THE NIGHT OF the 15th of SHABAN

“Allah Guides to His Light whom He Wills.”  (Surah An-Nur)

THE NIGHT OF the 15^th of SHABAN

Bismillah-ir Rahman-ir Raheem.

Allah (The Most High) is the Most Merciful and Compassionate, and as He has mentioned in Surah Al-A’raf (156):  “…My Mercy encompasses all things.”

Allah (The Most High) says in the next two ayahs (Surah Al-A’raf, 157-8):

“Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So, they, who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him – it is those who will be the successful.  Say, [O Muhammad], “O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death.” So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the unlettered prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided.”

From His Rahma, He sent us His Rahma, as Allah (The Most High) said in the Qur’an: “We did not send you other than as a Mercy to all the worlds.”

The Rahma of Allah (The Most High) is clear and evident, as we are able to see it and feel it in Rasulullah ﷺ.

Allah (The Most High) described Rasulullah ﷺ as Basheer, the one who Glad Tides, as Allah (The Most High) mentioned this in Surah Al-Ahzab (45-47):

“O Prophet, indeed We have sent you as a witness and a bringer of good tidings and a warner.  And one who invites to Allah, by His permission, and an illuminating lamp.  And give good tidings to the believers that they will have from Allah great bounty.”

It is from the Rahma of Allah (The Most High) that Rasulullah ﷺ glad tides us, and one of these glad tidings is the night of the 15th of Shaban, tonight; and as Rasulullah ﷺ has given us this glad tiding, we have to take it, enjoy it and make the most of it.

Muadh ibn Jabal (May Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Rasulullah ﷺ said that Allah (The Most High) looks at all of His Creation on the middle night of Shaban, and He forgives all of them, except for the mushrikeen, those who associate others with Allah (The Most High), and the mushahin, those who have hatred towards others.

[Narrated in Imam Al-Bayhaqi in Shuab al Iman (3674); At-Tabarani in Al Mu’jim al Kabir (215), Al Mu’jim al Ausad (6976), and Musnad Ash-Shamiyeen (198,203,3497)]

This Hadith has been narrated by many of the Sahaba, some of which vary in the content of the narration.  The narration of Muadh ibn Jabal (May Allah be pleased with him) has been also narrated by:

• Abu Musa Ashari (May Allah be pleased with him):  ibn Majah (Chapter of the Blessings of the Night of Nisfu Shaban)
• Abu Hurrairah (May Allah be pleased with him), with slightly different words:  Al Bazzar (Musnad), Imam Haythami
• Abu Bakr As-Siddiq (May Allah be pleased with him):  Imam Bayhaqi (Shuab al Iman, 3668), Al Bazzar (80), Ad-Daylami (Musnad al Firdous, 8017)
• Awf (May Allah be pleased with him):  Al Bazzar (Musnad, 22754), ibn Abi Shayba (30479), Abdur Razzaq (Musanaf, 7923), Al Bayhaqi (Shuab al Iman, 3672)

The same Hadith has also been narrated differently by other Sahaba:

Abdullah ibn Amr al Aas (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated this Hadith, but instead of “mushrikeen” he narrated that the two types of people that would not be forgiven are those with hatred and anyone who has killed an innocent human being.  [Imam Ahmad, 6353]

Abi Thalaba (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated that on this night, Allah (The Most High) forgives the mu’mins, gives time to the disbelievers and leaves the people with hatred alone until they correct themselves.  [Al Bayhaqi, Shuab al Iman (3673); At Tabarani, Al Mu’jim al Kabir (590,593); Ibnu Qainah, Mu’jim al Sahaba (264)]

Uthman ibn Al Aas (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Rasulullah ﷺ said that during the night of the middle of Shaban, it will be asked:  Is anyone is asking for forgiveness so He (The Most High) can Forgive, is anyone asking for their needs so He (The Most High) can Give; except for two groups of people, those who commit zina and those who are mushrikeen.  [Bayhaqi, 3673]

These are some of the Hadith that were revealed, among the many, regarding the special night of Nisfu Shaban.

We advise ourselves and our brothers and sisters to look at this Hadith and see the Rahma of Allah (The Most High); He only wants to Forgive and Give!

His name is Al Ghaffar, the All Forgiving!

His name is Al Mu’ti, the Giver!

He is Al Karim, the Most Generous!

We see His Subtle Kindness, as He is Al Latif.

How can we not love Him?

He is the One who reminds us by Nights, and is the grantor of those Nights of khair!

He tells us this is our Night!  And the blessing of it is from Him (The Most High)!

May Allah (The Most High) make us worthy of His Blessing.

We see the importance and greatness of this Night from the Hadiths that were mentioned.  We apologize that we did not send this message earlier, but we even see the Lutf of Allah (The Most High) in it. Maybe if we sent this message earlier, it would be forgotten amongst the endless needs of this dunya (world)!

We see in the Hadith that the most common action that is not forgiven is hatred, which is the cause of envy and the worst of crimes.  It is as if Allah (The Most High) is telling us that this is the action that He does not forgive and it causes His anger!

How can our hearts be a vessel for the love of Allah (The Most High) if there is room in the vessel for hate!

We are not saying people should not get upset or angry; there are moments where we, as humans, experience these emotions.  However, Rasulullah ﷺ warned us, in a Hadith, He ﷺ mentioned to a Sahabi. A man asked Rasulullah ﷺ for wasiyah, to which Rasulullah ﷺ said “Do not get angry!  Do not get angry!  Do not angry!”  [Narrated in Bukhari and Muslim]

Rasulullah ﷺ also mentioned that anger is from shaytan, and that shaytan is made from fire, and nothing extinguishes fire better than water, so perform wudu when you are angry.

Rasulullah ﷺ mentioned to Abu Dharr (May Allah be pleased with him), speaking about anger, that if someone is angry and they are standing, they should sit, until the anger dissipates; and if the anger still persists, to then lie down.

Here we see that Rasulullah ﷺ is guiding us away from hatred, to love.  We see what the Quraysh did to him, but yet he was making dua for their forgiveness and guidance, and not only that, but he was making excuses for them!

If we are really followers of Rasulullah ﷺ, as is mentioned in Surah An-Nisa (80): “He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah…”, then we should embody and live forgiveness and care for others.

Looking again at the Hadith, the only thing that will prevent us from the forgiveness of this Night is hatred!

Let us try, on this Night, to forgive everyone, in order to gain the forgiveness of Allah (The Most High).  Let us make this night a night of dhikr, dua and istighfar.  Let us call each other, ask about each other, and replace negative thoughts of one another with something positive.

As Sayyidina Abdullah ibn Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) said: If you see something you do not like in your brother, look for excuses until you get to seventy, after which there may be an excuse you are unaware of!

May Allah (The Most High) forgive us, accept us and gather us with Rasulullah ﷺ.

Shyakh Faid Mohammed Said