The Months of Islam

Do you know that you’ve just entered the month of Dhu’l-Qa’dah? Dhu’l-Qa’dah is the first of the four sacred months (Al-Ashhur Al-Hurum).  The other three are Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram and Rajab. These four months are mentioned in Surah At Tawbah, Quran, 9:36. In these sacred months the rewards and punishments for deeds are magnified, subhanAllah!

Specifically, Allah azza wajall warns us against doing injustice to ourselves during these months.

The name Dhu’l Qa’dah can be translated as the month of “settlement” or “sitting,” as it is the month when people stop fighting each other in wars. Let this inspire you to settle arguments and let go of ill feelings!

The months of the Islamic calendar months are based on the movement of the moon (Qamari months).  However, the calendar starts with the emigration or hijra of the prophet salallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam from Makkah to Medinah as this hijra was the turning point in the history of Islam, hence the name hijri calendar. This calendar was adopted two and a half years after Umar ibn Al-Khattab became caliph.

What does this sacred month mean for you?

[وقال علي بن أبي طلحة، عن ابن عباس قوله: {إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا} الآية {فَلا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ} في كلِّهن، ثم اختص من ذلك أربعة أشهر فجعلهن حراما، وعَظم حُرُماتهن، وجعل الذنب فيهن أعظم، والعمل الصالح والأجر أعظم]
Ali ibn Abi Talhah narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas about the statement: ‘Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve [lunar] months” until “so do not commit injustice against yourselves therein [Quran, 9:36] [meaning] in any of them, and then He specified four months from those and he made them sacred, and He emphasized their sacredness, and made sins in them magnified, and righteous actions and the reward (also) magnified.’ [Tafsir ibn Kathir 4/148]

Dhu’l-Qa’dah is the first of three consecutive sacred months, followed by Dhu’l-Hijjah and then Muharram. This means the next three months are a time in which there are magnified rewards for your good deeds and magnified consequences for your bad deeds and habits!

Personal action points:

• I will look at myself and my ibaadah: did my emaan go down after Ramadan?
• Then this is the time to get it back inshaaAllah!
• I will remind myself this is a sacred month each time I’m about to say a bad word or do a bad deed
• I will try a no excuse policy with my salah, whenever it’s time for salah five times a day I will stop what I’m doing to pray. I will tell myself: nothing is more important than salah.
• I will focus on my relationship with my parents. I will strive not to raise my voice to them and make them smile, listen to them and share thoughts with them to make them happy.
• I will give extra sadaqah. Do you miss that feeling of Ramadan? Do something for someone nearby, vary your ways of sadaqah.
• I will focus on the Quran!
• Each day I will open the Quran and get extra hasanaat for each letter I recite inshaaAllah. I will play the Quran in my house and recite it with my family.
• I will make extra effort for my spouse.
• I will get out my Ramadan dua list and start using it again! I will take at least tren minutes each day to sit down, focus and make dua because I will get rewarded for each dua’ I make inshaaAllah!
• I will spend more time on dhikr. I will remind myself to use my time wisely. I will increase in randomly saying during the day while doing work etc: subhanAllahi wa bihamdihi, subhanAllahil adheem, laa ilaaha illAllah, Allaahu akbar, etc.

I will say bismillah now and ask Allah azza wa jall to give me tawfeeq in this time to increase my good deeds and help me strive against my bad habits and deeds.

Praying you will benefit,

Khawlah bint Yayha – United Kingdom