What is the ruling on what some of the Sufis do, namely dedicating supplication in the mosque on the night of Sha'ban, standing in prayer that night, and fasting that day?

The questioner : Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

The questioner : I have a question tonight regarding their fasting and their supplication on the night of the middle of Sha'ban, their standing in prayer for that night, and their fasting on the morning of the night of the middle of Sha'ban. What is your opinion regarding this group?

The Shaykh : It is well known among the people of the Sunnah, truly, that standing in prayer on the night of the middle of Sha'ban and fasting on the day of the middle of Sha'ban are two matters of religious innovation (bid'ah) that are not prescribed (mashru'). This is for two reasons. The first reason is that it has not been transmitted from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), his Companions, or the rest of the righteous predecessors (Salaf), that they used to pay attention to keeping this night alive and fasting on the day that follows it. This is the first reason. And we believe with certainty, without doubt or hesitation, that all good lies in following the Salaf, and all evil lies in the innovation of the later generations (Khalaf). Consequently, any act of worship that occurred after these righteous Salaf is a religious innovation (bid'ah). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) declared every religious innovation to be misguidance, no matter what its nature, and no matter how its proponents adorned and embellished it. The matter is as stated by one of the great Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), one of the most God-fearing and knowledgeable among them, namely Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), who said, "Every religious innovation is misguidance, even if people see it as good." This authentic, established report from Ibn 'Umar is a very clear and emphatic explanation of the generality of his statement (peace be upon him) . He says in clear Arabic, "Every religious innovation is misguidance, even if people see it as good." If the matter is so, then fasting on the middle of Sha'ban and standing in prayer on the night of the middle are two newly invented matters that did not exist in the era of the Salaf. This is the first point. Second, those who approve of paying attention to fasting on the day of the middle of Sha'ban and standing in prayer on the night of the middle rely on a hadith whose chain of narration is very weak. It is what Ibn Majah narrated in his Sunan, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that. And among what is authentically attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is . Then the narrator exaggerated in its virtue, and he who adorned for him the ugliness of his deed attributed this hadith to his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Among that is that he was forgiven, meaning on that day, such and such sins and disobediences. This hadith is severely weak, and it is not permissible to act upon it, even according to those who think that it is not permissible to act upon a weak hadith in the virtues of deeds, because they stipulate conditions that its weakness not be severe. And this hadith's weakness is severe. In addition to that, regarding fasting on the day of the middle, is the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that is established with us as being attributed to him, . And there is no doubt that the fifteenth day is the day of the middle of Sha'ban, especially when Sha'ban is deficient, sometimes being twenty-nine days, in which case it is certainly the middle, so it is not permissible to fast it. Thus, those who pay attention to fasting on the day of the middle of Sha'ban have erred twice, or rather we can say three times, but we say with reservation regarding one of the three. They erred twice because they acted upon the very weak hadith, as we explained its acceptance earlier. And if they say, "We do not need this hadith," that is the second time, which I referred to, and that is that they innovated in the religion what has no basis. And the third time, which is very clear, is that they contradicted the authentic hadith in which he (peace be upon him) said, and I mentioned it to you earlier, . So it is not befitting to pay attention to the night of the middle at all, because nothing has been authentically established regarding its virtue, and because the righteous Salaf did not transmit this attention that you hear from these later generations. As for the middle of Sha'ban, in addition to the fact that the hadith mentioned earlier is not authentic, its opposite and contrary has been authenticated, which is . And the lesson from this occasion is that we find, with great regret, that the general public pay attention to some acts of worship that are not authentic, neither by narration nor by knowledge, while they do not pay attention to the acts of worship that are authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and there is no disagreement among the scholars of Muslims regarding their legislation. They pay attention to what is not permissible to pay attention to, and they turn away from what should be paid attention to. And this is a reminder, and the reminder benefits the believers, if Allah wills. Yes.