Some traditional reports concerning the special blessings bestowed by Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) upon those who perform the ritual prayer [salat] during the month of Rajab.
It was just after the new moon had appeared to mark the beginning of Rajab, as Shaikh Imam Hibatu’llah ibn al-Mubarak as-Saqati (may Allah bestow His mercy upon him) has informed us on good traditional authority, that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) turned to Salman al-Farisi (may Allah be well pleased with him) and said:
O Salman, Allah will surely erase all the sins from the record of any believing man [mu’min], and of any believing woman [mu’mina], who performs thirty cycles of ritual prayer [yusalli thalathina rak’a] in the course of this month, reciting in each cycle the Opening Sura of the Book [Fatihat al-Kitab] and the Sura that begins with “Say: ‘He is Allah, One'” three times, and the Sura that begins with “Say: ‘O unbelievers'”three times. That man or woman will be granted the same reward as a person who has fasted throughout the entire month. He or she will be treated as one of those who continue to perform the ritual prayer [al-musallin] right through to the following year, and will be credited every day with a deed as noble as that of one of the martyrs of the battle of Badr [shahid min shuhada’i Badr].
For every day of fasting [in Rajab], the worship of an entire year will be recorded in favor of the believer concerned, whose credit will be enhanced by a thousand degrees. If the believer keeps the fast throughout the whole of this month, as well as performing this particular salat-prayer [i.e., the aforementioned thirty cycles of ritual prayer], Allah will deliver that man or woman from the Fire of Hell and declare that he or she is entitled to enter the Garden of Paradise, therein to dwell in the vicinity of Allah (Glory be to Him).
Gabriel (peace be upon him) informed me of this, and then he went on to say: “O Muhammad, this a clear sign to mark the distinction between you true believers, on the one hand, and the polytheists [mushrikin] and hypocrites [munafiqin] on the other, because the hypocrites do not perform that ritual prayer [la yusalluna dhalik].”
Having heard these words addressed to him by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), Salman (may Allah be well pleased with him) responded by saying: “O Messenger, tell me exactly how I must perform that particular salat-prayer, and exactly when I must perform it.”
“O Salman,” said Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace): “on the first day of the month you must perform ten cycles of the salat-prayer. In each cycle [rak’a] you must recite the Opening Sura of the Book [Fatihat al-Kitab] one time only, then the Sura that begins with ‘Say: “He is Allah, One”‘ three times, and then the Sura that begins with ‘Say: “O unbelievers”‘ three times. When you have pronounced the final salutation [sallamta], you must raise your hands and say:
There is no god except Allah, Alone. No partner has He. To Him belongs the kingdom and to Him belongs the praise. He brings to life and causes death, while He is Ever-Living and never dies. All goodness is in His Hand, and He is Powerful over all things. O Allah, no one can withhold what You have given, and no one can give what You have withheld, nor will the worldly fortune of the possessor of such fortune profit him, if he does not obtain the fortune that comes from You [in the hereafter].
“Then you must rub your face with your hands, for at this point you will have completed the first set of ten cycles.”
“In the middle of the month you must perform another ten cycles of the salat-prayer. In each cycle [rak’a] you must again recite the Opening Sura of the Book [Fatihat al-Kitab] one time only, then the Sura that begins with ‘ Say: “He is Allah, One”‘ three times, and then the Sura that begins with ‘Say: “O unbelievers”‘ three times. When you have pronounced the final salutation [sallamta], you must raise your hands as you did before, but this time you must say:
There is no god except Allah, Alone. No partner has He. To Him belongs the kingdom and to Him belongs the praise. He brings to life and causes death, while He is Ever-Living and never dies. All goodness is in His Hand, and He is Powerful over all things. Qadir. (I worship Him) as God, Single, One, Everlasting, Alone, Unique. He takes unto Himself neither female consort nor son.
“Then you must rub your face with your hands, for at this point you will have completed the second set of ten cycles.
“At the end of the month you must perform the third and final set of ten cycles of salat-prayer, and in each cycle [rak’a] you must again recite the Opening Sura of the Book [Fatihat al-Kitab] one time only, then the Sura that begins with ‘Say: “He is Allah, One”‘ three times, and then the Sura that begins with ‘Say: “O unbelievers”‘ three times. When you have pronounced the final salutation [sallamta], you must raise your hands as before, but this time you must say:
There is no god except Allah, Alone. No partner has He. To Him belongs the kingdom and to Him belongs the praise. He brings to life and causes death, while He is Ever-Living and never dies. All goodness is in His Hand, and He is Powerful over all things. May Allah bless our Master Muhammad and the pure members of his family. There is neither any power nor any strength except with Allah, the Most High, the Almighty.
“You should then ask for whatever you need, whereupon He will surely give a positive response to your prayer of supplication [du’a’]. Allah will interpose seventy ditches between you and Hell [Jahannam], and each of those ditches will be as wide as the distance that separates this earth from heaven above. For every cycle of salat-prayer you have performed, He will credit you with a million cycles [alf alf rak’a]. He will also inscribe on your record an exemption from the Fire of Hell and a permit to cross the Narrow Bridge [sirat].”
Salman (may Allah be well pleased with him) is reported as having said: “As soon as the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) had finished speaking, I sank to the ground in humble prostration, weeping as I sought to express my gratitude to Allah (Exalted is He) for what I had just been privileged to hear.”
>> Part 3
