What is Shab-e-barat? What is the significance of the night of the 15th of Sha’ban? Why is the Arab world not aware of this night? When did we start celebrating this religious festival and where? Is there any mention of this night in our Holy Qur’an? Is there any authentic book where something is mentioned about this night? In India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, some people celebrate this night and mix it up with the greatest night “Laylatul Qadr” of the month of Ramadan.
The month of Sha’ban is the eighth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. The fifteenth night of this month is known as Laylatul Bara’ah or Laylatun Nisfe min Sha’ban in the Arab world. In India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Afghanistan, etc., it is known as Shab-e-barat. Some people believe that in Surah al-Dukhan (44:3-4) there is a reference to this night as Allah says, “We sent it (the Qur’an) down during a blessed night. We are truly warners. In that night is made distinct every affair of wisdom” But the night referred to here cannot be a Sha’ban night, because it is said here clearly that the Qur’an was revealed in this night. We know from the Surah al-Qadr (97) that the Qur’an was revealed in the night of Qadr and we also know from the Qur’an (Al-Baqarah 2:185) that the Qur’an was revealed in the month of Ramadan, so it is obvious that the night of the revelation of the Qur’an was in Ramadan, not Sha’ban, and that it was Laylatul Qadr not Shab-e-barat (or the Sha’ban night). Some people also say that in the 2nd year of Hijrah, the direction of Qiblah was changed from Jerusalem to Ka’bah (Makkah) on the 15th day of Sha’ban. This report is also not confirmed by authentic Ahadith.According to most of the scholars of Tafsir, the Qur’an has not mentioned anything about the Sha’ban night. There are some Ahadith that speak about the Middle of Sha’ban and its night. However, the scholars of Hadith say that most of the Ahadith concerning this night are not sound. They are weak (da’if) according to the criteria of the Muhaddithin. Imam al-Mundhiri (died in 656 A. H.) in his famous book Al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib (vol. 2, pp. 116-120) has reported fourteen Ahadith on the subject of this night. The following points can be summarized from those Ahadith:
1. The month of Sha’ban is a great month.
2. In this month Allah takes the account of His creation.
3. Because this month occurs between two other important months, viz. Rajab and Ramadan, many people do not pay enough attention to it.
4. The Prophet -peace be upon him- loved to fast during this month. He used to fast most of the month of Sha’ban.
5. After sunset during the night of Middle of Sha’ban, Allah in His great mercy and kindness turns towards His creation and asks, “Is there anyone who would seek My forgiveness and I forgive him/her? Is there anyone who is in need to ask Me and I provide for his/her needs. Is there anyone who in pain and seek My help and I help him/her? Is there? Is there? until the time of Fajr.”
6. The Prophet -peace be upon him- is said to have recommended prayers during this night and fasting during the following day.
7. It reported that the Prophet -peace be upon him- used to visit the Muslim cemetery on this evening and he used to pray for the deceased Muslims. These are the things that we learn from some Ahadith about the significance of this night. However, there are many practices and customs common in some Muslim countries, such as making a sweet dish (Halwa), doing fireworks (atish baazi) etc. These things have no meaning and no reference in Ahadith. There are also some superstitious beliefs about this night. For example, some people believe that the spirits (arwah) of the deceased visit their relatives during this night. Some believe that there is a special Tree in the heaven upon whose leaves are the names of all human beings, and whatever leaves drop during this night, those people are destined to die in this year. Some think that the decisions about the life and death of people are made during this night. All these beliefs and superstitions do not belong to the authentic teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah.We must try to follow the Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah of the blessed Prophet -peace be upon him. It is our duty as Muslims to take advantage of all good occasions to revive our faith, to purify our souls and to increase our love and devotion to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, but we must follow the Sunnah of the Prophet -peace be upon him. We must not do anything in our celebrations that is against his teachings.
The great month of Sha’ban is the eighth month of the lunar year in the Islamic calendar and the month immediately proceeding the month of Ramadan. May Almighty Allah grant us more blessings in this sacred month and help us to prepare before holy month of Ramadhan
FASTING AND SELF-RESTRAINT
Among numerous other spiritual and moral benefits of fasting, one is to prepare man for developing self-control. In order to have a comprehensive understanding of this, one ought to know the Islamic conception of self-restraint and then how fasting helps in achieving this.
