A Night of excellence in the Month of Shaban
As most of you must be aware the month of Shaban has arrived, it is the month which the Prophet [Peace be upon him] fasted most other than the month of Ramadan, and this is established from many authentic hadiths, among them is the following Hadith;
The Mother of the Believers Aisha [May Allah be pleased with her] said: “The Messenger of Allah [Peace be upon him] used to fast until we thought he would never break his fast, and not fast until we thought he would never fast. I never saw the Messenger of Allah [Peace be upon him fasting for an entire month except in Ramadan, and I never saw him fast more than he did in Shaban. [1]
There are many articles written on the virtues of Shaban, the focus on this article is the mid night of this month, which as we will see is regarded as vitreous by the scholars in light of the Sunnah.
Concerning the night of mid-Shaban Ibn Taymiyya wrote:
[Some] said there is no difference between this and other nights of the year. However, the opinion of many of the people of learning and that of the majority of our [Hanbali] colleagues and other than them is that it is a night of superior merit, and this is what is indicated by the words of Ahmad [ibn Hanbal], in view of the many hadiths transmitted about it and in light of what confirms this in the words and deeds transmitted from the early generations (al-athar al-salafiyya). Some of its merits have been transmitted in the books of Hadith of the types Musnad and Sunnan. This holds true even if other things have been forged concerning it. [2]
Similarly al-Suyyuti said:
“As for the night of mid-Sha’ban it has great merit and it is desirable (mustahab) to spend part of it in [supererogatory] worship.” [3]
This night is also regarded highly by the Scholars of the Deoband;
Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi writes “Its significance is this that 15th night and 15th day of this month are very blessed ones. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), urged Muslims to stay up during the night and fast during the day. At this night the prophet used to go to the graveyard of Madinah and prayed for the dead. Therefore, it is desirable that the Muslims should pray during that night and fast during the following day. They should also seek the forgiveness of their dead either by reciting the Qur’an or by feeding the hungry or by giving the money in charity or by just praying for them.” [4]
Mufti Taqi Uthmani writes: “Another significant feature of the month of Sha'ban is that it consists of a night which is termed in Shariah as "Laylatul-bara'ah" (The night of freedom from Fire). This is the night occurring between 14th and 15th day of Sha'ban. There are certain traditions of Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, to prove that it is a meritorious night in which the people of the earth are attended by special Divine mercy.” [5]
These positions are based on the following evidences:
Mu'adh ibn Jabal [May Allah be pleased with him] reports that Prophet [Peace be upon him] said: “Allah looks at his creation on the night of mid-Shaban and He forgives all his creation except for the idolater and the one bent on hatred.” [6]
The Mother of the Believers Aisha [May Allah be pleased with her] reports I missed the Prophet one night so I went out to al-Baqi` (and found him). He said: "Were you afraid that Allah would wrong you and that His Prophet would wrong you?" I said: "O Messenger of Allah, I thought that you might have gone to visit one of your wives." He said: "Allah Glorious and Exalted descends to the nearest heaven on the night of mid-Shaban and He forgives to more people than the number of hairs on the hides of the sheep of the tribes of Kalb [7]
Abd Allah ibn `Amr [May Allah be pleased with him] reports that Prophet [Peace be upon him] said “Allah looks upon His creatures on the night of mid-Shaban and He forgives all His servants except two: one intent on hatred, and the homicide.” [8]
