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There Is No Legislated Form of Worship Specific to the Month of Rajab

Al-ʿAllāmah Ṣāliḥ ibn al-Fawzān

Although Rajab is a sacred month, It is an innovation to consider specific forms of worship intended for it.

Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān (حفظه الله) was asked the following:

There are those who single out the month of Rajab with fast; hence, is [there] anything that is confirmed [in the Sunnah to support this]?

The shaykh (حفظه الله) responded with the following:

There is nothing that is confirmed from worship that is specific to the month of Rajab; no fasting, no ṣalah, no ʿumrah—absolutely nothing at all specific to it. [As for] those who are singling it out with worship, then they are the innovators since they introduced into the dīn that which is not from it.

Thus, Allah and His Messenger did not legislate any specific form of worship in Rajab; no ʿumrah, no animal sacrifice, no standing [in ṣalah] in any specific night, and no fasting in any specific day. Rajab is simply like any other month.

The month of al-Muḥarram [like Rajab] is sacred, since it is from the four sacred months. As for singling it out with worship, then this is from innovation.

Translator’s note: Despite the generality in the shaykh’s statement (حفظه الله): “Rajab is simply like any other month”, it is well known that Rajab is from the sacred months; therefore, it is unique from this perspective. What he means by this generality is that Rajab is just like most of the other months from the perspective that there is no specific form of worship such as ṣalah, ʿumrah, fasting, etc. legislated to be done in it, and Allah knows best.

Source: Majmūʿ al-Fatāwá Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān vol. 2, pg. 438.
Translated by: Abū Wāʾil Musa Shaleem

Published: September 26, 2016
Edited: September 7, 2023