What Should be Done in the Night of baraah? In order to observe the Night of Baraah, one should remain awakened in this night as much as he can. If someone has better opportunities, he should spend the whole night in worship and prayer. However, if one cannot do so for one reason or another, he can select a considerable portion of the night, preferably of the second half of it for this purpose, and should perform the following acts of worship: (a) Salah. Salah is the most preferable act to be performed in this night. There is no particular number of Rakat but preferably it should not be less than eight. It is also advisable that each part of the Salah like qiyam, rukoo and sajdah should be longer than normal. The longest surahs of the Holy Quran one remembers by heart should be recited in the Salah of this night. If someone does not remember the long surahs, he can also recite several short surahs in one rakah. (b) Tilawa. The recitation of the Holy Quran is another form of worship, very beneficent in this night. After performing Salah, or at any other time, one should recite as much of the Holy Quran as he can. (c) Dhikr. One should also perform dhikr (recitation of the name of Allah) in this night. Particularly the following dhikr is very useful: One should recite Salah (durood) on Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, as many times as he can. The dhikr can also be recited while walking, lying on bed and during other hours of work or leisure. (d) Dua. The best benefit one can draw from the blessings of this night is prayers and supplications. It is hoped that all the prayers in this night will be accepted by our Lord, insha-Allah. Prayer itself is an Ibadah, and Allah Almighty gives reward on each prayer along with the fulfillment of the supplicators need. Even if the purpose prayed for is not achieved, one cannot be deprived of the reward of the prayer which is sometimes more precious than the mundane benefits one strives for. The prayers and supplications also strengthen ones relation with Allah Almighty, which is the main purpose of all kinds and forms of worship. One can pray for whatever purpose he wishes. But the best supplications are the ones made by Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam. These are so comprehensive and all-encompassing prayers that all the human needs, of this world and the Hereafter, are fully covered in the eloquent expressions used in them. Actually, most of the prophetic prayers are so profound that human imagination can hardly match their greatness. Several books in various languages are available which provide these prophetic prayers, and one should pray to Allah Almighty in accordance with them, whether by reciting their original Arabic text or by rendering their sense in ones own language. (e) There are some people who cannot perform any additional Salah or recitations for any reason, like illness or weakness or being engaged in some other necessary activities. Such people also should not deprive themselves completely of the blessings of this night. They should observe the following acts: (i) To perform the Salah of Maghrib, Isha and Fajr with Jamaah in the mosque, or in their homes in case of their being sick. (ii) They should keep reciting the dhikr, particularly the one mentioned in para (c) above, in whatever condition they are until they sleep. (iii) They should pray to Allah for their forgiveness and for their other objectives. One can do so even when he is in his bed. (f) The women during their periods cannot perform salah, nor can they recite the Quran, but they can recite any dhikr, tasbeeh, durood sharif and can pray to Allah for whatever purpose they like in whatever language they wish. They can also recite the Arabic prayers mentioned in the Quran or in the hadith with the intention of supplication (and not with the intention of recitation). (g) According to a hadith, Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, went in this night to the graveyard of Baqi where he prayed for the Muslims buried there. On this basis, some of the fuqaha hold it as advisable in this night to go to the graveyard of the Muslims and recite any part of the Quran, and pray for the dead. But this act is neither obligatory nor should it be performed as regularly as an obligatory act. Mufti Muhammad Shafi Uthmaani RA has said that in the matter of following the Holy Prophet Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam we should not try to overstep Him Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam. It is narrated that the Holy Prophet Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam visited the graveyard of Jannatul Baqi on this Night only once in His Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallams sacred lifetime. Therefore It would be overstepping the Holy Prophet Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam to visit the graveyard regularly as a compulsory duty and to consider this practice as an inseparable part of the 15th of Shabaan and consider its omission as an omission of the worship of this night itself. However, keeping our European culture in mind, I would recommend that people should go to the graveyard. This is because our graveyards are quite far and we hardly visit them unless when there is a janaza and we might go for burial. In our Asian culture graveyards were close by and people had a habit of regular visits. So we should at least make the deceased happy on this occasion. What Should Not be Done in This Night. 1. As mentioned earlier, the Night of Baraah is a night in which special blessings are directed towards the Muslims. Therefore, this night should be spent in total submission to Allah Almighty, and one should refrain from all those activities, which may displease Allah. Although it is always incumbent upon every Muslim to abstain from sins, yet this abstinence becomes all the more necessary in such nights, because committing sins in this night will amount to responding to divine blessings with disobedience and felony. Such an arrogant attitude can invite nothing but the wrath of Allah. Therefore, one should strictly abstain from all the sins, particularly from those mentioned in the Hadith No. 3 quoted earlier in this article, because these sins make one devoid of the blessings of this night. 2. In this night some people indulge in some activities which they regard as necessary for the celebration of the Night of Baraah, like cooking some special type of meal, or illuminating houses or mosques, or improvised structures. All such activities are not only baseless and innovated in the later days by ignorant people, but in some cases they are pure imitation of some rituals performed by non-Muslim communities. Such imitation in itself is a sin; performing it in a blessed night like the Night of Baraah makes it worse. Muslims should strictly abstain from all such activities. 