The authenticity of the hadith: “When Sha'ban is half over, do not fast”
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Is the hadith “When Sha'ban is half over, do not fast” authentic?
The Shaykh:
The oath is fine, it is good. And five [narrations] from Ahmad and the people of Islam are two sound [narrations]. That is to say, one should not begin fasting after the middle of the month; one should not begin. It is a prohibition of forbiddance. Yes, this is the correct view, unless one had started before the middle of the month, in which case there is no harm. [The days are] the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth, like the navel. The hadith of Abu Hurayrah supports this. Yes. This is applied to the person who is accustomed to leaving this off, so it is better for him to fast, and it is not obligatory for him. But if a person is accustomed to fasting three days every month, he fasts them, meaning the white days, whether they are the white days or he is accustomed to fasting Thursday or Friday, or he left them, it is recommended for him to make them up from the standpoint of recommendation, so that he does not abandon the worship he had been consistent in.
Is the hadith “When Sha'ban is half over, do not fast” authentic?
The Shaykh:
The oath is fine, it is good. And five [narrations] from Ahmad and the people of Islam are two sound [narrations]. That is to say, one should not begin fasting after the middle of the month; one should not begin. It is a prohibition of forbiddance. Yes, this is the correct view, unless one had started before the middle of the month, in which case there is no harm. [The days are] the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth, like the navel. The hadith of Abu Hurayrah supports this. Yes. This is applied to the person who is accustomed to leaving this off, so it is better for him to fast, and it is not obligatory for him. But if a person is accustomed to fasting three days every month, he fasts them, meaning the white days, whether they are the white days or he is accustomed to fasting Thursday or Friday, or he left them, it is recommended for him to make them up from the standpoint of recommendation, so that he does not abandon the worship he had been consistent in.
Source
شرح كتاب المنتقى من أخبار المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم [ الشرح الأول ]، بداية من باب قضاء رمضان متتابعا ومتفرقا وتأخيره إلى شعبان — islamhouse.com (1:16:56)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.