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Who are the narrators of these hadiths, what is their grading, and what is the refutation of the innovations of the night of mid-Sha'ban?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The hadith of Aisha concerning the vision of Allah on the night of mid-Sha'ban and His forgiveness for those who seek it was narrated by Al-Bayhaqi, and Ibn Al-Jawzi ruled it to be fabricated (mawdu'). As for the narration by Al-Tabarani and Ibn Hibban from Mu'adh, its chain of transmission (isnad) is acceptable, and it states that Allah forgives all of His creation on the night of mid-Sha'ban, except for a polytheist (mushrik) or one who harbors malice (mushahin). Some jurists (fuqaha') deemed it recommended to perform voluntary prayers on this night, and some of the predecessors (salaf) used to observe it individually. However, gathering for it in the mosque is an innovation (bid'ah). As for instituting a specific prayer for it, that is an innovation and a reprehensible evil, such as Salat al-Ragha'ib and the hundred-rak'ah prayer on the night of mid-Sha'ban, and the ahadith reported concerning them are false. A Muslim must be obedient [to Allah], avoid polytheism, forgive his brothers, and shun innovations. As for the hadith "Nothing averts destiny (qadar) except supplication (du'a')," the first part of it is weak. However, the second part, "Nothing averts divine decree (qada') except supplication, and nothing increases one's lifespan except righteousness (birr)," is hasan (good), and its meaning is that supplication is a means of attracting benefit and repelling harm, and this is an exaggeration to demonstrate the greatness of its benefit.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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