View source for Sha'ban

{{Short description|Eighth month of the Islamic calendar}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox month
| image       = 
| alt         = 
| caption     = 
| native_name = {{Native name|ar|شَعْبَان}}
| calendar    = [[Islamic calendar]]
| num         = 8
| days        = 29–30 (depends on actual observation of the moon's crescent)
| season      = 
| gregorian   = 
| holidays    = [[Shab-e-Barat]]
| prev_month  = [[Rajab]]
| next_month  = [[Ramadan (calendar month)|Ramadan]]
}}
{{IslamicMonths sidebar}}

'''Shaʽban''' ({{langx|ar|شَعْبَان}} ''{{Transliteration|ar|Šaʿbān}}'') is the eighth month of the [[Islamic calendar]]. It is called the month of 'separation', as the word means 'to disperse' or 'to separate' because the [[Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia|pagan Arabs]] used to disperse in search of water.<ref name="İÂ">{{cite book |last1=Yaşaroğlu |first1=M.Kâmīl |title=ŞÂBAN - An article published in Turkish Encyclopedia of Islam |date=2010 |publisher=[[İslâm Ansiklopedisi|TDV Encyclopedia of Islam]] |location=Istanbul |isbn=9789753894555 |page=207 |volume=38 (Suyolcu - Serif En-nisaburi) |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/saban |access-date=7 August 2022 |language=tr}}</ref>

The fifteenth night of this month is [[Mid-Sha'ban]],<ref>G.E. von Grunebaum, ''Muhammadan Festivals'' (London: Curzon Press, 1976), pp. 53-54.</ref> which coincides with the celebration of [[Shab-e-Barat]] in Muslim communities all over Asia.

Sha'ban is the last [[lunar month]] before [[Ramadan]], and so Muslims determine in it when the first day of Ramadan fasting will be. In the second [[Hijri year]] (624{{Nbsp}}CE), [[fasting during Ramadan]] was made obligatory during this month.<ref name="İÂ" />

In the post-[[Tanzimat]] [[Ottoman Empire]] context, the word was, in French<!--Important in the post-Tanzimat late Ottoman Empire as it was used as the common language among Christians/Jews and among foreigners, and in diplomacy. See [[Languages of the Ottoman Empire]] and Johann Strauss's work-->, the [[Languages of the Ottoman Empire|main language of diplomacy and a common language among educated and among non-Muslim subjects]],<ref name="StraussConstp26">{{cite book |last=Strauss |first=Johann|chapter-url=https://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/menalib/download/pdf/2734659?originalFilename=true |year=2010 |chapter=A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire: Translations of the ''Kanun-ı Esasi'' and Other Official Texts into Minority Languages | editor=Herzog, Christoph|editor2=Malek Sharif|title= The First Ottoman Experiment in Democracy|location= [[Wurzburg]]|pages= 21–51 }} ([http://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/urn/urn:nbn:de:gbv:3:5-91645 info page on book] at [[Martin Luther University]]) Cited: p. 26 (PDF p. 28 - Quote: "[...]the French translations were in the eyes of some Ottoman statesmen the most important ones[...]")</ref><ref name="StraussLangPT193">{{cite book|last=Strauss|first=Johann|chapter=Language and power in the late Ottoman Empire<!--Chapter 7-->|editor=Murphey, Rhoads|title=Imperial Lineages and Legacies in the Eastern Mediterranean: Recording the Imprint of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Rule|publisher=[[Routledge]]|date=2016-07-07}} ({{ISBN|1317118448}}, 9781317118442), [[Google Books]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=gY-kDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT193 PT193].</ref><!--See Strauss's citations--> spelled '''Cha{{hamza}}ban'''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Youssof, R.|title=Dictionnaire portatif turc-français de la langue usuelle en caractères latins et turcs|year=1890|place=Constantinople|page=[https://archive.org/details/DictionnairePortatifTurc/page/n101 82]}}</ref> The current Turkish spelling today is '''Şâban'''.<ref name="İÂ" />

== Virtues ==
{{See also|Mid-Sha'ban}}
The virtues of Sha'ban is mentioned in various [[Sunnah|traditions]] of the [[Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]].

