The ruling on fasting in the second half of Sha'ban?

Question : The questioner asks: Is fasting in the second half of the date of Sha'ban disliked, and what is the wisdom behind that?

Answer : Some scholars hold that fasting after the middle of Sha'ban is disliked for one who has no habit of it or who owes fasting from the previous Ramadan. The hadith regarding this matter is . The scholars differed on its authenticity, indeed on its acceptance and rejection. Those who accepted it said that fasting after the middle of Sha'ban is disliked, and the wisdom behind that is so that a person does not gradually proceed with this fasting until it leads him to the month of Ramadan. Some scholars, who are the majority of the people of knowledge, said that the hadith is weak and does not constitute a proof, and that there is no harm in fasting after the middle of Sha'ban. They cited as evidence for their view the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in what is established from him in the hadith . They said that the implication of the hadith is that what precedes it by one or two days is permissible and there is no harm in it.