The Mother of the Believers Aisha [May Allah be pleased with her] reports, "The Prophet stood up in prayer during part of the night and made his prostration so lengthy that I thought his soul had been taken back. When I saw this I got up and went to move his big toe, whereupon he moved, so I drew back. When he raised his head from prostration and finished praying, he said: "O `A'isha, O fair little one (humayra')! Did you think that the Prophet had broken his agreement with you?" She replied: "No, by Allah, O Messenger of Allah, but I thought that your soul had been taken back because your stayed in prostration for so long." He said: "Do you know what night this is?" She said: "Allah and His Prophet know best." He said: "This is the night of mid-Sha`ban! Verily Allah the Glorious and Majestic look at His servants on the night of mid-Sha`ban, and He forgives those who ask forgiveness, and He bestows mercy on those who ask mercy, and He gives a delay to the people of envy and spite in their state." [9]
Ali ibn Abi Talib [May Allah be pleased with him] reports that the Prophet [Peace be upon him] is reported to have said: “The night of mid-Shaban, let all of you spend in prayer and its day in fasting, for Allah descends to the nearest heaven during that night beginning with sunset and says: ‘Is there no one asking sustenance that I may forgive them? Is there no one asking sustenance that I may grant them sustenance? Is there no one under duress that I may relieve them? Is there not such-and-such, is there not such-and-such, a so forth until dawn rises’”[10]
Although this narration is weak, when other factors are taken into consideration, the validity of fasting on 15th Shaban becomes established although it should not be deemed as a Sunnah, rather it is somewhat desirable. [Read footnote 10]
Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Gilani recommended the following modality in his Ghunya:
“As for the ritual prayer traditional for the night of mid-Shaban, it consists of one hundred cycles, including one thousand repetitions of Qul Huwa Allahu Ahad (that is to say, ten recitations in each rak’a). This prayer is called Salat al-Khayr, and its blessings are many and varied. Our righteous predecessors used to gather to perform it in congregation. It contains much merit and rich reward. It is reported of al-Hasan [al=Basri], may Allah be well-pleased with him, that he said: ‘Thirty of the companions of the Messenger of Allah [Peace be upon him] related to me that Allah will look seventy times upon one who performs this prayer on this night, and with each glance He will fulfill seventy of that persons needs, the last of them being forgiveness.’” [11]
Shaikh Gibril Haddad writes:
“Also among those who wrote on the immense merits of the night of mid-Shaban are al-Haythami, Abd al-Ra’uf al-Munawi, Mulla Ali al-Qari, al-Sunhuri al-Maliki, Nur al-Din al-Bayruti, al-Kawthari, al-Ghumari, and Muhammad Hasnayn Makhluf” [12]
May Allah grant us the ability to benefit from this Month and reap the benefits of the night of mid-Shaban.
[1] Narrated by al-Bukhârî, no. 1833; Muslim, no. 1956
[2] Ibn Taymiyya Iqtida al-Sirat al-Mustaqim (1369/1950 ed. P 302) translation by Shaikh Gibril Haddad in his Sunnah Notes (Vol 1, p. 208)
[3] Al-Suyyuti, Haqiqat al-Sunna wal-Bida wa al-Amr bil-itiba wal-Nahi an al-Ibtida (1405/1985
ed. P. 85) translation by Shaikh Gibril Haddad in his Sunnah Notes (Vol 1, p. 208)
[4] Ashraf Ali Thanvi in his Bahishti Zewar (Heavenly Ornaments), part 6, pp 61-62
[5] Mufti Taqi Uthmani in his article entitles Sha'ban: Merits, Do's, and Dont's
[6] Narrated by Ibn Hibban (12:481) with a sound chain according to al-Arna’ut and al-Haythami
who said that Tabarani also narrated it in his Kabir and Awsat with chains containing only trustworthy narrators, that is: sound (sahih) chains; Ibn Khuzayma included it in his Sahih, which has the same level of acceptance among the experts as Sahih Muslim; and even Albani included it in his Silsila sahiha.
[7] Narrated from Aisha by Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and al-Tirmidhi who said that he heard al-Bukhari grading this Hadith as weak because some of the sub-narrators did not narrate directly from each other.
[8] Narrated from Abd Allah ibn Amr by al-Tirmidhi, Ahmad and al Bazzar with a chain he graded fair (hasan) through the great Tabi’I jurist al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn bi Bakr al-Siddiq.
[9] Narrated from Aisha by al-Bayhaqi in Shu’ab al Iman (3:382) where he comments: “This hadith is missing the Companion in its chain, and is a good Hadith (hadha mursal jayyid). It is probable that al-Ala’ibn al-Harith took it from Makhul and Allah knows best.”
