The month of Shaʿbān is a hidden treasure in the Islamic year—quietly placed between the sacred month of Rajab and the blessed month of Ramaḍān, yet rich with opportunities for repentance, preparation, and love of the Prophet ﷺ. It is a month in which many people become heedless, busy with worldly routines or only focused on the “big” months, while the sincere believer sees it as a bridge that carries the heart from ordinary days into the special season of Ramaḍān.

The Prophet ﷺ drew attention to this very point when he described Shaʿbān as a month to which people do not pay much attention, between Rajab and Ramaḍān. He explained that it is a month in which deeds are raised to the Lord of the worlds, and expressed his love that his deeds be raised while he is fasting.

This alone makes Shaʿbān a month of quiet seriousness: a time to clean the record of one’s soul before its pages are presented to Allah, and a time to fill those pages with sincere fasting, duʿāʾ, and seeking forgiveness.

In this month, the Prophet ﷺ used to increase acts of devotion in a way that clearly shows it is the training camp of Ramaḍān. The Mother of the Believers ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said she never saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ fast in any month more than he did in Shaʿbān, and that he would fast most of the month except for a small part of it.

Through this practice, he taught his ummah to arrive at Ramaḍān ready—physically accustomed to fasting, and spiritually attuned to worship—instead of stumbling into it unprepared. In Shaʿbān he would increase in voluntary fasting, remembrance, Qurʾān, ṣalāh, and salawāt upon him.

It is widely reported that the command to send blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ was revealed in this month:

In our heedlessness, we often rush through Shaʿbān, treating it as merely the countdown to Ramaḍān. But the Prophet ﷺ showed us otherwise. He showed us that this is the month to prepare the vessel of our hearts—to scrub it clean through repentance, to strengthen it through fasting, to polish it through remembrance, and to fill it with love through sending blessings upon him ﷺ.

When we arrive at Ramaḍān unprepared—spiritually cold, physically unaccustomed to fasting, hearts still cluttered with worldly concerns—we waste precious days just trying to adjust. We spend the first week recovering from the shock of fasting, the second week finally finding our rhythm, and before we know it, the month is nearly over.

But when we use Shaʿbān as the Prophet ﷺ intended—as a training ground, a preparation period, a spiritual warm-up—we enter Ramaḍān already in motion. Our bodies are ready. Our hearts are awake. Our intentions are clear. And we can dedicate the entirety of that blessed month to what it was meant for: deep worship, sincere repentance, and drawing close to our Lord.

So let us not allow this Shaʿbān to pass us by in heedlessness. Let us recognize it for the treasure it is. Let us fast as the Prophet ﷺ fasted. Let us increase in sending blessings upon him. Let us turn to Allah in repentance while our deeds are being raised. Let us prepare ourselves—body, mind, and soul—for the arrival of the most blessed month.

For in truth, the one who values Shaʿbān will taste the sweetness of Ramaḍān. And the one who ignores Shaʿbān may find that Ramaḍān passes them by before they ever truly arrived.