Aqeeda of Ahlesunnat Wal Jamat, - 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 support its validity.
There is one night in the year when Allah (Soobha Nahu Wata'ala) gives
the knowledge to the Angels, about what is going to happen in the
following year, for example, who is going to die, who will be born,
who will be ill and how much food people 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 like Ikramah who is student of Abdullah bin Abbas (Radi
allahu unho) says that night is 15th of Shabaan. There is a Hadith
which Imam Tabari (Radi allahu unho) writes: Prophet [May Allah bless
Him and grant Him peace] said, 'From Shabaan to Shabaan 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 night of Shabaan is a holy night but there is no doubt that
Allah (Soobha Nahu Wata'ala) 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 Shabaan we can reach the conclusion that the yearly program
started on the 15th night 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 Allah 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 worlds.
To examine all of the above statements consult these books:
"Tafsir Tabari, Fathul Qadeer by Qadi Shawkani, Tafsir Qurtabi, Tafsir
Bagawi, Tafsir 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 and grant Him peace] stated; " when it is the 15th night of
Shabaan, do Qiyaam in the night, and fast in the morning, and ask for
forgiveness. Because on that night Allah calls: 'Is there anyone who
is asking for forgiveness so that I can forgive 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 grant 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 towards 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 30 Hadith in Ibn Majah are weak. [Tadhkaratul- Hufaadh by
Hafidhh Dha'ha'bi and Tareek 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 used to support the validity of 15th Shabaan
night.
Even Imam Tirmidhi's narration is weak but this does not belittle the
subject, when it concerns its merits and excellence - since weak
narrations are still acceptable. However, we would like to ask those
people who are so against the Mid Shabaan, 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
Shabaan 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 Ramadan 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 night of Shabaan is also permitted as well.
The Ahl-Sunnah say this is a permissible act, but it is not a Sunnah.
There is enough proof that if the majority of the Muslims consider it
to be good then it is sufficient. As the Prophet [May Allah bless Him
and grant Him peace] stated: The 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) on 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 actions.
[Fatawa Ahl-e-Hadith by Hafidhh Rawpari and Fatawa Thanaa'iya by
Thana'ullah Amritsari, chapter on fasting]
Hafidhh Ibn Tayymiya writes:
The excellency regarding the 15th of Shabaan is an area of dispute
between the Scholars, 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 agree 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 was not revealed on this night so that is why there is no
significance of this night It is true that the Holy Qur'an was
revealed in Ramadan, but the significance is because the Ahadeeth that
tells us bout the reward one will get if he/She worshipped 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)