The Ruling on Celebrating the Night of the Twenty- Seventh of Rajab and the Middle of Sha'ban

Regarding the night of the twenty-seventh of Rajab every year and the night of the middle of Sha'ban, Muslims have the habit of celebrating them by preparing rich foods and the like; what is your opinion on this?
Answer: These are two religious innovations: celebrating the middle of Sha'ban and celebrating the night of the twenty-seventh of Rajab. Both are innovations, and there is no evidence for them. It is not established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that the night of the twenty-seventh of Rajab is the night of the Isra and Mi'raj. What has come regarding it in some hadiths is not authentic according to the scholars. Even if it were established that it is the night of the Mi'raj, it would not be permissible to celebrate it, even if it were established. This is because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not celebrate it, nor did his Companions, who are the role models. And Allah says: [Al-Ahzab: 21], meaning: in action and in leaving off. So when He leaves something, we leave it, and when He does something, we follow him, peace and blessings be upon him. Therefore, celebrating the night of the middle of Sha'ban, or the night of the twenty-seventh of Rajab because it is the night of the Isra and Mi'raj, or the Prophet's birthday on the twelfth of Rabi' al-Awwal, or the other birthdays of al-Badawi, al-Husayn, 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, so-and-so, or so-and-so, all of this is not permissible. And it is imitating the Christians and the Jews in their festivals. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade imitating them, and he said: , so it is not fitting for Muslims to imitate the enemies of Allah in these matters or in any others.
If celebrating the night of the middle of Sha'ban were a prescribed matter, the Master of the Children of Adam, the best of Allah's creation, and the Seal of the Messengers of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would have hastened to it. He would have prescribed it for his Ummah and taught it to them, because he is the most sincere of people, and he is the sincere, trustworthy advisor, peace and blessings be upon him. He did not leave any good without guiding to it, and he did not leave any evil without warning about it and cautioning against it, as is established in the authentic hadith from 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: And our Prophet is the most perfect of them, the best of them, and the Seal of them; there is no prophet after him. So he is the most deserving of this description. He did not leave any good without guiding us to it, and he did not leave any evil without warning us against it.
If celebrating the night of the middle of Sha'ban, or the Prophet's birthday, or the night of the twenty-seventh of Rajab were a prescribed matter, he, peace and blessings be upon him, would have hastened to it in speech and action, and he would have taught it to his Ummah, peace and blessings be upon him. And if he had done it, the Companions would have transmitted it, for they are the trustworthy ones, and they are the best of people after the prophets, and the most excellent of people after the prophets. They are the ones who transmitted the Qur'an to us, and they transmitted the authentic Sunnah from him, peace and blessings be upon him. They are the imams and role models after the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. So it is not permissible for us to contradict them and innovate something they did not do in terms of acts of devotion and obedience.
Then those who followed them with excellence did not do it. If the Companions had done it, the Tabi'un would have done it, and then the followers of the Tabi'un. Since they did not do it, and the three blessed centuries passed without any celebration of a birthday, or the night of the middle of Sha'ban, or the night of the twenty-seventh of Rajab, it is known that this is from the innovations that people introduced. And if some people had innovated something in the second or third century, it would not have been a proof, because the proof is in what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did. But this innovation—the innovation of the Mawlid—was not done in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), nor in the time of the first century, nor in the time of the second or third century. It only came in the fourth century.
And the same applies to all innovations. It is obligatory to leave them and to beware of them. Among them is what was mentioned earlier: the innovation of the night of the Mi'raj, the night of the twenty-seventh... the innovation of celebrating it. Likewise, the innovation of celebrating the night of the middle of Sha'ban. Likewise, the innovation called the Prayer of al-Ragha'ib; they call it the Prayer of al-Ragha'ib. Some people do it on the first Friday of Rajab, the first Friday night of Rajab. It is also an innovation. And there are many innovations among people. We ask Allah to protect Muslims from them, to grant them understanding in the religion, and to guide them to hold fast to the Sunnah, be content with it, and beware of innovation.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.