The Holy Prophet said: “Sha'baan is my month”
Imam Ali bin Husayn Al Zanul Aabideen (A.S.) told his companions: “The Holy Prophet (S.A.) used to observe fast during the whole month of Sha'baan. Therefore whosoever, in love of the Holy Prophet (S.A.), wishes to seek nearness to Allah and receive bounties, favours and rewards in this world and in the Hereafter, must connect Sha’baan with Ramadan (in the matter of fasting and special prayers).
It is highly desirable to observe fast on 1st, 2nd and 3rd Sha’baan, & Pray every night a 2 units prayer. In every unit, after the recitation of Soorah Al Faatih’ah, recite Soorah Al Ikhlaas 11 times.
Give Alms (Charity) in HIS name “What are the best deeds that should be done in Sha`baan.” The Imam (a.s) answered, “Almsgiving and seeking forgiveness are the best deeds in Sha`baan. Verily, if anyone of you gives alms in Sha`baan, Almighty Allah will breed that alms in the very same way as you breed your small camels. Hence, this alms will be as huge as Mount Uhud on the Resurrection Day.”
Recite 70 times: I seek forgiveness of Allah, and, repentant, beseech Him.
I seek forgiveness of Allah who is “There is no God save He”, the Beneficent, the Merciful; the Ever living, the Eternal, and I turn repentant to Him
According to narrations, the best supplications and invocations that are advisably recited in Sha`baan are the prayers of seeking forgiveness of Almighty Allah (i.e. istighfar). Hence, to seek Almighty Allah’s forgiveness seventy times a day in Sha`baan is equal to seeking His forgiveness seventy Thousand times a day in the other months.
Recite the following 1000 times, whenever the count reaches 1000, at any time within the month, the ritual is complete:
There is no god save Allah. We do not worship save “He” alone, making religion pure for Him (only), however much the disbelievers be averse.
On every Thursday Fasting is recommended & Recite 2 units prayer. In every unit, after the recitation of Soorah Al Faatih’ah, recite Soorah Al Ikhlaas 100 times. After the Salaam recite Salawaat 100 times "O Allah! Send Your grace to Muhammad (peace be upon him and his household) and Muhammad's (peace be upon him and his household) progeny". In this respect, a Hadith reads that the heavens decorate themselves each Thursday in Sha`ban and the angels pray Almighty Allah, saying, “O our God: (please do) forgive him who observe fasting on this day and respond to his prayers.”
The Holy Prophet (a.s) is also reported as saying, “If one observe fasting each Monday and Thursday in Sha`baan, Almighty Allah will settle forty of his needs—twenty appertained to the worldly life and twenty to the Hereafter.”
Recite the Special Salawaat taught by Imam Ali bin Husayn Al Zaynul Aabideen (A.S.)
It is reported through authentic sources that Imam Ali Ibn al-Hussein Zaynul Abideen (a.s) used to recite the following Salawat every day in Sha’aban at the time sun passes the median (waqt-e-Zawal) and on the night of 15th Sha’aban. The Salawat is as under:
In the name of Allah the Beneficent, the Merciful.
O’ Allah! Bestow Your blessing on Muhammad and his progeny-the tree of prophet hood and the afford of Your Messages, the place of visits of the angels, the mine of Your Knowledge and the people of the Holy House of revelation.
O` Allah I Bestow Your blessing on Muhammad and his progeny who are a boat sailing in the deep waters of fathomless sea. Safe is he who boarded it and drowned is he who discarded it. Those who went ahead of them were misled and those legged behind them were ruined and those who adhered to them were united with them.
O` Allah! Bless Muhammad and his progeny who are the strong refuge, rescue for the distressed and the helpless, and shelter for the fugitives and protection.
O` Allah! Bless Muhammad and his Progeny with plenty of Your blessings which should please them and grant them their due and it should be fulfilled with Your might-O` the Lord of the Worlds!
