Question: I read in "Sahih Al-Jami`" Hadith no. (397) which was verified by Al-Albany and related by Al-Suyuty (398) Sahih, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), that he said: The Messenger of Allah (
sallallaahu 'alaihi wasallam) stated:
"When Sha`ban is halfway through, do not fast until the advent of Ramadan" There is also another Hadith related by Al-Suyuty numbered (8757) Sahih, verified by Al-Albany in "Sahih Al-Jami`" numbered (4638) on the authority of `Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said:
"The most preferred month for him (the Prophet, may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) to fast was Sha`ban and he joined it with Ramadan". How can we reconcile between both Hadith?
Answer: In the Name of Allah, and all praise be to Allah!
To proceed: the Prophet (
sallallaahu 'alaihi wasalaam) used to fast the whole of Sha'baan and at times, he fasted all of it except for few days, as authentically reported from the Hadith of 'Aishah and Umm Salamah. As for the Hadith mentioning the prohibition of observing Sawm (Fast) after the middle of Sha'baan, it is Sahih as mentioned by the brother, al-'Allaamah ash-Shaykh Nasir Al-Din Al-Albany. What is meant by it is that it is prohibited to start fasting after halfway through the month, but if a person fasts most or all of the month, they will be following the Sunnah (supererogatory act of worship following the example of the Prophet). May Allah grant us success.
Note: The original translation on
www.alIfta.com had some mistakes; so it was corrected.