What Happens on the 15th Night of Sha’aban

What Happens on the 15th Night of Sha'ban?

Khutbah by Dr. Omar Suleiman

Introduction: The Month of Sha'ban

As we talk about the month of Ramadan, and that which follows, it is important for us to really make the most of the moment that we are in, and in particular, a discussion ensues about the middle of this month of Sha'ban. And so let me just start off with a few basic things.

The salaf, the pious predecessors used to refer to this month as shahrul qurra, the month of the reciters, whereas Ramadan is shahrul qur'an, it is the month of the Quran. Because this is the month where the reciters begin the recitation of the Quran, and they show their commitment to the Quran before the month of Ramadan even starts.

This is the month of fasting for the people of ihsan, for the people of excellence. As Aisha (radiallahu ta'ala anha) said, "I never saw the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) fast a month after Ramadan more than this month of Sha'ban that we are in."

The Virtue of Sha'ban

And then you have the discussion about the 15th night of Sha'ban, and whether or not there is anything that is specific to that night. And so I want to start with the following insha'Allah ta'ala, and that is to say that the month of Sha'ban is virtuous in and of itself, and it offers us the opportunity, the potential to clear out our hearts and to prepare our hearts for Ramadan without anything of the month of Sha'ban needing to be any more distinguished than it already is.

The month in and of itself is a month that is distinguished, the entire month honored and distinguished for those who wish to meet Ramadan with their hearts prepared and with their actions already in motion while other people are just trying to get started. It is already virtuous enough.

But secondly, that what the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) proposed or put forth as a reason for the blessing of this month is that the deeds are raised to Allah:

"Turfa'u feehi al-a'mal"

"The deeds are raised in it [this month]"

That the deeds are presented to Allah in this month, and that in and of itself should give us some pause. Because if the deeds are presented to Allah and Allah sees holes in those deeds before the month of Ramadan even starts, then it's important for us to start plugging those holes.

The Barrier of Grudges

But if the deeds are presented to Allah and we are blocked off from that presentation even happening in the first place, then what is the point of even going forward with our good deeds when our deeds are blocked off from Allah. What do I mean by that?

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) used to fast every Monday and every Thursday. And when he was asked why he used to fast every Monday and every Thursday, he mentioned (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) because those are the times in which the deeds are presented to Allah.

And Allah is the most merciful when He accounts. But Allah sees two people who have a grudge, and He says:

"Anthiru hadhayni hatta yastaslaha"

"Leave these two until they reconcile amongst themselves."

Allah does not even look at their deeds. So there are those who when the deeds are presented to Allah on Mondays and Thursdays, their deeds are not even looked at. And there are those who when their deeds are presented to Allah on Mondays and Thursdays, they are in a state of fasting. And there's an entire spectrum in between.

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) described this entire month as a month of accounting by Allah when the deeds are presented to Allah. And he wanted to be in a state of fasting as his deeds were in presentation to Allah.

The Constant Recording of Deeds

Now what does that even mean in the first place? Because Allah says:

"Ma yalfidhu min qawlin illa ladayhi raqeebun 'ateed"

"Man does not utter any word except that with him is an observer prepared [to record]."

And Allah sees you at every moment. It is one of those things in which Allah has given us to let us know that there's careful attention in those moments. Similar to how you can make dua to Allah at every single moment.

"Wa idha sa'alaka 'ibaadee 'annee fa innee qareeb"

"And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near."

When my servant calls upon me, I am close to them. But there is a special time that Allah wants you to know in that last third of the night that your dua is particularly attended to. And so your deeds are particularly attended to in the month of Sha'ban.

Your deeds are particularly attended to on the night of Monday and Thursday, on the day of Monday and Thursday. And you want to be attentive to those deeds as well, just as you want to be attentive to those duas.

The 15th Night of Sha'ban

Now when it comes to the 15th night of Sha'ban, almost all that has been narrated about it fills the threshold of authenticity, even being considered for authenticity. There is a narration that's strengthened by multiple narrations that many of the scholars have accepted, both classical and contemporary. And it revolves around these few deeds. It revolves around these two things that the believer might find very very hard to adopt in their lives.

