15th of Sha'baan (Laylatul Bara'ah)

15th Sha'baan is taken as a very special day for many. This day has been claimed to be special because Allah forgives all His slaves tonight. All we have to do is make a special prayer during Isha, of six rakah's and then two rakahs, and read Surah Yusuf in the middle - BIDDAH BIDDAH BIDDAH!!! Why does Allah need a specific day to forgive His slaves? Or a specific prayer that hasn't been mentioned in the Quraan or Ahadith even once. He is All Merciful, All Forgiving! Whenever we sincerely repent to Our Lord, no matter day or night, Allah will accept their repentance insha'Allah. This is the beauty of Our Lord.

Please read the following and pass this message to all the Muslimeen:

There is no saheeh hadeeth concerning the virtue of the night of the fifteenth of Sha’baan.

It was narrated from Abu Moosa al-Ash’ari that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: “Allah looks down on the night of the fifteenth of Sha’baan and forgives all his creation except a mushrik or one who harbours hatred against the Muslims.” Narrated by Ibn Maajah, 1390.

The “one who harbours hatred against the Muslims” means one who has enmity towards a Muslim brother.

In al-Zawaa’id it says: Its isnaad is da’eef, because ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Lahee’ah is da’eef (weak) and al-Waleed ibn Muslim is mudallis.

There is also some idtiraab (weakness) in the hadeeth, as stated by al-Daaraqutni in al-‘Ilal, 6/50, 51. He said: This hadeeth is not proven.

It was narrated from Mu’aadh ibn Jabal, ‘Aa’ishah, Abu Hurayrah, Abu Tha’labah al-Khushani and others, but the isnaads are not free of some weakness, and some of them are very weak.

Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali said:
Concerning the virtue of the night of the fifteenth of Sha’baan there are numerous ahaadeeth, concerning which the scholars differed, but most of them classed them as da’eef... Lataa’if al-Ma’aazif, 261.

Allah’s descending to the first heaven does not only happen on the night of the fifteenth of Sha’baan, rather it is proven in al-Saheehayn (Bukhari, Muslim, etc) and elsewhere that Allah descends to the first heaven every night, in the last third of the night. The night of the fifteenth of Sha’baan is included in this general meaning.

Hence, when ‘Abd-Allaah ibn al-Mubaarak was asked about the descent of Allaah on the night of the fifteenth of Sha’baan, he said to the one who asked him: “O weak one! The night of the fifteenth?! He descends every night!”
Narrated by Abu ‘Uthmaan al-Saabooni in I’tiqaad Ahl al-Sunnah, no. 92.

Al-‘Aqeeli said: With regard to Allah’s descending on the night of the fifteenth of Sha’baan there are ahaadeeth which are weak, but the reports that He descends every night are proven and saheeh, so the night of the fifteenth of Sha’baan is included in that, in sha Allaah.
Al-Du’afa’, 3/29.

If a person wants to pray qiyaam on this night as he does on other nights – without doing anything extra or singling this night out for anything – then that is OK. The same applies if he fasts the day of the fifteenth of Sha’baan because it happens to be one of the ayyaam al-beed, along with the fourteenth and thirteenth of the month, or because it happens to be a Monday or Thursday. If the fifteenth (of Sha’baan) coincides with a Monday or Thursday, there is nothing wrong with that (fasting on that day), so long as he is not seeking extra reward that has not been proven (in the saheeh texts).

And Allah knows best.