Shaykh Sa’ood ash Shuraym’s refutation on those think there is virtue in Shab-e-baraat [15th Sha’baan]

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Question posed to Shaykh Sa’ood ibn Ibraaheem ash-Shuraym [May Allaah preserve him]
After Salaat al-Fajr in Masjid al-Haram, approx. Rajab 1427
Sharh Nathm al-Habeer fi Usool at-Tafseer, tape 14

Question: This person is asking about the 15^th of Sha’baan [or otherwise known as Shab - e - Beraat] and the virtues of this night and the night be a night of forgiveness for all of the creation of Allaah.

Shaykh Sa’ood: On this issue the scholars have differed, having two views. One group saying there is a virtue in the night based on some of the narrations about this night and others saying there isn’t a virtue because these narrations are not authentic and not correct. Those who say there isn’t a virtue on this is night is the correct position from the aspect of Hadeeth and those scholars who verified and checked Hadeeth. They stated there are no authentic narrations about the virtue of this night and all the narrations narrated about this night are weak. Those who say there is a virtue in the night used various ahaadeeth to try and justify virtue about the night but they use weak hadeeth and we know that weak ahadeeth are not accepted or to be acted upon when comes to Islamic rulings or in any other aspect of Islam. If a narration is weak then it is weak. Those who try to use weak narrations as evidence, especially in the cases of virtues of spirituality and rectifying oneself, and try to attribute its permissibility to Imaam Ahmad ibn Hambal, then this is not correct and is mistaken. This is because in the time of Imaam Ahmad hadeeth was either one of two classifications, authentic or weak. But those scholars that came after created categories in the classification used. They introduced terminologies such as Hasan, Hasan li Ghayrihi, Saheeh li Ghayrihi, Qat, Mu’dal etc to Saheeh and Daeef. So when Imaam Ahmad is talking about accepted Daeef of weak Hadeeth he is actually talking about the permissibility of accepting Ahadeeth that are Hasan li Ghayrihi, not the full grade of Saheeh or authentic but they are acceptable and not Daeef or weak as we understand it today, this has been clarified further by Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah, May Allaah have mercy on him.

So the correct view about the virtues of this night, the night of 15^th Sha’baan, is that there is no virtue or anything special about this night and there is nothing specifically prescribed for us to do on this night.   

Some people try to use the hadeeth, “Allah descends on this night and he forgives al of his creation except the Mushrik [the one who is doing Shirk], the Mushaahin [one who has a quarrel with another] or the Mudmin [addict]”. Some of the scholars did say that this hadeeth is Saheeh, but even if it is Saheeh for arguments sake, then the hadeeth doesn’t prescribe for us to do anything special on this night by the way of act of worships. This is because the hadeeth doesn’t encourage us to do any special act of worship or to fast the day or the following day, rather all the hadeeth states is that Allaah will forgive on this night.