The Month of Rajab

The month of Rajab is the 7th month in the Islamic Hijrī calendar. It is one of the four sacred months that have been mentioned in the Qur’ān in the verse:

... إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ مِنْهَا أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ ۚ فَلَا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ ۚ...

‘Surely, the number of months according to Allah is twelve (as written) in the Book of Allah on the day He created the heavens and the Earth, of which there are Four Sacred Months. That is the right faith. So, do not wrong yourself therein...’ (9:36)

Mention is made of Rajab being from these four months in a well-known hadith narrated by Imam Al-Bukhāri in his Ṣaḥīḥ, as well as Dhul-Qa‘dah, Dhul-Ḥijjah and Muḥarram. From the aforementioned verse, we find that Allāh has instructed us not to wrong ourselves in these four sacred months. This means that we should try our utmost not to disobey Allāh in these four months, as they hold sanctity in the eyes of Allāh.

Just as a sacred place is worthy of respect, sacred times are too. In the same way that the gravity of a disobedience is multiplied in a sacred place, like a Masjid or the Ḥaram, the same applies to a sacred time, like when the Adhān is called out, or the month of Ramadan.[1]

We must therefore try our utmost not to sin in this month.

[1] قال ابن كثير: كما نهى تعالى عن الظلم في الأشهر الحرم، وإن كان في جميع السنة منهيا عنه، إلا أنه في الأشهر الحرم آكد؛ ولهذا قال: {منها أربعة حرم ذلك الدين القيم فلا تظلموا فيهن أنفسكم} [التوبة: ٣٦] ، وقال في الحرم: {ومن يرد فيه بإلحاد بظلم نذقه من عذاب أليم} [الحج: ٢٥]

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