Is the following Hadith authentic?
Nabi (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said:
Rajab is a tremendous month in which Allah multiplies the good deeds. So whoever fasts a day from Rajab it is as if he fasted a year; and whoever fasts seven days of it the seven gates of Jahannam are closed to him; and whoever fasts eight days from it the eight gates of Jannah are opened to him; and whoever fasts ten days from it will not ask Allah except that Allah will grant it. And whoever fasts from it fifteen days a caller will call out from heavens “Verily you have been forgiven whatever you have done in the past, so renew your good actions.” In Rajab Allah carried Nuh in the ark for six months, the last of them being the day of ‘Ashura, in which it landed on the mountain of Judi, and Nuh fasted along with all those with him as well as the animals, in thanks to Allah….
Answer
Imam Tabarani (rahimahullah) and others have recorded this narration.
(Al Mu’jamul Kabir, Hadith: 5538)
Imam Bayhaqi (rahimahullah) has dismissed the authenticity of the Hadith. Hafiz Dhahabi (rahimahullah) has classified the Hadith as a fabrication. The Hadith cannot be quoted.
(Refer: Mizanul I’tidal, vol. 3 pg. 54 and Al Adab Fi Rajab, pg. 35. Also see Majma’uz Zawaid, vol. 3 pg. 188)
And Allah Ta’ala Knows best
Answered by: Moulana Suhail Motala
Approved by: Moulana Muhammad Abasoomar
Checked by: Moulana Haroon Abasoomar