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Subject: 'Shab-e-barat' [sha'ban]
Replies: 11 Views: 671
mohsin11 27.07.10 - 04:09pm
By Shaykh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah bin Baz - The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia
br]Praise be to Allah Who has perfected for us His religion and completed His favours upon us. May peace and blessings of Allah be upon His Prophet and Messenger, Muhammad(SAW), Prophet of repentance and mercy. [br
To proceed, Allah (SWT) says in the Qur'an, the meaning of which is:
This day, I have perfected for you your religion , completed my favours upon you and chosen for you Islam as your religion. (AI-Ma'idah 5:4)
What! Have they partners who have established for them some religion without the permission of Allah. (Ash-Shura 42:21)
A'isha (RA) reported Prophet(SAW) as saying Whoever innovates Anything in this religion of ours which is not of it, it is to be rejected. (Bukhari & Muslim)
In another narration the Prophet (SAW.) said ,
Whoever does an action which we have not commanded, it will be rejected. (Muslim)
Jaabir reported that the Prophet (SAW) used to say in Jumu'ah Khutbah,
To proceed with: The best speech is the book of Allah, the best guidance and example is that of the prophet (SAW) and the worst of all things are the innovations, and every innovation is deviation. (Muslim)
There are many Qur'anic verses and sayings of the Prophet (SAW) which clearly and categorically affirm that Allah (SWT) has perfected the Deen and completed His favours upon the Ummah and that Allah did not cause his Prophet (SAW) to die until lie had rigorously conveyed everything that Allah had transmitted to him concerning the religion be it in words or actions. Furthermore, the Prophet (SAW) made it clear that whatever people innovate after him whether in words or actions and then attribute to the religion of Islam, it must be rejected as Bid'ah (Innovation) even it the intentions are sincere.
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mohsin11 27.07.10 - 04:10pm
The companions of the Prophet and the scholars of Islam following them were well aware of this fact and subsequently condemned all types of innovations and warned people against them, as has been expounded in the works of those who wrote on the topics of Sunnah and Bid'ah, like lbn Waddah, AI Turtusi, Abi Shama and others.
Among the things which people innovated is the celebration of the night of 15th Sha'ban and the singling out of this particular day for fasting, although there is no proof in support of this. There are certain Hadiths regarding this matter all of which are so weak that they cannot be used as justification. Hadiths concerning the virtues of prayer on this night are Mawdu' (fabricated) as explained by scholars, some of whom we will quote later on Insha-Allah. Although there are certain traditions attributed to the predecessors and some Syrian scholars in support of this issue, the vast majority of scholars of the Ummah regards the celebrating of this night as a Bid'ah. They also agree that all the hadiths regarding this matter are Da'eef (weak), and some of them are fabricated. Among the scholars who draw attention to this point is AI-Hafiz lbn Rajab al-Hambali in his book Lata'if AI Ma'arif and in others. Weak hadiths may only he used to support those matters of Ibadah (worship), which are already based on authentic proofs. Hence any Da'eef hadith used to support this practice are irrelevant. This important principle regarding the use of Da'eef Hadiths has been elucidated by Shaykh ul-lslam lbn Taymiyyah (Rahimahullah).
There is a consensus among all the scholars of Islam that, whenever a dispute arises amongst the people, then it incumbent upon them to refer to the Holy Qur'an and the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW) and whatever the verdict is from either of these sources. That is the Shari'ah which must be followed, and whatever opposes them must be rejected. Anything considered as 'Ibadah, which has no mention in the Qur'an or the authentic Sunnah is a Bid'ah and therefore practising it, let alone preaching it's virtues, is forbidden. *
mohsin11 27.07.10 - 04:10pm
Oh you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the messenger and those charged with authority among you. If you differ in anything among yourselves refer it to Allah and his messenger, if you do believe in Allah and the Last Day; that is best and most suitable for final determination. (Surah An Nisa' 4:59)
Whatever it be wherein you differ, the decision thereof is with Allah (Surah AI-Shura 42:10)
Say: if you do love Allah, follow me; Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. (Surah Aali-'Imran 3:31)
But no, by thy Lord, they can never attain real faith until they make thee the judge in all disputes among them, and find in their souls no resistance against thy decisions, but accept them with the fullest conviction. (Surah An-Nisa' 4:65) *
mohsin11 27.07.10 - 04:10pm
Apart from this, there are many ayats (verse) in the Holy Qur'an which make it compulsory to refer all disputes to the Qur'an and the authentic hadiths. Then be satisfied with the verdict, which is actually Iman, and is beneficial to mankind in this world and far better regarding the ultimate outcome in the hereafter.
Hafiz ibn Rajab remarked in his book Lata'if Al-Ma'arif after his previously quoted statement, that, 'Some of the followers of the companions like Khalid bin Ma'dan and Makhul and Luqman bin 'Amir used to respect the 15th of Sha'ban by offering extra prayers at night. It is said that they were influenced by certain Judaic traditions. (All those who hold this night in esteem are in fact following this isolated tradition). Gradually this practice spread to many parts of the Muslim World and thus created confusion and differences of opinion among the people. Some accepted it, among whom were zealous worshippers from Basra, but most of the scholars of Hijaz rejected it and condemned it, like 'Ata and lbn Abi Mulaika, as did all the scholars of Madina as reported by, Abdur Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslani and the Maliki School of Fiqh (thought) and all Agreed as Bid'ah. However, the scholars of Syria (who supported this issue) differed in how the 15th of Sha'ban should be celebrated. The first group regarded the celebration of this night in the mosque collectively as Mustahab (recommended). Among them were Khalid bin Ma'dan, Luqman bin 'Amir and others, who would dress specially for the occasion and hasten to the masque wherein they would remain awake throughout the night. Ishaq bin Rahawayhi endorsed this practice and said that celebrating this night collectively in the mosque is not a Bid'ah (reported by Harb Al-Kirmani in his treatise on religious opinions).
