Question:
Here in Bangladesh, people
always celebrate the 15th night of the month of Shaban, which they call “the
Night of Shabe-e-Barat”. What do you think of such a practice?
Answer:
The Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) is reported to have said: “Truly, there are nafahat
(blessed seasons or days) in which your Lord vouchsafes plentiful mercy. So,
make sure that you make the best use of such seasons!” (At-Tabarani)
A true believer should purify
himself from the fleshly inclinations and the earthly desires and make his
aspirations so high and beseech Allah for mercy in such blessed seasons which
witness the abundant mercy of Allah.
One point here to be stressed
is that a true Muslim should consider his whole life a long-term season of
obedience so as to show gratitude to the everlasting blessing of Allah.
The month of Shaban is the
eighth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. The fifteenth night of this month
is known as laylatul-bara’ah (the Night of Innocence) or laylat un-nisf min
Shaban (the Middle Night of Shaban) in the Arab world.
In India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Iran, Afghanistan, etc., it is known as shab-e-barat.
Some people believe that in
Surat Ad-Dukhan (44:3-4) there is a reference to this night as Allah says, “We
sent it (the Qur’an) down during a blessed night. We are truly Warners. In that
night is made distinct every affair of wisdom.“
But the night referred to here
cannot be a Shaban night because it is said here clearly that the Qur’an was
revealed in this night.
We know from the Surat Al-Qadr
(97) that the Qur’an was revealed in the Night of Qadr and we also know from
the Qur’an (Al-Baqarah 2:185) that the Qur’an was revealed in the month of
Ramadan.
So it is obvious that the night
of the revelation of the Qur’an was in Ramadan, not Shaban, and that it was
laylat ul-qadr (the Night of Power) not
shab-e-barat.
Some people also say that in
the 2nd year of Hijrah, the direction of the Qiblah was changed from Jerusalem
to the Kabah in Makkah on the 15th day of Shaban. This report is also not
confirmed by authentic hadiths.
According to most of the Qur’an
commentators, the Qur’an has not mentioned anything about the Shaban night.
There are some hadiths that
speak about the Middle of Shaban and its night. However, the scholars of hadith
say that most of the hadiths concerning this night are not authentic. They are
weak (da`if) according to the criteria of the narrators and scholars of Hadith.
These are the things that we
learn from some hadiths about the significance of this night. However, there
are many practices and customs common in some Muslim countries, such as making
a sweet dish, setting off fireworks, etc. These things have no meaning and no
reference in hadiths. There are also some superstitious beliefs about this
night.
For example, some people
believe that the spirits of the deceased visit their relatives during this
night. Some believe that there is a special tree in Heaven upon whose leaves
are the names of all human beings, and whatever leaves drop during this night,
those people are destined to die in this year.
Some think that the decisions
about the life and death of people are made during this night. All these
beliefs and superstitions do not belong to the authentic teachings of the
Qur’an and Sunnah.
We must try to follow the
Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah of the blessed Prophet (peace and blessings be
upon him). It is our duty as Muslims to take advantage of all good occasions to
revive our faith, to purify our souls, and to increase our love and devotion to
Allah (glory be to Him), but we must follow the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace
and blessings be upon him). We must not do anything in our celebrations that is
against his teachings.
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