Ruling on Offering Acts of Worship on the Night of the Middle of Sha’baan

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah The Lord of The Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions. According to the majority of the Muslim scholars, offering acts of worship(reciting Quran, praying, making supplications and remembering Allah) on the night of the middle of Sha`baan is recommended as indicated in the following Hadith: “ Allah looks down on the night of the middle of Sha’ban and forgives all His creation, apart from the Mushahin and the murderer. ”{Ahmad}. This Hadith indicates that Allah The Almighty bestows His mercy and forgiveness upon his servants during this night. Moreover, offering acts of worship is recommended at all nights including this one. However, we would like to point out two key rulings stipulated by the Muslim scholars in this regard: First: It is recommended that a Muslim, on the night of the middle of Sha`baan, offers prayer alone, and not in congregation, whether in the mosque or else. Second: It isn`t permissible to offer prayer, on the night of the middle of Sha`baan, in a certain manner. This is known by some people as “ Al-Salah Al-Alfieh “, which is made of a hundred Rak`has(unit of prayer), where after Alfatihah, Al-Ikhlas chapter is recited for ten times in every Rakah. This prayer(Al-Salah Al-Alfieh) is unlawful and the Muslim scholars consider it an innovation. However, a Muslim is at liberty to offer as many prayers as he can, during the above night, and should be keen on invoking Allah and making supplication to him. And Allah knows best.