And it's more about what you're emptying out rather than what you're putting forward. That in this narration by Ibn Hibban that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was reported to have said that Allah looks out to His creation every single 15th night of Sha'ban. So the middle point of Sha'ban.

"Yaghfiru li jamee'i khalqihi illa mushrikaan aw mushahinaan"

"And Allah forgives all of His servants except for a disbeliever or a person who carries spite [hatred] in their hearts."

Shirk and shahna are the things that disqualify a person from being forgiven on that night. And I wanna pause here for a moment.

Every Night is an Opportunity

If we were to put aside all of the discussions of the ulama about whether or not this hadith would be accepted or not. And if we were to put aside all of the discussion from the scholars about whether or not this night of the 15th night which will be tomorrow night in most calendars. If we were to put all that aside, every single night is a night in which a person should honor that night by calling upon Allah and waking up and praying qiyam al-layl.

Every single night is a night in which Allah presents you that opportunity. And if the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) used to fast most of Sha'ban, and in every month the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) used to fast the 13th, 14th and 15th as a sunnah, then fasting the 15th is virtuous in any single month. So the fasting is done, the qiyam is done, all of that is done.

Aside from the acts that have no basis in Islam that some people do culturally, let's talk about not just honoring the night, but honoring something that we're supposed to do in the first place and pay attention to. In Ramadan, Allah incentivizes the things that are already rewardable, the ibadah that you're already supposed to do. But here dear brothers and sisters, these two conditions, these two things that are to be removed from us, require from us not just special attention, but a special type of love for Allah that would allow us to overcome our hurdles towards Him in that journey that we hope to have in Ramadan.

Understanding Shirk

When it comes to shirk, we already know, no one is to be worshipped aside or next to Allah, no one should be given that rank, no one should be associated, as Allah says:

"Ana aghnaa ash-shurakaaa'i 'an ash-shirk"

"I am the most worthy, I am too worthy to have anyone associated with me in worship."

"Faman 'amila 'amalan ashraka feehi ma'ee ghayree taraktahu wa shirkah"

"So whoever does a deed seeking someone other than me, then I will leave him and his shirk. There's no need for that deed."

And so removing anything that would be a barrier between us and Allah in that regard is more self-explanatory. But the point is that I worship Allah alone, only for Allah without anyone else in consideration. I worship Allah:

"Aamantu billah"

"I believe in Allah"

There's no one else that's going to interfere with that relationship with Allah.

The Challenge of Shahna (Hatred/Grudges)

The second one though, that's the tough one. That you have hatred towards someone else that you carry a grudge, that you're holding on to something that is consuming your heart, consuming your deeds, and shutting off the gates of those deeds before your deeds even get there.

I want you to think about this. Ramadan opens for business on the first night, and there are people that arrive at the gate of Ramadan and they are told, even though you are alive, stay outside. Why? Because a person was unwilling to relinquish that grudge between them and their Lord.

A person was unwilling to relinquish that hatred for the sake of Allah. Now as I said, this is a spectrum. And the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) mentioned, especially when your deeds are supposed to be presented to Allah, don't put a barrier between you and Allah.

There's a spectrum here. But when it comes to شَحْنَاء )shahna), it rarely remains stagnant and it consumes a person beyond being rational, and especially to a point where they can no longer be truly spiritual and connected to Allah. The ulema mentioned, the scholars mentioned that with that hatred that consumes a person, it takes a person from merely being reckless to wanting to wreck other people.

And in the process, it makes their deeds especially dangerous and malicious. So for example, usually when it comes to الغيبة )al-gheeba), backbiting, the scholars say that gheeba often emanates, backbiting often emanates out of recklessness. But what usually crosses the line or causes that backbiting to cross the line into slander, which is even far more dangerous than backbiting, is that there's an element of hatred.

