Question:
What do the experts and scholars of shari’ah say regarding the night of mid-sha’ban? What is the ruling of calling this night Laylat al-Bara’ah?
Answer:
There is nothing wrong in referring to this night as Laylat al-Bara’ah, Al-Ghufran, or Al-Qadr. What is meant by these titles is that the night of mid-Sha’ban is the night when our provisions and sustenance is written, it is a night when countless people are showered with mercy and forgiven by Allah ﷻ.
Sayyidah ‘Aisha narrates that: “I woke up one night and did not find the Prophet ﷺ near me, so I went out to search for Himﷺ. I found Him ﷺ in Jannat al-Baqi with His ﷺ blessed head raised towards the Heavens. He ﷺ said “O ‘Aisha, did you fear that Allah and His Messenger would wrong you? I said: “No, that did not worry me, I thought you had gone to one of the other wives.” He ﷺ then said to me: “Allah’s (Mercy) descends to the nearest sky on the night of mid-Sha’ban and He forgives more people than the number of hair on the goats of the tribe of Banu Kalb. (Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah & Ahmad)
In another narration Sayyiduna Ali mentions that the Prophet ﷺ said, “When it is the night of mid-Sha’ban, stand for prayers in the night and fast during the day, indeed Allah ﷻ (His mercy) descends to the nearest sky and says, “Is there any person seeking forgiveness so that I may forgive him? Is there anyone seeking sustenance that I may give him sustenance? Is there anyone afflicted that I may cure and relieve him? Is there so and so, is there so and so?” This continues until dawn”. (Ibn Majah)
And Allah ﷻ knows the best.
This Fatwa is written by Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Munir Al-Azhari