[10] Narrated from Ali by Ahmed and Ibn Majah with a chain containing Ibn Abi Sabra, Mufti Taqi Uthmani says regarding the authenticity of this hadith This Hadith is recorded by Ibn Majah in his Sunan, one of the famous six books of Hadith, and also by Baihaqi in his famous book Shu'ab-al-'iman'. Both of them have reported it without any comment about its authenticity. But after a critical analysis of its chain of narrators it is found that this tradition is mainly based on the report of Abu Bakr Ibn Abi Saburah whose narrations cannot be relied upon. That is why the scholars of Hadith have declared it as a weak (da'if) tradition. However, the allegation that the narrator of this Hadith i.e. Abu Bakr ibn Abi Saburah, is a fabricator who used to coin forged traditions does not seem correct. In fact, he was mufti of Madinah, a well-known jurist and he was appointed as a qadi (Judge) of Iraq in the days of Mansur and was succeeded in this office by Imam Abu Yousuf. He was a colleague of Imam Malik.
Once Mansur, the Abbasi Caliph, asked Imam Malik referred to three names, and one of them was that of Ibn Abi Saburah. Had he been a fabricator, Imam Malik would have never referred to his name in this context. But despite his high position among the jurists, his memory was not of the standard required for the uthenticity of a tradition. That is why most of the critics of Hadith like Imam Bukhari etc. Have held him as weak, but did not declare him a fabricator. Only Imam Ahmed is reported to have remarked about him that he fabricates Hadith. But this remark alone is not sufficient to hold him as a fabricator, for two reasons: Firstly Imam Ahmed was born long after him, and his contemporary scholars never held him as such, secondly the Arabic words used by Imam Ahmed are some times used for confusing one tradition with another, and not for deliberate fabrication.
This is the reason why the majority of the scholars of Hadith have held Abu Bakr ibn Abi Saburah as a weak reporter of Hadith, but they did not declare him as a forger or fabricator. Now, coming to his tradition about the fast of the 15th Ramadan it is held by the scholars to be weak but i have not come across an authentic scholar who has treated it as a fabricated (Mawdu) Hadith. There are a number of books indicating the fabricated Ahadith, but this tradition is not included in these books as fabricated.
It is well-known that Ibn Majah consists of about twenty Ahadith held to be fabricated. The list of these fabricated AHadith is available, but the tradition in question is not included therein.
Therefore, the correct position is that this Hadith is not fabricated. However, being reported by a weak narrator, it cannot be relied upon in the matter of the injunctions of Shariah. Thus, the fast of the 15th of Shabaan cannot be termed as Sunnah or Mustahab in the strict sense of the term. Nevertheless, it may be advisable to fast in the 15th of Shabaan without taking it as Sunnah for several reasons:
Firstly it is fully established through a large number of Ahadith that the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) has emphasized on the merits of fasting in Shabaan, and particularly in the first half of the month. The 15th day of Shabaan, being the last day of the first half, is included in the preferable days for fasting.
Secondly, the merits of the 15th night of Shabaan is established by more than a dozen Ahadith. It means that this night should be spent in prayers and other forms of worship. On the other hand, all the blessed nights which the Muslims are advised to spend in worship are generally followed by fasting on the coming day like in the Laylatul-Qadr, where fasting on the following day is obligatory, or like the first night Zilhijjah where fasting on the following days is optional, rather advisable. on this analogy, too, the 15th night of Shabaan may be followed by an optional fasting on the following day.
Thirdly, the tradition relating to the merits of fasting on 15th of Shabaan is, no doubt, a weak tradition, not competent to prove this practice to be a Sunnah or a formal Mustahabb, but it can be acted upon as a measure of precaution, provided that the practice is not taken as Sunnah or a formal Mustahabb. It is for these reasons that some Ulama and elders have been fasting on the 15th of Shabaan and have been taking it an advisable practice.
[11] Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Gilani, Ghunya cited in Shaikh Gibril Haddads Sunnah Notes Volume 1 (p. 210)