Is the Hadith of Virtues of 15th Sha‘ban Weak?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
Is the hadith of the virtues of the 15th Sha‘ban authentic or weak? There are Hanafi scholars who say the virtue of the 15th of Shaban is a weak hadith, and fasting on the 15th of Sha‘ban is also very weak.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health.
Sha‘ban is a month in which we have been specifically encouraged to observe additional voluntary (nafl) fasts. Hafiz Ibn Rajab (Allah be pleased with him) says: “Since Sha‘ban is a prelude to Ramadan, the recital of the Quran and the observance of fasts in Sha‘ban have been encouraged, just like we do in Ramadan.”
Virtues of 15th of Sha‘ban
‘Aisha narrates: “One night, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was staying in my house, I did not find him at home. I left my house in search of him and found him (the Prophet) at Jannat al-Baqi. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) stated: ‘‘Aisha, did you feel that Allah and His Prophet would wrong you?’ I (Aisha) then said: ‘O! Messenger of Allah, I thought that you had gone to another of your wives.’ He said: ‘Allah turns His special attention towards the first Heaven on this night and forgives the number of His servants as much as are the hairs on the sheep of Bani Kalb.’” [Tirmidhi]
Kalb was a big tribe, the members of which had a very large number of sheep. Therefore, the last sentence of the hadith indicates the large number of people forgiven on this night by Allah Most High.
Mu‘adh Ibn Jabal reported: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ‘Allah looks down at His creation on the middle night of Sha‘ban, and He forgive all of his creatures, except for an idolater or one harboring hatred.’” [Ibn Hibban]
Abu Tha‘laba reported: “The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ‘Allah looks down upon His servants in the middle night of Sha‘ban. He forgives the believers, He gives respite to the unbelievers, and He abandons the people of malice to their malice until they leave it.’” [Tabarani, Mu‘jam al-Kabir]
Abu Musa reported: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ‘Verily, Allah looks down on the night of the middle of Sha’ban and forgives all of his creation, except for the idolaters and those who hold grudges.’” [Ibn Majah]
Fasting on the 15th of Sha‘ban
Fasting in the month of Sha‘ban is sunna. Apart from the month of Ramaḍan, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) would fast most in this month except for the last two days of it.
‘Aisha (Allah be pleased with her) reported, “The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) would fast until we said he will never break his fast, and he did not fast until we said he would never fast. I did not see the Prophet complete an entire month of fasting except for Ramadan, and I did not see him complete more voluntary fasts than in the month of Sha‘ban.” In another narration, ‘Aisha said: “The Prophet would fast Sha‘ban and then connect it to Ramadan.” [Bukhari; Muslim]
However, the hadith that explicitly references the fast of the 15th Sha‘ban is extremely weak.
‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib (Allah be pleased with him) reports the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “When it is the night of the middle of Sha‘ban then spend the night standing and fast the (next) day.” [Ibn Majah]
The desirability is fasting the entire month of Sha‘ban, like the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). But if someone fasted on the 15th of Sha‘ban only, it is fine and will be rewarded. This is because fasting in the month of Sha‘ban is sunna. At the same time, it should be noted one should try to fast on the 13th, 14th, and 15th of every month, like Mondays and Thursdays too.
Month People Neglect between Rajab and Ramadan
Usama Ibn Zayd (Allah be pleased with him) reported: I said, “O Messenger of Allah, I do not see you fasting any month as much as you fast during Sha‘ban.” The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “It is a month people neglect between the months of Rajab and Ramadan. It is a month in which the deeds are raised to the Lord of the worlds, and I like for my deeds to be raised while I am fasting.” [Nasa’i] [Ibn Rajab, Lata’if al-Ma‘arif; Azami, 15th of Shaban in Light of Quran and Ahadith; Usmani, Sha‘ban: Merits, Do’s, and Don’ts]
In general, we should avoid argumentation and disputes about secondary issues in Islam such as these. If a Muslim has success and ease to fast the entire month of Sha‘ban, or Mondays and Thursdays, or the 13th, 14th, and 15th, or just the 15th, it is all good, good action in his account of deeds, and better than not to fast at all. Every Muslim should choose what he or she believes is the better opinion and maintain relations with those who have an opposing view, while everyone must be cautious about not exaggerating issues in the religion.
Related:
15th Sha‘ban Archives
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
