Question:
What do the scholars and experts of shari’ah say in regards to spending the nights of Eid in worship?
Answer:
To spend the nights of Eid awake worshipping Allah ﷻ, praying extra nawafil, performing dhikr, reciting the Holy Qur’an, reciting takbir and tasbih of Allah ﷻ, seeking forgiveness from Allah ﷻ, and sending salawat and durud upon the best of creation ﷺ are all mustahab actions.
Abu Umamah narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever spends the nights of Eid in voluntary prayers for the sake of Allah ﷻ, his heart will not die on the day when hearts die.” (Ibn Majah) The scholars have mentioned several causes for a heart to be ‘dead’. These include:
- A heart which is overcome with the love of this world
- A heart in which there is kufr (disbelief).
- A heart which will be drowned in fear on the day of judgement
The expert Hanafi jurist, Ibn Nujaym, has mentioned in his work Al-Bahr al-Ra’iq, that “…spending the last ten nights of Ramadan, the nights of Eid, the ten nights of Dhul Hijjah, and the night of mid-Sha’ban awake and in worship of Allah ﷻ are from the mandub (recommended) actions.”
The reward of spending the entire night in worship can be achieved by spending a portion of night in worship as well. This is similar to spending the night in Mina, according to one opinion if one is in Mina for a even moment then this will fulfil the criteria of spending the night in Mina. Ibn Abbas has narrated that reading Isha in congregation and Fajr in congregation gives added of regards of spending the entire night in worship.
And Allah ﷻ knows best
This fatwa is written by Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Munir Al-Azhari
