The Shariah Status of Shab-e-Barat and the Practice of the Muslim Ummah
Attitude
✍🏻By Muhammad Aadil Arariawi
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Respected Readers, Allah Almighty has bestowed upon us some such nights through His mercy in which a servant can especially turn towards his Lord. The fifteenth night of Sha'ban is also one such great night, but alas, people either deny its virtue or exceed the limits in it.
The entire month of Sha'ban is blessed and virtuous, and the fifteenth night of Sha'ban is especially a very virtuous night. In common parlance, the fifteenth night of Sha'ban is now called Shab-e-Barat. 'Shab' in Persian means night, and 'Barat' is an Arabic word which means acquittal and salvation. Since countless people are saved from Hell on this night through the grace of Allah, this night is called Shab-e-Barat. This fifteenth night of Sha'ban begins after sunset on the fourteenth date because, according to the general rule in lunar dates, the night comes first and the day later, i.e., the date of the night is counted according to the next day and is subject to it. Nowadays, because there is a lot of extremism and negligence regarding this night and its related rulings, one group is those who do not believe in the virtue of this night at all, and their claim is that all the hadiths and narrations that have come about the virtue of Shab-e-Barat are either fabricated or severely weak, although this claim is not correct. The second group is those who consider Shab-e-Barat to be everything. According to them, the importance of the fifteenth night of Sha'ban (i.e., Shab-e-Barat) is even greater than Laylat al-Qadr, and they have considered only staying awake and worshiping on the fifteenth night of Sha'ban as a means of success and salvation in this world and the hereafter, and they have ignored the other necessary level of Shariah rulings, as a result of which there is no concern for halal and haram in other Shariah rulings, nor is there any attention to obligations and duties, nor is there any concern for the rights of Allah, nor the rights of people.
Many virtues of this blessed night have been mentioned in the hadiths, and the predecessors of the Ummah have also been acknowledging its virtue. It is called Shab-e-Barat because on this night countless people attain salvation from Hell through the mercy of Allah Almighty. People are victims of extremism and negligence regarding Shab-e-Barat, while some people believe in the virtue, but in obtaining this virtue, they commit countless innovations, customs, and self-made things, and in the name of worship, they perform such evils that it is a matter of seeking refuge. The moderate view about this is that the virtue of this night of Sha'ban is proven, but its status is not of obligation but merely of recommendation. It is not correct to deny its virtue altogether, nor is it correct to give the acts of worship performed in it the status of obligations.
It is narrated from Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: When it is the fifteenth night of Sha'ban, then stand up in prayer that night and fast that day, because Allah Almighty announces from the time of sunset to the sky of the world: Is there anyone seeking forgiveness that I may forgive him? Is there anyone seeking sustenance that I may grant him sustenance? Is there anyone afflicted with calamity that I may remove his calamity? Is there anyone like that? Until the time of dawn comes (Sunan Ibn Majah). On this night, offer the Isha and Fajr prayers on time with congregation, offer Nafl prayers according to your ability and grace, especially offer Tahajjud prayers, offer Salat al-Tasbih individually, recite the Holy Quran, remember Allah abundantly, make a lot of supplications to Allah Almighty, ask for the good of this world and the hereafter, especially seek forgiveness for your sins. On this night, go to the graveyard and pray for forgiveness for yourself and the deceased.
There is no specific method of worship or any specific type of worship prescribed by the Shariah on the fifteenth night of Sha'ban. Some people consider a specific type of worship on this night to be specific to this night, for example, some people have considered offering Nafl prayers in a specific number and in a specific manner to be intended or necessary, and some people offer Nafl prayers in congregation on this night. All these things are wrong, and offering Nafl prayers in congregation is forbidden anyway. Similarly, an important thing about worship on this night is that worship should be done in solitude with sincerity as much as one has the ability because the worship of this night is not of a collective nature like obligatory prayers but is individual and solitary.
O Allah Almighty, send down Your special mercy upon us, forgive our minor and major sins, reform our outward and inward, grant us salvation from Hell and grant us Jannat al-Firdous, forgive our parents, teachers, and all the deceased
And grant us the ability to do deeds that please You. Amen, O Lord of the Worlds.