Rajab ke Konde: Aik Tehqeeqi Mutalea

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In the religious environment of the subcontinent, there are some customs that, appearing in the guise of worship, attract devout hearts, but when their reality is viewed in the mirror of the Book and Sunnah, history, and sound reason, they prove to be nothing more than an offshoot of emotional attachment and intellectual negligence...

Rajab ke Konde is also one such custom that has become prevalent in the name of Ahl-e-Sunnat wal Jamaat, but it has neither any Shariah basis, nor any historical foundation, nor is its attribution proven to any credible religious figure...

The first principle of research is that when an act is considered a part of religion, evidence should be sought for it, and here, as soon as the door of evidence is knocked, silence prevails. Neither in the Quran, nor in the authentic Hadith, nor in the traditions of the Companions, nor among the Tabi'in and Taba' Tabi'in, nor in the treasure of knowledge of the Imams of the Four Schools or the Muhaddithin, is there any existence of a worship, offering, or ceremony called Rajab ke Konde. Rather, this custom emerged at the public level centuries later and then gradually wrapped itself in a cloak of sanctity.

Generally, this custom is associated with the 22nd of Rajab and attributed to Hazrat Jafar Sadiq (may Allah have mercy on him), but history strongly refutes this claim because the 22nd of Rajab is neither the date of birth nor the date of death of Hazrat Jafar Sadiq. According to reliable historical accounts, your birth was either in 80 AH or 83 AH on the 8th of Ramadan, and your death was in Shawwal 148 AH, so the question is, on what basis was the 22nd of Rajab specified? And what is the Shariah or historical connection of this date with Hazrat Jafar Sadiq? No scholarly answer has been presented to this question to date....

Here, another very serious aspect comes to the fore, which is against scholarly honesty to ignore, and that is that the 22nd of Rajab is actually the date of death of Hazrat Amir Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), as is explicitly mentioned in reliable historical sources, especially in Tarikh Tabarani, Volume 5, page 323, under the mention of the death of Muawiyah, this date is mentioned. This is the point that has compelled scholars to consider the real purpose and aim of this custom...

According to researchers, the evidence indicates that this custom was initially created as an expression of joy at the death of Hazrat Amir Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), but since the Ahl-e-Sunnat wal Jamaat were dominant at that time, it was not possible to express this joy openly. Therefore, as a strategy, instead of openly distributing sweets as a share, arrangements were made to quietly go to each other's houses and eat there so that neither the secret would be revealed nor the purpose would be apparent. Then, when the talk of this practice increased, it was attributed to Hazrat Jafar Sadiq, and it was even said that, God forbid, the Imam himself had ordered his Fatiha on this date, although this is not only baseless but also completely against the dignity of a great Muhaddith and Faqih like Hazrat Jafar Sadiq.....

It should also be kept in mind that conveying reward, charity, and feeding people are good deeds in themselves, but a good deed turns into an innovation when it is made obligatory with a specific date, a specific month, a specific method, and a specific belief. Restriction in worship is the right of the Lawgiver alone. The servant does not have the authority to determine the form of worship on his own. This is why the senior scholars of Ahl-e-Sunnat have declared Rajab ke Konde, Niaz-e-Rajab, and all such specific customs as forbidden innovations....

The real danger is not in the food of this custom but in the mentality that bases religion on tradition instead of evidence, on stories instead of research, and on emotions instead of following. Rajab ke Konde is actually a symbol of that intellectual deviation in which we have handed over religion to public custom, whereas the beauty of religion is that it asks for questions, wants proof, and does not accept blind imitation....

Therefore, it is obligatory on the brothers of Ahl-e-Sunnat wal Jamaat to completely abstain from this custom. Neither should they perform it themselves, nor participate in it, nor promote it as a good deed or reward. Let there be love for Ahl-e-Bayt, but with truth, let there be devotion, but with knowledge, and let there be religion, but only in the form that Muhammad (peace be upon him) conveyed to us, because additions also harm religion as much as denial, and innovation, while appearing as worship, hollows out the spirit of religion in its essence......