O` Allah: (please do) send blessings upon Muhammad and the Household of Muhammad—
The pure, the pious, the righteous whose rights have been made incumbent upon us by You
and the obedience to whom has been deemed obligatory upon us by You and whose (divinely commissioned) leadership has been (also) deemed obligatory upon us by You.
O` Allah! Bless Muhammad and his progeny and embellish my heart with obedience to You and disgrace me not with disobedience to You and bless me with tenderness for one struck with poverty from Your sustenance for You have blessed me with affluence in livelihood and because You have displayed Your justice on me and bestowed life on me to live under Your shade.
And this is the month You have attributed to Your Prophet the chief of Your Prophets month of Sha’aban You have encompassed it with your mercy and pleasure.
The Messenger of God used to keep vigil in devotion during its nights and observed fasts during its days humiliating himself before You honoring and respecting it till his departure from this World.
O` Allah! Help us in following his life pattern and in achieving his intercession.
O` Allah! Appoint him as an intercessor for me and his intercession is accepted by You and appoint him to show us a simple path towards You and make me his follower till I meet You on the day of resurrection in a state that You be pleased with me ignoring my sins for You have prescribed mercy and pleasure from you and my entertainment a peaceful abode and the abode of virtuous people:
Recite Munajat e Shabaniyah with presence of heart
It has been narrated by Ibn Khalawayh who commented on it, saying, “This is the prayer of Imam `Ali Amir al-Mu'mineen and the Holy Imams, his descendants, (a.s) who used to recite it in the month of Sha`ban.”
In the name of Allah the Beneficent, the Merciful
My Lord, bestow Your blessings on Muhammad and his descendants; respond to my prayer when I pray to You; listen to my call when I call You; and turn to me when I make my submission to You in confidence. I have come running to You and am standing before You imploring You in humility and hoping to get the reward You have for me. You know what is in my heart, and You are aware of what I need. You know my mind and are not unaware of my future and of my present, of what I want to begin my speech with; of the request I would utter, and of the hopes I have in regard to my ultimate lot.
My Lord, whatever You have destined for me up to the end of my life, whether concerning the open aspect of my life or the hidden aspect of it, is bound to come. What is to my advantage and what is to my disadvantage - all my losses and gains are in Your hand, not in the hand of anybody else.
My Lord, if You deprive me, who else will provide me; and if You let me down, who else will help me?
My Lord, I seek Your protection from Your anger and from earning Your displeasure. If I am not fit for gaining Your Mercy, You are certainly fit to be generous to me by virtue of Your Magnanimity.
My Lord, I see as if I am standing before You protected by my trust in You. You said what befitted You and covered me with Your forgiveness.
My Lord, if You forgive me, then who is more suited than You to do that? If the time of my death has come near and my deeds have not still brought me close to You, I make this confession of my sins a means of approaching You. I have been unjust to my soul for I have not looked after it. It will certainly be doomed if You do not forgive it.
My Lord, You have always been kind to me during my life time. Therefore do not cut off Your favour from me at the time of my death.
My Lord, how can lose the hope of Your looking kindly, in me after my death, when you have always been good to me during my life.
My Lord, in my case do what befits You and bestow Your favour on me - a sinner enwrapped in his ignorance.
My Lord, You have concealed many of my sins in this world. I am in a greater need of their being conceded in the next. As You have not revealed my sins even to any of Your pious bondmen, do not expose me on the Day of Resurrection before everybody.
My Lord, Your generosity has expanded my aspiration, and Your forgiveness is superior to my deeds. Therefore gladden my heart by allowing me to meet You on the day You administer justice to Your bondmen.
My Lord, my apology to You is the apology of him who cannot afford his apology being not accepted. Therefore accept my apology, You the Most Magnanimous of those to whom the evildoers tender their apology.
My Lord, do not turn down my request; do not foil my desire; and do not cut off my hope and expectation of You.
My Lord, if You had wanted to disgrace me, You would not have guided me; and if You had wanted to expose my faults and vices, You would not have kept me safe and sound.
My Lord, I do not think that You will turn down my request for that in asking You for which I have spent my whole life.
My Lord, all praise is due to You, always and forever, growing not diminishing, as You like and please.