[[Aisha]], the wife of Muhammad, narrated that "(she) did not see him fasting in any month more than in the month of Sha'ban," except [[Ramadan]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sahih al-Bukhari 1969 - Fasting - كتاب الصوم - Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم)|url=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:1969|access-date=2021-03-02|website=sunnah.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Sunan an-Nasa'i 2351 - The Book of Fasting - كتاب الصيام - Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم)|url=https://sunnah.com/nasai:2351|access-date=2021-03-02|website=sunnah.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Riyad as-Salihin 1226 - The Book of Virtues - كتاب الفضائل - Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم)|url=https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:1226|access-date=2021-03-28|website=sunnah.com}}</ref>

In another narration Muhammad said, "Do those deeds which you can do easily, as Allah will not get tired (of giving rewards) till you get bored and tired (of performing religious deeds)."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sahih al-Bukhari 1970 - Fasting - كتاب الصوم - Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم)|url=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:1970|access-date=2021-08-24|website=sunnah.com}}</ref>

==Timing ==

The [[Islamic calendar]] is a [[lunar calendar]], and months begin when the first crescent of a [[new moon]] is sighted. Since the Islamic lunar calendar year is 11 to 12 days shorter than the [[solar year]], Sha'ban migrates throughout the seasons. The estimated start and end dates for Sha'ban, based on the Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia, are:<ref>[https://webspace.science.uu.nl/~gent0113/islam/ummalqura.htm Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia]</ref>

{|class=wikitable style="text-align:right"
|+Sha'ban dates between 2022 and 2026
|-
!scope="col"|[[Anno Hegirae|AH]]
!scope="col"|First day ([[Common Era|CE]]/[[Anno Domini|AD]])
!scope="col"|Last day ([[Common Era|CE]]/[[Anno Domini|AD]])
|-
!scope="row"|1443
|{{0}}4 March 2022
|{{0}}1 April 2022
|-
!scope="row"|1444
|21 February 2023
|22 March 2023
|-
!scope="row"|1445
|11 February 2024
|10 March 2024
|-
!scope="row"|1446
|31 January 2025
|28 February 2025
|-
!scope="row"|1447
|20 January 2026
|17 February 2026
|}

==Islamic events==
* 01 Sha'ban, birth of [[Zaynab bint Ali]]
* 02 Sha'ban, death of (Imam Azam) [[Abu Hanifa]]
* 03 Sha'ban, birth of [[Husayn ibn Ali]]
* 04 Sha'ban, birth of [[Abbas ibn Ali]]
* 05 Sha'ban, birth of [[Ali ibn Husayn]]
* 05 Sha'ban, death of Fizza, the hand-maiden (Qaneez) of [[Fatimah]]
* 07 Sha'ban, birth of [[Qasim ibn Hasan]]
* 11 Sha'ban, birth of [[Ali al-Akbar ibn Husayn]]
* 15 Sha'ban, holiday known as [[Laylat al-Bara'at]] or Nisfu Sha'ban; birth of [[Muhammad al-Mahdi]]
* 21 Sha'ban, passing away of [[Lal Shahbaz Qalandar]]
* 22 Sha'ban, death of [[Muhammad Usman Damani]]
* 27 Sha'ban, Death of [[Sayyad Laal Shah Hamdani]]
* 27 Sha'ban, birth of Eissa Hussain Allaqband

==See also==
* 
* [[Maahefun]]

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://webspace.science.uu.nl/~gent0113/islam/islam_tabcal.htm Islamic-Western Calendar Converter (Based on the Arithmetical or Tabular Calendar)]

{{IslamicMonths}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Months of the Islamic calendar|8]]
[[Category:Islamic terminology]]