The Month of Rabi al-Akhir
The fourth month of the lunar Hijri year
Its occasions and the dua of its first day
💫 The month of Rabi al-Akhir is the fourth month of the lunar Hijri year. Among its most significant events are the blessed birth of Imam Hasan al-Askari (peace be upon him) and the sorrowful passing of Lady Fatima Masuma (peace be upon her).
📿 Sayyid Ibn Tawus, in his book Iqbal al-A'mal, in the section on the deeds of the month of Rabi al-Akhir, records the following supplication for the first of the month:
❞ اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ إِلَهُ کُلِّ شَیْ‌ءٍ وَ خَالِقُ کُلِّ شَیْ‌ءٍ وَ رَبُّ کُلِّ شَیْ‌ءٍ، أَسْأَلُکَ بِالْعُرْوَهِ الْوُثْقَی وَ الْغَایَهِ وَ الْمُنْتَهَی .....
أَنْ تُصَلِّیَ عَلَی مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ، وَ تُبِیحَ لِی مِنْ عِنْدِكَ فَرَجَکَ الْقَرِیبَ الْعَظِیمَ الْأَعْظَمَ. ❝
❝ O Allah, You are the God of everything, the Creator of everything, and the Lord of everything. I ask You by the firmest handhold, and by the ultimate goal and the final end ... that You send blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, and that You grant me from Yourself Your relief that is near, great, and greatest. ❞
🤍 Then, in the closing portion of the supplication, the servant asks his Lord for true servitude:
❞ اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ وَهَّابُ الْخَیْرِ، فَهَبْ لِی شَوْقاً إِلَی لِقَائِکَ، وَ إِشْفَاقاً مِنْ عَذَابِکَ، وَ حَیَاءً مِنْکَ، وَ تَوْقِیراً وَ إِجْلَالًا،
حَتَّی یَوْجَلَ مِنْ ذَلِکَ قَلْبِی، وَ یَقْشَعِرَّ مِنْهُ جِلْدِي، وَ یَتَجَافَی لَهُ جَنْبِی، وَ تَدْمَعُ مِنْهُ عَیْنِی، وَ لَا أَخْلُو مِنْ ذِکْرِكَ فِی لَیْلِی وَ نَهَارِي، یَا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِینَ. ❝
❝ O Allah, You are the Bestower of good; so grant me longing for meeting You, and fear of Your punishment, and shyness before You, and reverence and exaltation — until my heart trembles at it, my skin shivers from it, my side withdraws from the bed, my eye sheds tears from it, and I am never empty of Your remembrance by night or by day, O Most Merciful of the merciful. ❞
📚 Iqbal al-A'mal, Sayyid Ibn Tawus — the section on the deeds of the month of Rabi al-Akhir
💫 Among the events of this month are the following:
✨ 1) 4th of Rabi al-Thani: the blessed birth of Hadrat Abd al-Azim al-Hasani (peace be upon him) on a Thursday in the year 173 AH in Medina, during the rule of Harun al-Rashid (may Allah curse him). He is a descendant of Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (peace be upon him) through four intermediaries, and is buried in the city of Rayy.
⚔️ 2) 6th of Rabi al-Thani: the descent into perdition of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, eleventh caliph of the Umayyads and the one who ordered the poisoning of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (peace be upon him), in the year 125 AH — after nineteen years, nine months and ten days of rule, at the age of fifty-three.
✨ 3) 8th of Rabi al-Thani: the blessed birth of Imam Hasan al-Askari (peace be upon him) on a Friday in the year 232 AH in Medina the Pure. His father was Imam Ali al-Naqi al-Hadi (peace be upon him), and his mother was the venerated and honoured lady "Salil" (reported also as Hudayth, Hudaytha, Harbiyya, Samana and Sawsan).
▪️ 4) 10th of Rabi al-Thani: the anniversary of the passing of Lady Fatima Masuma (peace be upon her), daughter of Imam Musa al-Kazim and sister of Imam al-Rida (peace be upon them both), in the year 201 AH in the holy city of Qom.
🕌 5) 10th of Rabi al-Thani: the end of the four-month respite of disavowal from the polytheists, which had begun after the blessed verses of Surat al-Bara'ah were proclaimed by Amir al-Muminin (peace be upon him) at the Hajj of the ninth year of the Hijra — twenty days of Dhu al-Hijja, then Muharram, Safar and Rabi al-Awwal, and ten days of Rabi al-Akhir. With the expiry of this respite, polytheism was uprooted from the Hijaz.
▪️ 6) 22nd of Rabi al-Thani: the passing of Musa Mubarqa (peace be upon him), son of Imam al-Jawad and brother of Imam al-Hadi (peace be upon them both), in the year 296 AH at the age of eighty-two, after forty years of residence in Qom; his burial place is in Qom.
▪️ 7) 30th of Rabi al-Thani: the passing of Zaynab bint Khuzayma, known as "Umm al-Masakin" (Mother of the Poor), one of the wives of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), in the fourth year of the Hijra, after eight months of life with him. The Noble Prophet prayed over her body, and she was buried in al-Baqi.