The last Wednesday of Safar is celebrated widely in India. People close their shops to travel or hunt instead. Special food is cooked in large amounts, people bathe themselves and indulge in celebration, claiming that the Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم performed ghusl on this day when regaining his blessed health and then travelled outside of Madinah Munawwarah for leisure. These are all baseless claims and activities. In fact, the health of the Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم was affected severely in this time. This misplaced assumption contradicts what actually took place. Some have been heard saying calamities descend on the last Wednesday of Safar, and other baseless things. There is no evidence for any of this.  It is mentioned in a hadith, لَاصَفَرَ (“Safar is nothing”).^[1] This nullifies and uproots all nonsense attached to this blessed month.^[2]

Short weekly‘itikāf

Dear Islamic brothers, we have discussed many widespread public assumptions regarding the month of Safar and highlighted how incorrect and far-fetched they are. These are but superstitions that stem from a lack of knowledge. Being Muslim, we should totally rid ourselves of such beliefs. Also try your best to affiliate yourself with the Islamic environment of Dawat-e-Islami, which has 12 unique religious activities for you to take part in. This environment shows us how to avoid acting upon what we wrongly perceive to be bad omens, and how to avoid falling prey to them. اَلْـحَمْـدُ لـِلّٰـه From amongst the 12 religious activities we just mentioned, the topic of discussion today is the short weekly ‘itikāf. These sessions are held in a masjid from Zuhr (or Jumu’ah) until