What was the guidance of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Sha'ban?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, the questioner asks: What was the guidance of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the month of Sha'ban regarding fasting, prayer, and other acts of obedience?
Answer:
As for prayer and other acts of obedience, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not single out the month of Sha'ban for anything specific; his practice in Sha'ban was the same as his practice in the other months. As for fasting, he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to fast a lot in Sha'ban; he would fast most of the month, but he did not complete it entirely; rather, he would fast the majority of it. As for matters other than fasting, the month of Sha'ban has no special status over the other months. Standing in night prayer is the same in all months.
All the nights of Sha'ban are equal, contrary to what some people say about the middle night of Sha'ban having a special status and being the Night of Decree. That is not correct. The Night of Decree is in Ramadan, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not single out the middle night of Sha'ban for anything, neither by standing in prayer during its night nor by fasting during its day.
Rather, it is like the other nights. As for the Night of Decree, it is in the month of Ramadan, not in the month of Sha'ban. The blessed night[Ad-Dukhan 44:3] is the Night of Decree. It is not the middle night of Sha'ban, as some ignorant people or some fabricators say. So the middle night of Sha'ban has no special status, nor does its day have a special status; rather, it is like the other nights and days. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, the questioner asks: What was the guidance of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the month of Sha'ban regarding fasting, prayer, and other acts of obedience?
Answer:
As for prayer and other acts of obedience, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not single out the month of Sha'ban for anything specific; his practice in Sha'ban was the same as his practice in the other months. As for fasting, he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to fast a lot in Sha'ban; he would fast most of the month, but he did not complete it entirely; rather, he would fast the majority of it. As for matters other than fasting, the month of Sha'ban has no special status over the other months. Standing in night prayer is the same in all months.
All the nights of Sha'ban are equal, contrary to what some people say about the middle night of Sha'ban having a special status and being the Night of Decree. That is not correct. The Night of Decree is in Ramadan, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not single out the middle night of Sha'ban for anything, neither by standing in prayer during its night nor by fasting during its day.
Rather, it is like the other nights. As for the Night of Decree, it is in the month of Ramadan, not in the month of Sha'ban. The blessed night
Indeed, We sent it down during a blessed night
إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةٍ مُّبَارَكَةٍ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما هدي النبي –صلى الله عليه وسلم في شعبان؟ للشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.