and not fast until we thought he would never fast. I never saw the Messenger of Allah fasting for an entire month except in Ramadhan, and I never saw him fast more than he did in Sha'ban." [Narrated by al-Bukhari, no. 1833; Muslim, no. 1956]
According to a report narrated by Muslim (no. 1957), "He used to fast all of Ramadhan, he used to fast all but a little of Sha'ban."
A group of scholars, including Ibn al-Mubarak and others, thought that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not fast all of Sha'ban, but he fasted most of it. This is supported by a report in Sahih Muslim (no. 1954) narrated from 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: "I never knew of him – meaning the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) – fasting for any entire month apart from Ramadhan." According to another report also narrated by Muslim (no. 1955), 'A'ishah said: "I never saw him fast for any entire month from the time he came to Madinah, apart from Ramadhan."
It was reported in as-Sahihayn that Ibn 'Abbas said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not fast any entire month apart from Ramadhan." [Narrated by al-Bukhari, no. 1971, and Muslim, no. 1157]. Ibn 'Abbas regarded it as makruh to fast any entire month apart from Ramadhan. Ibn Hajar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "He observed more voluntary fasts in Sha'ban than in any other month, and he used to fast most of Sha'ban."
'Usamah ibn Zayd (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, I do not see you fasting in any other month like you fast in Sha'ban.' He said, 'That is a month to which people do not pay attention, between Rajab and Ramadhan, and it is a month in which deeds are lifted up to the Lord of the Worlds. I like for my deeds to be lifted up when I am fasting.' " [Narrated by an-Nasa'i, see Sahih at-Targhib wa't-Tarhib, page 425]. According to a report narrated by Abu Dawud (no. 2076) she said: "The most beloved of months for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to fast in was Sha'ban, and his fasting in Sha'ban was continuous with his fasting in Ramadhan." [Classed as sahih by al-Albani, see Sahih Sunan Abu Dawud, 2/461]
Ibn Rajab (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Fasting in Sha'ban is better than fasting in the Sacred Months, and the best of voluntary fasts are those that are (observed in the months) closest to Ramadhan, before or after. The status of these fasts is like that of as-Sunan ar-Rawatib which are done before and after fard (prayers) and which make up for any shortfall in the number of obligatory prayers. The same applies to fasts observed before and after Ramadhan. Just as as-Sunan ar-Rawatib are better than other kinds of voluntary prayers, so fasts observed (in the months) before and after Ramadhan are better than fasts at other times."
The phrase "Sha'ban is a month to which people do not pay attention, between Rajab and Ramadhan" indicates that because it comes between two important months, the Sacred Month of Rajab and the month of fasting, people are preoccupied with those two months and they do not pay attention to Sha'ban. Many people think that fasting in Rajab is better than fasting in Sha'ban, because Rajab is one of the Sacred Months, but this is not the case.
![By Omar Chatriwala of Al Jazeera English (A packed encampment on Mina's outskirts) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/A_packed_encampment_on_Mina%27s_outskirts_-_Flickr_-_Al_Jazeera_English.jpg "By Omar Chatriwala of Al Jazeera English (A packed encampment on Mina's outskirts) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons")
By Omar Chatriwala of Al Jazeera English (A packed encampment on Mina's outskirts) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
The word Hajj means, literally, repairing to a place for the sake of visit, and in the terminology of the Islamic Shari'ah, it implies repairing to Baytallah (the House of Allah, one of the names of al-Ka'bah) to observe the necessary devotions. Hajj is not a new institution introduced by Islam in its Shari'ah, This institution is as old as al-Ka'bah itself which is called in the Holy Qur'an "the first House of Divine Worship appointed for mankind" [Al-Qur'an 3:95]. This verse corroborates the Hadith (Prophetic Saying) which tell us that al-Ka'bah was first built by Adam, the first man on earth.
