Mid Shaban
As we all know from a previous khutba, this is a month that we should not overlook. We are now in the month of Sha’ban and the month carries a lot of blessing in many different ways.
However, there is a night in the month of Sha’ban that needs to be mentioned as it carries a lot of weight and is often overlooked.
The night that is being talked of here is the 15th night of Sha’ban. This night is mentioned in many hadiths but the one mentioned in this khutba is the one in which the Prophet SAWS said:
Allah will oversee the night of Half of Sha’ban his slaves, and will forgive those who ask for forgiveness, and will give mercy to those who are merciful, and will leave the people of hatred as they are.
Another hadith states that the messenger SAWS said:
Allah looks at His creation in the night of mid-Sha’ban; He forgives all His creation except for a polytheist, or one who has illegitimate hatred of others.
Dear brothers and sisters, with this night approaching in the coming week, we need to remember that this month already has us needing to step up our efforts and what better time to ask of Allah SWT than this night?
Sometimes there is confusion on the night itself so to clarify, this will occur on Monday night. That is, this Monday evening after Magrib prayers all the way through Monday night until Tuesday morning at Fajr time.
This is the time that is spoken of in the hadiths mentioned previously. And coming back to the hadith themselves, one can contemplate upon their meaning and deduce practical steps that can be implemented in this night and beyond.
Firstly, as this night approaches one should do a self-audit and rid ourselves of any traces of shirk or polytheism. A word of caution here is that this isn’t just about associating partners with Allah SWT.
For example, scholars state that minor shirk is performed when one makes a show of good deeds. For example, showing off one’s charitable acts, acts of worship or of fasting.
We need to be clear that we are not falling into this category and therefore inadvertently excluding ourselves from the blessings of Allah SWT.
Secondly, we need to soften our hearts to one another. We have an esteemed guest coming next month in the form of the month of Ramadhan and what better preparation is there then reconciling with one another?
With so much animosity around and visible to us all these days, let’s not harbour any ill feelings towards each other. Now is the time to recognise and eliminate hatred, jealousy and envy we may have for others.
Dear brothers and sisters, we live in a world that has distorted into one that flourishes on these traits of Shaitaan. After all, consumerism can only flourish if we are made to feel jealous and envious of one another.
The constant striving for what someone else has got is implanted into us through clever marketing and a powerful media.
However, as healthy as it is to be ambitious, we cannot allow it to encourage feelings of hatred, jealousy and envy for one another.
Therefore, perform that self-audit, recognize and change that mind-set in order to be a recipient on the blessed night next week.
May Allah SWT reward us on the night of mid-Sha’ban. May Allah SWT enable us to be part of the night of mid-Sha’ban. And may Allah SWT reward us for our efforts in the night of mid-Sha’ban.
Ameen Walhamdullilah Rabilalameen.
