The Excellency of the 15th Night of Shabaan Many Muslims in various countries pray on the 15th night of Shabaan,

and ask for forgiveness of their sins and on the following day proceed to fast. To do this is in no way against the Qur an nor the Sunnah. There are many narrations that sup port its validity. There is one night in the year when Allah (Soobha Nahu Wata ala) gives the knowled ge to the Angels, about what is going to happen in the following year, for examp le, who is going to die, who will be born, who will be ill and how much food peo ple will have in the year, etc. The Majority of the scholars of Islam say: That night is Laila-tul-Qadar in the month of Ramadan but the other scholars lik e Ikramah who is student of Abdullah bin Abbas (Radi allahu unho) says that nigh t is 15th of Shabaan. There is a Hadith which Imam Tabari (Radi allahu unho) wri tes: Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] said, From Shabaan to Shab aan there is a decision made of who is going to die, be married and some people get married but their names are written in the death program. [Tafsir Tabari, under Surah Dukhan, verse 1 by Imam Tabari] This narration is Ikrama s, the other scholar s statements are proven that 15th nigh t of Shabaan is a holy night but there is no doubt that Allah (Soobha Nahu Wata al a) gives the full knowledge to the Angels in the night of Laila-tul-Qadar, which is in the month of Ramadan. If we read all the narration's regarding Laila-tul-Qadar and the 15th night of S habaan we can reach the conclusion that the yearly program started on the 15th n ight of Shabaan and completed on Laila-tul-Qadar. There might be a suspicion as to why does a year program take so long from Shabaan to Ramadan? The answer is Al lah knows the best. No one can understand for sure the philosophy of Allah s work. He made the worlds in six days. Who knows why He took six days to make the worl ds. To examine all of the above statements consult these books: Tafsir Tabari, Fathul Qadeer by Qadi Shawkani, Tafsir Qurtabi, Tafsir Bagawi, Taf sir Mazhari, Tafsir Ma ah riyful Qur an, Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Zia-ul-Qur an under the verse of Surah Al- Dokhan verse 1 to 5 There are some other narrations that inform us about the Excellency of the 15th night of Shabaan. Imam Ibn Majah states: It is narrated by Ali (Radi allahu unho) that the Prophet [May Allah bless Him a nd grant Him peace] stated; when it is the 15th night of Shabaan, do Qiyaam in t he night, and fast in the morning, and ask for forgiveness. Because on that nigh t Allah calls: Is there anyone who is asking for forgiveness so that I can forgiv e them, who is in distress that I may relieve his distress, is there anyone who needs (rizq) food that I may give it to him. And this continues till the morning. [Ibn Majah chapter Salaah] Imam Tirmidhi writes: Aisha Radi Allahu unha said: On this night the Prophet [May Allah bless Him and g rant Him peace] went to Jannat-ul-Baqee to make du a, I followed him. The Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] said to me: Allah puts His attention t owards the first Heaven, and forgives the sins of the people, even if they were equivalent to the hairs of the goats of Bunn Qalb. (A tribe who at the time had a lot of goats)

[ Tirmidhi , Kitab-us-Siyaam] Imam Bukhari has objected upon one narrator but this is compensated by the fact that Ibn Maja has narrated it with different narrations (chains). Allama Dhahabi, and Hafidhh Ibn Kathir quoted from Hafidhh Abu Zurah that only 3 0 Hadith in Ibn Majah are weak. [Tadhkaratul- Hufaadh by Hafidhh Dha'ha'bi and T areek Ibn Kathir biography Ibn Majah Some other people have stated that more than 30 Hadith are da eef, (weak) but the narrations we have are not amongst those 30, that is why these Hadith can be use d to support the validity of 15th Shabaan night. Even Imam Tirmidhi s narration is weak but this does not belittle the subject, whe n it concerns its merits and excellence - since weak narrations are still accept able. However, we would like to ask those people who are so against the Mid Shab aan, wether they have even a weak hadith to disprove the prayers on the 15th of Shabaan? In reality they have no narration against the 15th night of Shabaan. If there are any they should prove it. Those who are against the 15th night of Sha baan usually say Why do you celebrate the 15th night of Shabaan? The answer is why do all of the Saudi Arabian scholars celebrate Laila-tul-Qadar on the 27th of R amadan in Haramain (Makkah and Madinah). Did the Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] and his companions' celebrate the Laila-tul-Qadar on the 27th of Ramadan? The answer is no, they did not. So if this is permitted the 15th nigh t of Shabaan is also permitted as well. The Ahl-Sunnah say this is a permissible act, but it is not a Sunnah. There is e nough proof that if the majority of the Muslims consider it to be good then it i s sufficient. As the Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] stated: T he thing that group of a Muslims says is good, it is accepted to Allah. [ Mishkat chapter Ihtisaam ] Two great followers of Ibn Taymiyah and Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab Al Najdi, are Hafidhh Abdullah Rawpari and Thanaa ullah Amritsari, both state that to worship on the 15th night of Shabaan is not Bid ah and the person who does Ibada (Worship) o n this night will obtain reward for it. The narrations concerning this night are weak but this does not matter since weak Ahadith are acceptable for virtuous ac tions. [Fatawa Ahl-e-Hadith by Hafidhh Rawpari and Fatawa Thanaa iya by Thana ullah Amritsa ri, chapter on fasting] Hafidhh Ibn Tayymiya writes: The excellency regarding the 15th of Shabaan is an area of dispute between the S cholars, some of them say that there is no significance of this night, but Imam Ahmed recognises the excellency of this night, our other Hanbli Scholars also ag ree with Imam Ahmed. There are Ahadith on this night being significant, some of them are from Sunnan (Tirmizy, Ibn Majah) and the other Ahdeeth books as well [Iqtidah Siratul Mustaqeem page 203 by Hafidhh Ibn Taymiyah] The people who reject the significance of this night argue that the holy Qur an wa s not revealed on this night so that is why there is no significance of this nig ht It is true that the Holy Qur an was revealed in Ramadan, but the significance i s because the Ahadeeth that tells us bout the reward one will get if he/She wors hipped on15th night of Shabaan. We pray to Allah if everything stated is correct eccept it, but if there is any mistake may Allah forgive us. (Amin)