Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed
Is it permissible in our school to pray the raghaib prayer, consisting of twelve rak’ahs, on the first of Rajab?
Imam Ramli says in the Nihaya:
The raghaib prayer on the first Friday of Rajab and the fifteenth night of Sha’ban are two ugly and reprehensible innovations (Ar. bid’a) and the hadith about them is false. The Majmu’ (i.e., Imam Nawawi) has gone to great lengths to reject [m: this prayer]. Furthermore, there is no difference between praying it in a group or individually as the author (i.e., Imam al-Nawawi) clearly states. Whoever claims that there is no difference [m: between the impermissibility of praying it individually or in a group] for the first (i.e., the ragha’ib prayer) while the second (i.e., the fifteenth of Sha’ban) is unconditionally recommended [m: to be prayed] individually has erred. What difference is there when the noteworthy point here is the falseness of the hadith mentioning them? [h: To say that] these specific prayers are recommended in a group or individually entails inventing a ritual that has not been authentically established [h: from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)], and this is prohibited regarding prayers, particularly when they are assigned specific times.