The ruling on designating the middle of Sha'ban or the twenty-seventh night of Rajab for slaughtering camels, fasting, prayer, and the remembrance of Allah
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Question:
May Allah reward you with good and do you good. He says: In some of our gatherings, some people stand up in the middle of Sha'ban, or on the twenty-seventh night of Rajab, and on the birthday of the noble Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and engage in some religious innovations (bid'ah) such as slaughtering camels, fasting, praying, and remembering Allah specifically on those days. As for the rest of the year, you see them abandoning some of the prayers and the remembrance of Allah. What is your advice for these people?
Answer:
Reviving occasions that they claim are religious occasions, such as reviving the birthdays, the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or others, and reviving the middle night of Sha'ban or fasting on the middle day of Sha'ban, and the twenty-seventh night of Rajab, which they claim is the night of the Night Journey and Ascension, all of these are newly invented religious innovations (bid'ah) for which Allah has not sent down any authority. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Mishkat al-Masabih 140Muttafaqun 'alayh (Zubair `Aliza'i) He said (peace and blessings be upon him): Sahih Muslim 1718b He said (peace and blessings be upon him): Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, has completed the religion for us before the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Ma'idah 5:3], so whatever the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do, did not order, and did not approve of, it is an innovation, because the religion was completed before his death (peace and blessings be upon him).
And he did not practice it, did not order it, and did not approve of reviving these occasions. Rather, they occurred centuries after his death (peace and blessings be upon him), after the passage of the preferred generations about whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke well. So they are newly invented innovations, and every innovation is misguidance, so it is not permissible to revive them, neither with worship, nor with cooking food, nor with slaughtering animals. Rather, they are like the other days; they have no special status, and no worship is designated for them. Rather, this is what the innovators spread, either from misguidance or from ignorance. It is a rejected and invalid act. We ask Allah for guidance for us and for them.
And returning to adhering to the Sunnah and following the guidance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). What the questioner mentioned is that they strive on the days of these occasions and neglect the acts of worship in the rest of the time. This is a clear characteristic of the innovators: they are eager for innovations and abandon the Sunnahs, meaning they abandon the prescribed matters. They are eager for the prescribed matters, and they are lenient or abandon the prescribed matters, because Satan encourages them in innovations and newly invented matters, and discourages them from the prescribed acts of worship. This is following the footsteps of Satan. So the apparent characteristic of the innovators is that they are eager to revive innovations and abandon the Sunnahs. We ask Allah for safety. Yes. May Allah reward you with good and do you good.
May Allah reward you with good and do you good. He says: In some of our gatherings, some people stand up in the middle of Sha'ban, or on the twenty-seventh night of Rajab, and on the birthday of the noble Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and engage in some religious innovations (bid'ah) such as slaughtering camels, fasting, praying, and remembering Allah specifically on those days. As for the rest of the year, you see them abandoning some of the prayers and the remembrance of Allah. What is your advice for these people?
Answer:
Reviving occasions that they claim are religious occasions, such as reviving the birthdays, the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or others, and reviving the middle night of Sha'ban or fasting on the middle day of Sha'ban, and the twenty-seventh night of Rajab, which they claim is the night of the Night Journey and Ascension, all of these are newly invented religious innovations (bid'ah) for which Allah has not sent down any authority. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
God’s messenger as saying, “If anyone introduces into this affair of ours anything which does not belong to it, it is rejected.”
صلى الله عليه وسلم من أحدث في أمرنا هذا ما ليس منه فهو رد،He who did any act for which there is no sanction from our behalf, that is to be rejected.
من عمل عملا ليس عليه أمرنا فهو رد،And beware of newly invented matters, for every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance. Then he said (peace and blessings be upon him): The best of speech is the Book of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
وإياكم ومحدثات الأمور، فإن كل محدثة بدعة، وكل بدعة ضلالة، فقال صلى الله عليه وسلم إن خير الحديث كتاب الله، وخير الهدي هدي محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم،And the worst of matters are their newly invented ones.
وشر الأمور محدثاتها،This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.
الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًاAnd he did not practice it, did not order it, and did not approve of reviving these occasions. Rather, they occurred centuries after his death (peace and blessings be upon him), after the passage of the preferred generations about whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke well. So they are newly invented innovations, and every innovation is misguidance, so it is not permissible to revive them, neither with worship, nor with cooking food, nor with slaughtering animals. Rather, they are like the other days; they have no special status, and no worship is designated for them. Rather, this is what the innovators spread, either from misguidance or from ignorance. It is a rejected and invalid act. We ask Allah for guidance for us and for them.
And returning to adhering to the Sunnah and following the guidance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). What the questioner mentioned is that they strive on the days of these occasions and neglect the acts of worship in the rest of the time. This is a clear characteristic of the innovators: they are eager for innovations and abandon the Sunnahs, meaning they abandon the prescribed matters. They are eager for the prescribed matters, and they are lenient or abandon the prescribed matters, because Satan encourages them in innovations and newly invented matters, and discourages them from the prescribed acts of worship. This is following the footsteps of Satan. So the apparent characteristic of the innovators is that they are eager to revive innovations and abandon the Sunnahs. We ask Allah for safety. Yes. May Allah reward you with good and do you good.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، حكم تخصيص نصف شعبان أو ليلة السابع والعشرين من شهر رجب بمذبح الجمال والصيام والصلاة وذكر الله. — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