However, another group regarded celebrating this night through prayer, story-telling and supplication collectively in the mosque as Makhruh (discouraged) and it was not Makhruh for a person to pray individually at home and this is the opinion of Awza'i, the Imam, Faqih and scholar of Syria, and this is the nearest to the truth.' He (Ibn Rajab) further stated that there was no report from Ahmad bin Hanbal regarding the 15th of Sha'ban, but there are those who tried to deduce from his opinions that there was a recommendation in celebrating this night. However, according to another view it was deduced that there was no recommendation, on the basis that Ahmad bin Hanbal stated that there was no evidence to support celebrating the nights of the two 'Eids. A further view reported that Ahmad bin Hanbal regarded the celebration of this night as Mustahab, because Abdur Rahman bin Zayd used to practise it and he is from among the Tabi'een (Second generation of Muslims). lbn Rajab continues that there is absolutely evidence from either the life of the Prophet (SAW) or any of his companions regarding 15th Sha'ban, but rather from the aforementioned Tabi'een and Syrian scholars. Here, Ibn Rajab is emphasising that celebrating 15th Sha'ban was completely unknown in the time of the Prophet (SAW) and his companions. Awzai's view that one can celebrate this night by offering prayers individually at home and lbn Rajab's supporting for this view is strange and weak, because no Muslim is allowed to innovate anything in the religion that is not established by the proofs from Shari'ah, whether the practice is done individually or collectively, openly or secretly, taking into consideration the comprehensive statement of the Prophet (SAW), 'Anyone who does an action which we have not commanded, it is to be rejected (Muslim), ... and other proofs regarding Bid'ah and warnings against it.
The Imam Abu Bakr AI-Turtusi has remarked in his book AI-Hawadith Wal Bid'ah that lbn Waddah has reported from Zaid bin Aslam as saying, None of our scholars (Fuqhaha) gave any consideration or attention to the 15th Sha'ban nor the hadith of Makhool, neither did they give this night precedence over other nights. lbn Mulaika bin Zayyad AI-Numayri was asked whether or not the reward of the night of 15th Sha'ban was equal to that of Lailat AI-Qadr. He replied that were anyone to utter this in front of him he would strike them with a stick. *
mohsin11 27.07.10 - 04:11pm
The great scholar Ash-Shawkani has stated in his book AI Fawa'id Al-Majmu'ah that, the hadith, '0 Ali, whoever prays one hundred rak'ah on the night of the 15th Sha'ban reciting Surah al-Fatihah and Surah al-lkhlas 11 times, certainly all his needs will be fulfilled', is fabricated as is self evident from its wording and the unlimited reward claimed. Furthermore all the transmitters are also unknown. In his, AI-Mukhtasar he stated, The hadith relating to the prayer in the night of 15th Sha'ban is Batil (false) and the hadith of lbn Hibban saying, '0 Ali, stay awake during the night of 5th Sha'ban and fast the following days' is Daeef. *
mohsin11 27.07.10 - 04:11pm
It is reported in the book of La'li that praying one hundred rak'ah on the 15th Sha'ban while reciting Surah al-Ikhlas ten times in each rak'ah is all but fabricated due to the fact that in all three narrations of this hadith the transmitters are either weak or unknown. In the hadith which states for one to read twelve rak'ah reciting Surah al-Ikhlas thirty times in each rak'ah is fabricated. Another hadith recommending fourteen is also fabricated. *
mohsin11 27.07.10 - 04:12pm
A good number of Fuqhaha have been deceived by these Hadiths like the author of Ihyaa Ulum ad-Deen (Imam AI-Ghazali) and others and some commentators on the Qur'an.
All the hadiths pertaining to prayers on this night are either false or fabricated regardless of their criteria. My last statement does not contradict At-Tirmidhi's hadith in which A'isha reports the Prophet (SAW) visiting Jannat al-Baqi (famous grave-yard of Madina) on the night of 15th Sha'ban in which Allah (SWT) descends to the lowest Heaven to forgive the sins, even if they were to exceed the number hairs on the sheep of the tribe of Kalb, as I was referring to specific prayers offered on the night of 15th Sha' ban. It is worth noting that this hadith, as well as being weak, also has a break in its chain of narrators.
AI-Hafiz AI-'Iraqi said the hadith concerning prayers on this night is falsely attributed to the Prophet (SAW) and It is a lie against him.
Imam An-Nawawi, in his book AI-Majmuah says:
The prayer known as Salat-ar-Raghaib which consists of twelve rak'ah offered between Maghrib and 'Isha on the first Jumu'ah of the month of Rajab, and the one hundred rak'ah offered on the 15th Sha'ban are the worst kind of Bid'ah.
One should not be deceived by the fact that these prayers have been mentioned in the book of Qut al-Quloob and lhyaa 'Ulum ad-Deen or the hadith quoted in there because they are false. Similarly, one should not be fooled by those Fuqhaha who fail to obtain a clear understanding of this issue and then proceed to write books recommending these prayers, no doubt they are at fault.
Imam Abu Muhammad Abdur-Rahman bin Isma'il AI-Maqdasi has written an extremely competent book on this topic refuting both the above mentioned books. Furthermore, the refutations of countless scholars on the same are too numerous to be quoted. However, I hope that what I have already quoted is sufficient for the sincere seeker of truth. It is manifestly obvious from Qur'an, hadith and the quotations of scholars that celebrating the 15th Sha'ban, offering special prayers or any specific 'Ibadah on this night and fasting the following day is the most contemptible type of Bid'ah innovated after the period of the companions. *
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