From Al-Ghawth al-A`zam, Sultan-ul-Awliyaa, Sayyidunaa Shaykh
Muhi-ud-deen `Abdul-Qaadir al-Jeelani al-Hasani al-Husayni
[Radiallahu`anhu]’s Al-Ghunyatu li Taalibi Tareeq il Haqq [Tr. M.
Holland]:
Concerning the special merit of fasting during the twenty-seventh day
of Rajab.
According to yet another report conveyed to us by Shaikh Imam Abu'l-Barakat ['Father of
Blessings'] Hibatu'llah ibn al-Mubarak as-Saqati (may Allah bestow His mercy upon him), who
cites good traditional authority in support of its authenticity,71 the Prophet {Allah bless him and
give him peace) once said:
If someone keeps the fast on the twenty-seventh day of Rajab, he will be credited with the
same reward as that which is earned by lasting for sixty months. [Fadaail al-Shuhoori wal-
Ayyaam as per Haafiz `Iraqi’s “Takhreej al-Ihyaa”]
It was on the twenty-seventh day of Rajab, we are told, that Gabriel first came down to invest the
Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) with his Messengership (Risaalah}.
Shaikh Hibatu'llah has also provided us with the following report, together with its chain of
transmission [isnad] from al-Hasan al-Basri74 (may Allah bestow His mercy upon him), who said:
"Whenever the twenty-seventh of Rajab came around, 'Abdu'llah ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be well
pleased with him and with his fathet) would start the day as a mu'takif [i.e., as someone who
follows the practice called i'tikaf, meaning withdrawal into a state of seclusion in order to
concentrate on religious devotions, especially while fasting]. He would devote the whole morning
to prayer, up to and including the obligatory ritual prayer at noon [Zuhr]. After performing the
noon
prayer, he would stroll about for a little while to stretch his legs, then he would perform an extra
salat-prayer consisting of four cycles, in each cycle Irak' a] he would recite 'Praise be to Allah...
'"'one time only, then the Two Pleas for Divine Refuge [al-Mu'auwidhatan],^ also one time only,
then the Sura that begins with 'Behold, We sent it down on the Night of Power...'77 three times,
and the Sura that begins with 'Say: "He is Allah, One.. .'"s fifty times. He would then devote
himself to continuous supplication [du a ], until it was time to perform the obligatory late-
afternoon ritual prayer [salat al-'asr]. 'This,' he used to say, 'is exactly what Allah's Messenger
(Allah bless him and give him peace) always did on this particular day.'"
According to this next report, likewise conveyed to us by Shaikh Hibatu'llah,"Allah's Messenger
(Allah bless him and give him peace) once said:
Rajab contains a very special day and a very special night. If someone fasts during that
day, arid keeps vigil throughout that night, he will be entitled to a reward like the one
that would be earned by a person who fasted for a hundred years, and who kept vigil
throughout all the nights in that period. [Bayhaqi-2 narrations]
The reference must be to the twenty-seventh of Rajab, that being the day on which our Prophet
(Allah bless him and give him peace) was first dispatched {bu'itha} to embark upon his mission.
* Author's note: Sh.ukh Im.im Hibatu'llah ihn al-Muharak as-Saqati (may Allah bestoiv His mercy
upon him) cites the following chain of iran>mK-,ion (isniuij for this report: ash-Shaikh al-Hafi;
Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn 'All Thabit ibn al-Khatib—'Abdu'llah ibn'Ali ibn Muhammad Bashir—'All ihn
'Umar al-Hafi: [who knew thcQur'.ln by heart)—Abu Bakr Nasr ibn Jaishun irin Miisa 'l-Khallal
[ibv Vinegar Merchant]—'All ihn Sa'id ad-Dailami—Damrat ibn Rabi at al Qurashi—Ihn
Shawdhab—Matir al-Warraq |the Papermaker, or the Copier of Manuscripts]—Shahr ibn
Ijawshab—Abu Huraira (mav Allah He ntll plea-ed with him)—the Prophet (Allah hle->s him and s;
ivc him peace).
1 AI-Hasan ibn Abi'l-Htean al-Bafrt (may Alliih bestow His mertv upon him) i- revered as one of
the greatest saints of early Islam. Bum m Mvilina in A.U. 21/642 c:.t., he was brought up in
Basra, where he met many Companion* of the Prophet (Allah bless him and Rive him peace.) He
died inA.H. 110/728 CE. 40
" In other in>rds, rhe Opening Sura of theQur'an/Farihat al-Kiuibi, n'hich begins with "al-hamdu
li'llahi... [Praise K; to Allah...]" (after the Bosmola. the invocation of Allah's Name).
''Sura 113 (The Daybreak'fol-FoloijJ) and Sura 114 ('Mankind' [an-Nasl), the last two Suras in the
Qur'an. iire known as af-Mn au'u'idha^in [the Two Pleas for Divine Re!uge|. They read:
S.av: "1 ILiki: rt:tuye
ith the L trom the from the e
•d nf the Daybreak .-j| of whiir He has created il of the darkness
ivhen it is intense
from ihe evil of the witches
who blow on knois
and from the evil of the envier
when hi-envies." (113:1-5)
Say; "1 Take refuse uiih ihe Lord of mankind
ihc Km£ of mankind
the God of mankind
from ibe evil ot ihc >linkiiii; whi-hpcrcr
who whispers in ihe breasts of mankind
of ihe jinn and 01 mankind." (IH;1-6|
Lfllli II Tol/lll
fa-Rabbi 'l-jttlaq:
?nfn sham ITUI
u'H min sham
idha waqab:
no min jjuirri 'n-njf/olholi
fi 'l-'itnad;
u-a mm sfmrri fiaiiin
jjhfl hasad.
Hnl a'iidhn bi-Rabbi 'n-iioi:
MoJilu 'n-nas.
lltiht 'n-n^i:
TTu'n shani '1-u'Oiw^ii 'l-kha
alttidhi vuu'aiu'isu/Timifm '
jntna Tjmmni ua 'n-nas.
77 Sura 97. ^ Sura 112.
''Author's nute: Shaikh Imflm Abu'l-Barakai HiKiiu'lhih ibn al-Mubarak as-Saqati (may Allah
besKM His mercy upon him I cites rhe follow1 ing chain of transmission (isnodj for this report:
Abu Salama—Abu Hurairn anJ SalrnSn al-Farisi (may Allah he well pleased with them both)—the
Prophet (Allah Hess him and give him peace).
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