Dr Zakir Naik: There is a Hadith which is mentioned in Sahih Bukhari Vol. no. 3 Book of Fasting Hadith no. 1969,
The wife of the Prophet Hazrat Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her, she says that the Prophet, he never fasted any month completely except the month of Ramadhaan. And in no month did he fast as many days as he fasted in the month of Shabaan.
So from this Hadith we come to know that Prophet Muhammad (saws) in order to welcome the month of Ramadhaan he used to start, he used to prepare himself and fast more in the previous month that is the month of Shabaan. That was his way how he used to prepare for the month of Ramadhaan.
And further if you read, it's a Sahih Hadith in Tirmidhi ch. no. 50 Hadith no. 3451 which says that
Talha, may Allah be pleased with him, he said on the authority of his father that his father i.e. his grandfather, he said whenever the Prophet saw the new moon he used to always pray to Allah (swt) and say "O Allah bless us in this month" and he used to mention the name of that month and then say that "Please keep us steadfast in faith in this month"
This was his way, the Prophet always used to pray to Allah (swt) whenever he saw a new moon. It wasn't specifically only for the new moon for the month of Ramadhaan but it was for all new moons whenever he used to see it. And his special way of welcoming the month of Ramadhaan was that he used to mention about the coming of this blessed month to the people.
And its mentioned in Musnad Ahmad Vol. no. 2 page no. 230 Hadith no. 7148 where Prophet Muhammad (saws), he used to tell the people that
"O people this blessed month is approaching you and Allah (swt) has ordained for you that you fast in this month and the gates of heaven will be opened in this month and the gates of hell will be closed and the devils will be chained. And in this month there is a night which is better than a thousand months. And if any one is deprived of Allah (swt)'s blessing in this month he is truly a deprived person."
So here we come to know that this is how Prophet Muhammad (saws) used to welcome this month and used to tell the good news of the blessed month to come to all the people.
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