Getting Ready for Ramadan: Learn about the Month of Shabaan!

The month of Shabaan, the month just before Ramadan, has arrived! And as such, it's a great time to review/learn about this month.  Below are some ideas that I have brainstormed to teach my kids about Shabaan this year, in shaa Allah.

Sample Unit Outline

I. Review the Islamic Calendar 

• Briefly review the months of the Islamic Calendar. Give children a blank yearly calendar/worksheet and have them write in the names of month in order for reference. Start a Shabaan notebook and put this in. Check out my Islamic Months tag (at TJ Homeschooling) for resources with the month names for reference.

II. Review the Phases of the Moon

• Briefly review the phases of the moon and how we know when a new Islamic month begins. Give student a moon phases worksheet to show how an Islamic month progresses. You can check out my Moon Phase Notebooking page here and check out my Moon Phases tag for other resources.
• Make or print out a moon observation log for student to record what the moon looks like each night. Keep up the log until the end of Ramadan!  (I'm really looking forward to this activity this year as we have a telescope for the first time, alhamdulillah!)
• Add these printables to your Shabaan notebook

III. Learn about month of Shabaan

 

1. The desirability to fast during Shabaan

-Aa�isha said: �I have never seen the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alaihi wa salam, completing the fast of a month as he did for Ramadhan, and I have never seen him fasting so much as he would in Sha`baan.� [al-Bukhari and Muslim] Source: AbdurRahman.org)

-Read Fast the white days of Sha`ban Month (use your moon phases worksheet in your Shabaan notebook to review what the moon looks like during this time of the month).

-Making up missed fasting days before Ramadan

...who broke his fast for some valid legal reason, is obliged to make up for it, in obedience to the Command of Allaah, the Most Glorified, the Most High. He must make it up in that year, and he should not delay it until after the following Ramadan. �Aishah, may Allaah be pleased with her, said:

"I had days to make up from Ramadan, and I was unable to make them up until Sha�ban (i.e. the month before the following Ramadan).�

This is due to the Messenger of Allaah�s relationship with her, so her saying �I was unable to make them up until Sha�ban� is a proof that they must be made up for before the start of the next Ramadan.

But if he delayed it after the following Ramadan, he should seek forgiveness from Allaah and repent to Him, and be remorseful for what he has done, and make up for these days. The obligation to make it up for is not removed merely because it has been delayed, so he should make up for these days even if it was after the next Ramadan. And Allaah is the Granter of Success.

If your child fasted last Ramadan and made a Ramadan fasting tracker, this would be an excellent time to review it and start (or continue) making up fasts. 

4. Learn about innovations regarding the month of Shabaan

Al ifta.net has a section on Shaban fatwa which includes innovations carried out during the month of Shabaan. You might make a notebooking page that lists innovations carried out during the month of Shabaan.

5. Begin a countdown to Ramadan when the month of Shabaan begins. 

Use numbered paper chains or a Shabaan calendar  (or other creative art project) and mark off the days as Ramadan approaches. (of course, be sure to review with your child that this may be off by a day as we won't know for sure when the month of Ramadan will begin until the crescent moon is sighted.)

Here are a few ideas for inspiration:

Countdown to Eid Blocks (Make your own base that says Countdown to Ramadan) I like this idea as you can use Hindi numerals to reinforce/teach these numeral concepts.  If you want to make blocks from paper/cardstock, here is a cube template you can print out. I've also done something like this before with some numbered cards (as opposed to cubes) and just hang a background page on the wall and change the digits each day.

Make paper chains. (Here is a cute display of countdown chains in general). Some years ago, I made this numbered template for countdown chains but you will probably want to cut out individual chains on construction paper so that you can alternate between colors to make a more vibrant display).

Mark off a calendar. You can grab one of my perpetual calendars to print out a calendar for the month of Shabaan. Each month has seven templates, so just go to the Shabaan calendars and find the calendar that starts on the same day of the week that Shabaan starts on this year and print or have fun making your own!

There's less than a week left until the month of Shabaan arrives, so now's a great time to start learning about it!

Do you have any Shabaan related printables/ideas? If so, please share with others in the comments!   Happy Learning!

Original Post: 5/2/2016