You're not just reckless with your tongue, you wanna hurt someone, you wanna bring them down, and so you pass on slander about them. In one narration, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) mentioned, by the way مُشْرِكْ، مُشاحِدٌ، أَوْ قَاتِلُ نَفْسٍ )mushrik, mushaahid, aw qaatilu nafs), "or someone who murders."

What takes a person from being silly, and being loose, and being reckless, to being violent, and being particularly destructive is that they have an element of hatred towards their brother or towards their sister.

Learning from the Angels

I want you to walk this back. And I want you to think about all of the messages that you're gonna hear in Ramadan about worshiping like the angels. You want to be as much like the mala'ika as possible in Ramadan.

The angels don't eat and drink, they nourish themselves from the worship of Allah. The angels don't disobey Allah:

"La ya'soona Allaha ma amarahum wa yafaloona ma yu'maroon"

"They do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded."

Your fasting is an angelic exercise. You are imitating their worship of Allah in many ways during that time. When you stand up and you pray at night, and you deny your body so that you can nourish your soul, and you find all of that ibadah, all that worship and the angels are descending and ascending with your name and with your deeds. Be like the angels, be like the angels, be like the angels.

There's an element here that precedes the output of good deeds. And it's particularly relevant to this moment of Sha'ban. The angels love only for Allah, and they hate only for Allah.

They love only for Allah, and they hate only for Allah. What was it that allowed the companions of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) to prostrate their faces to the ground after decades of prostrating to idols was that they worshiped only Allah, they purified themselves from shirk altogether. But what was it that allowed them to prostrate instantaneously next to people that had killed their own family members and persecuted them and did all sorts of evil things to them is that they were also doing that for Allah.

That they learned to love and to hate only for Allah, and they removed their nafs, they removed themselves from that equation altogether. Similar to how the angels only love and hate for Allah. We're talking about the companion Amr ibn Aas (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) this past week.

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) made dua against him. But as soon as he saw him coming to him to say la ilaha illallah muhammadur rasulullah he loves him (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) so much that Amr thinks he's the most beloved companion to the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). Because that love and that hatred is only driven by Allah.

By how a person connects that relationship to the most consequential relationship in their lives. That relationship that they have with Allah. Just as there's a connection between shirk and shahna.

The Connection Between Shirk and Shahna

Multiple things that the scholars mentioned. That shahna can even lead to shirk. That a person can worship their hatred of another person somehow to where they will do anything to bring down that other person to the point of leaving off their own deen to ruin that other person.

Isn't that the case of Iblis? Isn't that the case of the devil himself? But there's also a connection between ikhlas, sincerity to Allah, the opposite of shirk, and the willingness to let go of a grudge or let go of hatred for the sake of Allah.

You know the famous hadith of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) where he said:

"Inna Allaha idha ahabba 'abdan naadaa Jibreel"

"When Allah loves someone, He calls Jibreel."

See it from the perspective of the angels.

"Innee uhibbu fulaanan fa ahibbah"

"Oh Jibreel, I love this person, so love that person."

Jibreel immediately loves that person. Jibreel doesn't need to hear anything else. I love that person. Because Allah loves that person. And then Jibreel tells the angels and all of the angels love because Allah loves that person. There's a continuation of that hadith in Sahih Muslim by the way.

When Allah is angry with a person, when Allah despises someone:

"Naadaa Jibreela innee ubghidu fulaanan fa abghidhh"

"He calls Jibreel, 'I despise so-and-so, so you too should despise that creation."

Jibreel despises that creation. Now in the situation of the one who Allah loves:

"Wudi'a lahu al-qaboolu fil-ard"

"Allah causes the love and acceptance of that person in the hearts of the believers to descend in the hearts of people around them."

And for the one that Allah despises, Allah causes الْبَغْضاء )al-baghdaa') also, that repulsion to descend in the hearts of the believers for that person, for that one. But the point is, is that just like the angels, they love and they hate for Allah.

They feel compassion and they feel rage for Allah. And that's from their sweetness of Iman,