Laymen means a "Non-Expert" so his or her place isn't to question the evidence or research but ask a Scholar and follow. This is the command of Allah (SWT). [SO, ask the people (having the knowledge) of the Message, if you do not know.] (16:43)(21 :7) What he/she should be quoting is merely, "I follow Scholar A or Scholar B and thats about it" If he/she is able to get to the bottom of the issue then they are not laymen anymore. The real question is: Is the person really not a laymen i.e. they have sufficient knowledge? OR they are laymen but they think that they are not laymen? For me this issue is clear cut for any Hanafi. The two opinions are present of two great Jurists of our time, take whichever suits your heart and if you are able to do research and arrive at a conclusion, even better! In Summary: Shaykh (Mufti) Rasheed Ahmed Ludhyanwi (RA) says that the Ahadeeth on this subject are so weak that even a thousand of them cannot combine to elevate the status of this night. Shaykh Fazalur-Rahman Aazmi (HA) has written this to explain the nature of Ahadeeth on this subject: http://abumohammed.muftisays.com/shabebaraat.pdf If a laymen can directly understand and research this then he/she isn't a laymen! Most Salafees also simply quote Scholar A or Scholar B and are not capable of independent research.