ZILQAD

The month of Dhu’l-Qa’dah is the first of the Sacred Months to which Almighty Allah has referred in the Holy Qur’an. Sayyid Ibn Tawus defines this month as the month of responding to the prayers in hardships. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) is reported as having mentioned a great reward for those who offer a special prayer on Sundays in Dhu’l-Qa’dah, adding that their repentance would be accepted, their sins forgiven, their rivals made pleased with them on the Resurrection Day, caused to die on true faith, given the true religion, granted expansion and light in the grave, the parents made pleased with them, their parents and offspring had their sins forgiven, provided with expansive sustenance, and granted lenience of the Angel of Death and easiness of their souls leaving their bodies.

The method of this prayer is that one should bathe oneself on Sunday, do the ritual ablution (wudu’), and offer a four-unit prayer in each unit of which Surah al-Faatehah is recited once, Surah al-Tawheed repeated three times, and Surahs al-Falaq and al-Nas recited once each. After that, the statement of imploring for forgiveness (Istighfar: saying, astaghfirullah) is repeated one hundred times, and, finally, the following statement is said:

لا حَوْلَ وَ لا قُوَّةَ اِلا بِاللّٰهِ الْعَلِيِّ الْعَظِيمِ

After that, the following supplicatory prayer is said:

يَا عَزِيزُ يَا غَفَّارُ اغْفِرْ لِي ذُنُوبِي وَ ذُنُوبَ جَمِيعِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ فَاِنَّهُ لا يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ اِلا اَنْتَ .

It is worth mentioning that a Hadith reads that to observe fasting on three consecutive days in a sacred month; namely, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, brings about the reward of nine hundred year worship.

The lofty Shaykh Ali ibn Ibrahim al-Qummi says, “The rewards of good deeds, as well as the punishments for evil deeds, are doubled in the sacred months.”