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“He never fasted more than in the month of Sha`bân”
`Â’ishah tells us:
“I never saw the Prophet (peace be upon him) fast an entire month except for the month of Ramadân. I never saw him fast more often in any other month than he did in Sha`bân.”
[Sahîh al-Bukhârî (1969) and Sahîh Muslim (1156)]
This hadîth establishes that it is Sunnah to fast more often in the month of Sha`bân. Sha`bân is a month that we should single out for offering extra voluntary fasts.
Fasting is Sunnah throughout the Month
She also said:
“He used to observe fasts throughout the month of Sha`bân.”
[Sahîh al-Bukhârî (1970)]
She also said:
“He used to fast the month of Sha`bân except for a few days of it.”
[Sahîh Muslim]
Usâmah b. Zayd said:
The Prophet (peace be upon him) never fasted more frequently than he did in the month of Sha`bân.
I asked why he did so, and he told me:
“This is a month that people neglect between the month of Rajab and the month of Ramadân. Yet, it is a month wherein the deeds are raised up to the Lord of All the Worlds, and I like to have my deeds raised up while I am fasting.”
This hadîth is related in Musnad Ahmad (21735) and Sunan al-Nasâ’î (2357). Ibn Muflih says about it in al-Furû` (3/120): “It has a good chain of transmission.”
Singling Out the 15th Day of Sha`bân for Fasting
The evidence given above applies to the entire month. There are no particular days within the month of Sha`bân that are particularly recommended for fasting. There is no special virtue for fasting on the 15th day of Sha`bân.
There is a weak hadîth that reads: “When the middle night of Sha`bân arrives, observe prayer throughout that night and fast the following day, for indeed Allah descends to the lower heavens on that night at sunset and declares: ‘Is there anyone seeking forgiveness whom I can forgive? Is anyone seeking My providence whom I can provide for? Is there anyone facing difficulties whose burdens I can ease?...’ and He keeps asking more and more until the break of dawn.” [Sunan Ibn Mâjah (1388)]
The author of al-Manâr has determined this hadîth to me not only weak, but fabricated. He says:
The truth is that this hadîth is a forgery. Its chain of transmissions contains the narrator Abû Bakr b. `Abd Allah b. Muhammad, who is better known as Ibn Abî Sabrah.
Ahmad b. Hanbal and Yahyâ b. Ma`în have both exposed him as a fabricator of hadîth.
[Also refer to: Majmû` al-Fatâwâ (5/266)]
Due to the fact that the practice of singling out the 15th of Sha`bân for fasting is not established by any sound hadîth, it is an unfounded practice. All scholars agree that weak and fabricated hadîth are not valid to establish specific acts of worship.
The only exception to this would be cases where a weak hadîth has support from numerous supporting narrations to the point where it is strengthened to the grade of being a good hadîth. In that case, it can be used for establishing an act of worship as long as its meaning is not at variance with what is stronger.
Consequently, it is an innovation in worship to single out this particular day for fasting, since any act of worship that is not established by the Sunnah is an innovation in religion.
Jâbir narrates that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
“Every innovation is a means of going astray.” [Sahîh Muslim (867)]
This does not mean that we should avoid fasting on the 15th of Sha`bân. It is like any other day in Sha`bân and the general hadîth that encourage fasting in Sha`bân apply to it just as much as they apply to every other day of the month. What is incorrect is to have an intention to particularly single out this day for fasting.
And Allah knows best.
Sheikh Muhammad b. Sâlih al-`Uthaymîn