3. Some people spend this night in holding religious meetings and delivering long speeches. Such activities are also not advisable, because these acts can easily be performed in other nights. This night requires one to devote himself for the pure acts of worship only. 4. The acts of worship like Salah, recitation of the Quran and dhikr should be performed in this night individually, not collectively. The Nafl Salah should not be performed in Jamaah, nor should the Muslims arrange gatherings in the mosques in order to celebrate the night in a collective manner. On the contrary, this night is meant for worshipping Allah in solitude. It is the time to enjoy the direct contact with the Lord of the Universe, and to devote ones attention to Him and Him alone. These are the precious hours of the night in which nobody should intervene between one and his Lord, and one should turn to Allah with total concentration, not disturbed or intermitted by any one else. That is why Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, observed the acts of worship in this night in total seclusion. That is why all forms of the optional worship (Nafl Ibadah), are advised by him to be done in individual, not in collective manner. Fasting on the 15th of Shabaan The fast of the 15th of Shabaan is based on a tradition reported by Sayiddna Ali. Its text runs as follows When the Middle Night of Shabaan arrives, you should stand (Praying) in the night and should fast in the day following it. This Hadith is recorded by Ibn Majah in his Sunan, one of the famous six books of Hadith, and also by Baihaqi in his famous book Shu’ab-al-’iman’. Both of them have reported it without any comment about its authenticity. But after a critical analysis of its chain of narrators it is found that this tradition is mainly based on the report of Abu Bakr Ibn Abi Saburah whose narrations cannot be relied upon. That is why the scholars of Hadith have declared it as a weak (da’if) tradition. However, the allegation that the narrator of this Hadith i.e. Abu Bakr ibn Abi Sabrah, is a fabricator who used to coin forged traditions does not seem correct. In fact, he was mufti of Madinah, a well-known jurist and he was appointed as a qadi (Judge) of Iraq in the days of Mansur and was succeeded in this office by Imam Abu Yusuf. He was a colleague of Imam Malik. Once Mansur, the Abbasi Caliph, asked Imam Malik referred to three names, and one of them was that of Ibn Abi Sabrah. Had he been a fabricator, Imam Malik would have never referred to his name in this context. But despite his high position among the jurists, his memory was not of the standard required for the uthenticity of a tradition. That is why most of the critics of Hadith like Imam Bukhari etc. Have held him as weak, but did not declare him a fabricator. Only Imam Ahmed is reported to have remarked about him that he fabricates Hadith. But this remark alone is not sufficient to hold him as a fabricator, for two reasons: Firstly Imam Ahmed was born long after him, and his contemporary scholars never held him as such, secondly the Arabic words used by Imam Ahmed are some times used for confusing one tradition with another, and not for deliberate fabrication. This is the reason why the majority of the scholars of Hadith have held Abu Bakr ibn Abi Saburah as a weak reporter of Hadith, but they did not declare him as a forger or fabricator. Now, coming to his tradition about the fast of the 15th Ramadan it is held by the scholars to be weak but i have not come across an authentic scholar who has treated it as a fabricated (Mawdu) Hadith. There are a number of books indicating the fabricated Ahadith, but this tradition is not included in these books as fabricated. It is well-known that Ibn Majah consists of about twenty Ahadith held to be fabricated. The list of these fabricated AHadith is available, but the tradition in question is not included therein. Therefore, the correct position is that this Hadith is not fabricated. However, being reported by a weak narrator, it cannot be relied upon in the matter of the injunctions of Shariah. Thus, the fast of the 15th of Shabaan cannot be termed as Sunnah in the strict sense of the term. Nevertheless, it may be advisable to fast in the 15th of Shabaan without taking it as Sunnah for several reasons: Firstly it is fully established through a large number of Ahadith that the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) has emphasized on the merits of fasting in Shabaan, and particularly in the first half of the month. The 15th day of Shabaan, being the last day of the first half, is included in the preferable days for fasting. Secondly, the merits of the 15th night of Shabaan is established by more than a dozen Ahadith. It means that this night should be spent in prayers and other forms of worship. On the other hand, all the blessed nights which the Muslims are advised to spend in worship are generally followed by fasting on the coming day like in the Laylatul-Qadr, where fasting on the following day is obligatory, or like the first night Zilhijjah where fasting on the following days is optional, rather advisable. on this analogy, too, the 15th night of Shabaan may be followed by an optional fasting on the following day. Thirdly, the tradition relating to the merits of fasting on 15th of Shabaan is, no doubt, a weak tradition, not competent to prove this practice to be a Sunnah or a formal Mustahabb, but it can be acted upon as a measure of precaution, provided that the practice is not taken as Sunnah or a formal Mustahabb. It is for these reasons that some Ulama and elders have been fasting on the 15th of Shabaan and have been taking it an advisable practice. Conclusion At any rate, it is not correct to say that there is no basis to considor this Night of the 15th of Shabaan as virtuous. Mufti Taqi Uthmani is inclined to feel that by appointing it two weeks before Ramadhan Almighty Allah has made it a happy precursor for the sacred fasting of the month of Ramadhan. It is a rehearsal of, and preparation for, fasting in Ramadhan, so as to qualify for the mercy and forgiveness of Allah so generously showered in this month. So get ready for this divine favour. When a man intends to attend a magnificent court, he makes himself neat and clean and puts on nice clothes. In the same way when the most Dignified Court of Allah is going to be held in the form of Ramadhan, Allah has granted one sacred Night for preparation before attending the divine Court. It is Allahs desire that by cleaning and purifying himself in body and soul and from sins, man may be able to establish arelationship with Him. When this is done, man will be able to benefit from the flood of mercies and favours of Ramadhan in the true sense. It is for this purpose that Allah has granted us this blessed Night. It should be respected and valued. May Allah make us welcome this night with due regard and devote ourselves therein to worship. Aameen. youtube/watch?v=PXKF-W1efN8
Posted on: Fri, 13 Jun 2014 11:54:47 +0000
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