My Lord, if You condemn me for my crimes, I will cling to Your forgiveness, and if You hold me for my sins, I will cling to Your granting pardon. If You haul me into the hell, I will tell its inmates that I love You.
My Lord, if my deeds are too small in relation to how I should obey You, my aspirations are high enough as compared to what I should expect of You.
My Lord, how can I go away from You unsuccessful and disappointed, when I had a high hope that You will be kind enough to send me away enjoying safety and deliverance.
My Lord, I have wasted my life committing the crime of forgetting You and played havoc with my youth, intoxicated with keeping myself away from You.
My Lord, I did not wake up when I was under a delusion about You and was inclined to earn Your displeasure.
My Lord, I am Your bondman, son of Your bondman. I am standing before You, trying to use Your own
magnanimity as a means of approaching You.
My Lord, I am a bondman of Yours, I want to rid myself of the sins I used to commit in Your presence because I lacked the sense of feeling ashamed that You were looking at me. I request You to forgive me, because forgiveness is a characteristic of Your Kindness.
My Lord, I was not strong enough to move away from Your disobedience, except when You awakened me to Your love. I was exactly as You wanted me to be. I am thankful to You for introducing me to Your Kindness and purging my heart of the impurities of being inattentive to You.
My Lord, look upon me as the person whom You called and he responded to You, whom You helped by using his ser-vices, and he obeyed You. You Near One, Who is not far from one who is away from You. You Munificent, Who does not withhold His reward from one who hopes for it.
My Lord, provide me with a heart, the passion of which may bring it near You, with a tongue the truth of which may be submitted to You, and with a vision the nature of which may bring it close to You.
My Lord, whoever gets acquainted with You, is not un-known; whoever takes shelter under You, is not disappointed; and one to whom You turn, is not a slave. One who follows Your path is enlightened; and one who takes refuge in You, is saved.
My Lord, I have taken refuge in You. Therefore do not disappoint me of Your Mercy and do not keep me secluded from Your Kindness.
My Lord, place me among Your friends in the position of one who hopes for an increase in Your love.
My Lord, inspire me with a passionate love of remembering You so that I may keep on remembering You, and by Your Holy Name and Pure Position cherish my cheerful determination into a success.
My Lord, I invoke You to admit me to the place reserved for those who obey You, and to attach me to the nice abode of those who enjoy Your good pleasure. . . I can neither defend myself nor do I control what is advantageous for me.
My Lord, I am Your powerless sinning slave and Your repentant bondman. So do not make me one of those from whom You turn away Your face, and whom his negligence has secluded from Your forgiveness. My Lord, grant me complete severance of my relations with everything else and total submission to You. Enlighten the eyes of our hearts with the light of their looking at You to the extent that they penetrate the veils of light and reach the Source of Grandeur, and let our souls get suspended by the glory of Your sanctity.
My Lord, make me one of those whom You call and they respond; when You look at and they are thunderstruck by Your majesty. You whisper to them secretly and they work for You openly.
My Lord, I have not allowed my pessimistic despair to overcome my good opinion about You, nor did I ever lose my hope of Your benevolence.
My Lord, if my errors have degraded me with You, You may forgive me in view of my unqualified reliance on You.
My Lord, if my sins have made me unfit to receive Your tender affection, my firm belief has reminded me of Your Compassion.
My Lord, if my disregard for preparations to meet You has put me to sleep, my knowledge of Your kind bounties has awakened me.
My Lord, if Your severe punishment calls me to Hell, the abundance of Your reward invites me to Paradise.
My Lord, I ask You and pray to You earnestly, I desire and request You to show Your favour to Muhammad and his descendants, make me one of those who always remember You and never violate the pledge they make to You, who do not fail to show You their gratitude and do not take Your orders lightly.
My Lord, let me be attached to the Light of Your Majestic Glory, so that I may know You alone, be away from others, and have a heart fearful of You and an eye watchful of You. May Allah's blessing and peace be on Muhammad and those of his descendants who are pure.
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