Is it correct to say that it is recommended to increase worship on the 15th of Shaban?
Quran
Hadith
Islamic Text
Yes, that is correct.
مُعَاذِ بْنِ جَبَلٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: يَطَّلِعُ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عَلَى خَلْقِهِ لَيْلَةَ النِّصْفِ مِنْ شَعْبَانَ فَيَغْفِرُ لِجَمِيعِ خَلْقِهِ إِلَّا لِمُشْرِكٍ أَوْ مُشَاحِنٍ
Mu’aadh ibn Jabal narrated from the Prophet ﷺ that he ﷺ said, ‘Allah (Most High) looks upon his creation on the night of the middle of Shaban, and forgives all of his creation except the polytheist and the hostile person.’ (Tabarani al-Mo’jam al-Kabeer, 215).
To attribute particular virtue to a time or place requires evidence from Quran or Hadith. The 15th of Shaban has such evidence, therefore the Hanafi scholars encouraged extra worship on the 15th of Shaban.
وَالنِّصْفِ مِنْ شَعْبَانَ، وَالْعَشْرِ الْأَخِيرِ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ
(قَوْلُهُ وَالنِّصْفِ) أَيْ وَإِحْيَاءُ لَيْلَةِ النِّصْفِ مِنْ شَعْبَانَ
(It is also recommended to worship on) the middle of Shaban, and the last ten nights of Ramadan.
His saying the middle, meaning staying up and worshiping on the night of the middle of Shaban. (Radd al-Muhtaar).
In the above Nass (text) Imam al-Haskafi and Imam Ibn Abideen both make the Hanafi position clear that it is recommended to stay up to worship on this night. There are a minority of Hanafi scholars that may have differed on this issue, but this is the established opinion of the Madhab.
Please check the link below for more discussion regarding the strength of Hadith related to the 15th of Shaban.
– Answered by Shaykh Noorud-deen (19.03.2021)
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