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Old 07-19-2011, 08:55 PM   #5
Xcqjwarl

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Here is a scholarly article that represents the opposite view

Question: Asalamualykum How do we commemorate the 15th night of Shabaan? Shukran

Answered by: Sheikh `Abd al-`Azīz al-Humaydī, professor at Umm al-Qurā University

Allah says: “Thy Lord does create and choose as He pleases” [Sūrah al-Qasus: 68]. Allah is the One Who gives preference to days, months or anything else. He gave preference to Fridays over other days and the month of Ramadan over all other months and the night of Qadr over all other nights. This preference and virtue does not exist according to someone’s wishes.

There is no authentic hadīth supporting the virtue middle of the month of Sha`bān. There are some hadīth talking about that night, but nothing of these is authentic. Al-Bayhaqī has collected all the hadīth related to that night in his book “Fadā’l al-Awqāt”. The collected hadīth were not authentic and varied in strength between weak to downright false.

The best graded hadīth among them was the one related by Mu`ādh b. Jabal. It reads: “Allah will look over His creatures in the night of middle Sha`bān then He forgives all His creatures except idolaters or people in dispute among themselves.” [Ibn Hibbān (7/470) and others].

This hadīth is not authentic in its line of transmission. It is related from `Abd al-Rahmān b. Thābit b. Thawbān through his father. `Abd al-Rahmān is not reliable. Imam Ahmad said about this hadīth: “It is rejected”. Ibn Ma`īn described this narrator alternatively as weak, feeble, and good on three separate occasions. However, when he described him as good, he was speaking about his personality and not about his strength as a narrator of hadīth. He still maintained that his narrations were weak.

Ibn Ma`īn said about this `Abd al-Rahmān : “He is weak.”

Mu`āwiyah said: “Can we write down his hadīth?”

Ibn Ma`īn said: “Yes, despite his weakness, he was a pious man.”

Sālih b. Muhammad said about him: “He is a truthful man from Syria.” Nevertheless, Sālih b. Muhammad still rejected many hadīth that `Abd al-Rahmān b. Thābit narrated from his father from Makhūl. This hadīth, about the middle of Sha`bān, is also narrated from his father from Makhūl. Therefore, this hadīth is weak.

As we said before, all the other hadīth regarding this issue are weaker than this one and some of them fabricated. Hence, there is no special distinction for this night over other nights.

Having acknowledged that, it is prohibited to hold any special forms of worship during this night. Everything intended specially for this night, as well as the habit of calling it “the night of Katb al-A`mār” is an innovation. There is no special prayer for this night, no special fast, and no special `Umrah.

Our Prophet (peace be upon him) warned us against all kinds of innovations. He said: “Whoever innovates in our religion something that is not part of it, then it will be rejected.” [Sahīh al-Bukhārī and Sahīh Muslim].

However, is someone prays, fasts , or engages in some other worship in that day and night without the intention of intending it for the sake of the middle of Sha` bān, then there is nothing wrong with that. It is simply voluntary worship.
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