The meaning of self-restraint is that man’s psyche (Islam defines psyche as that part of one’s self, which takes decision on good or evil deeds.) exercises blanket control on his body and its energies, and the requisition and desires of baser-self (in Islamic terminology, baser-self is defined as that part of one’s self which motivates people for evil deeds) should be in its clutches to make them abide by its demands. Psyche occupies the same position in a human body as that of a ruler in his empire. Body and its different parts are the subordinates of psyche. All mental and physical powers are meant to be at its disposal. The rule of baser-self is limited to presenting them to psyche, with request. The final decision rests with psyche as to how these energies and tools are put to use and which of the baser-self requisitions be accepted or rejected. If ones psyche is so frail that it is unable to rule the empire of his body, according to its wishes, and begins to take the desires of baser-self as command or instructions, then it becomes a paralysed psyche. Such people cannot lead a successful and purposeful life. Those who have left a mark in history and human civilization are the ones who had domination on the human energies, at their disposal; who have not lived as prisoners of their wishes and slaves of their desires but have kept their wishes and desires under check; and those who have firm determination and rock-solid resolution.
But there is a contrasting difference between psyches which itself assumes the role of Allah and the one which functions under the subordination of Allah. For a successful life, complete domination on psyche is nevertheless a must, but if it is free of its Creator and unmindful of its Lord; which is not restrained by a superior moral system; which presumes that it is not accountable for its deeds, if such a psyche dominates the power of his baser-life and body and becomes a rock like psyche, then it could merely produce Fir’aun, Namroud, Hitler and Mussolini. Such a self-restraint is neither appreciable nor is it desirable in Islam. The self-restraint which is required by Islam is that man’s self, firstly, surrenders itself to Allah makes compliance of His instructions and the desire to fulfil His wishes its sole objective; assumes himself to be accountable to Him, then such a virtuous and Muslim psyche exercises iron rule on its body and wields complete domination on its baser-self and its body and wields complete domination on its baser-self and its demands, so that it becomes a strong and vibrant force in this world.
This is the definition of self-restraint, from Islamic point of view. Now, it is elaborated as to how fasting in stills this energy into human beings.
If the demands of human body and baser-self are analysed, it will be inferred that three demands are pivotal, and all of them are most vehement. First is the demand for food, on which relies the subsistence of life. Second is the carnal desire, depends on which the survival of humanity. Third is the longing for rest and relaxation which is a must for reenergizing and rejuvenating human physique. All the three demands, within reasonable limits, are absolutely compatible with nature. But the same three loops, at the disposable of baser-self and body are such, that at the slightest lapse, they make man’s conscience their own slave. Each of these demands turns into a long list of sub-demands and each one struggles to make man forget his principles and ignore the decries of his conscience, in order to attract his entire attention for its realisation. A fragile psyche, once entrapped, the demand for food makes it a glutton. Sensual desires force him to stoop to inhuman level, and lethargy does not allow him to reach new heights. It, then, becomes the governed rather than the ruler of baser-self and its function is reduced to executing orders of baser-self by hook or crook and through every hanky-panky route, available to it.
Fasting encompasses these three demands of baser-self and trains the psyche to control them. Fasting notifies the psyche, which is faithful to Allah, that your Allah has prohibited dining and drinking for the whole day; during this period you are also forbidden from carnal pleasures; you cannot, from dawn to dusk, enjoy such pleasure even through means which are otherwise permissible. It also appraises the psyche that the will of Allah is, after breaking the daylong fast, do not slacken and lie down, rather get up and offer prayers longer than normal days. It instructs that after long and tiring prayer, when you got to bed, do not take a long sleep till morning, rather wake up long before dawn, against the normal course and eat something before starting the fast. After communicating these injunctions, the responsibility of pursuing them is left on every individual. Constabulary, intelligence or any other external agency is not deployed to implement these instructions. If one dines or gratifies sensual desire, clandestinely, then no one is around him, except Allah, to notice. It one make lame excuses to avoid long prayers in the night (Taraveeh), then no force on the earth will quiz him. Every thing depends on his won, if the psyche of a Muslim is pledged with Allah and if his will power is strong enough to tame the baser-self, then he will himself mould the demand for food, desire for sex and wish for rest into a system which has been established, against the routine.
This exercise is not restricted just for a day. One day training cannot be sufficient for this kind of activity. This is conducted for a month, at a stretch. This programme has been chalked out for 720 hours in a year; to get up towards the last part of the night; stop eating at the break of dawn (sahar); restrict from dining through out the day; break the fast (iftaar), immediately after the sun set; then spend early part of the night by standing for unusually long prayers (taraveeh); and after relaxing for few hours, repeat the same course the following day. Thus, three strongest and most common urges of the baser-self are moulded, perpetually, to provide strength to the psyche for ruling the baser-self according to the will of Allah. This conditioning programme is not held just once in a life time, rather one month is devoted every year, from the age of reaching adolescence till one dies. This repetition is meant to revitalize and strengthen the grip of psyche over baser-self.
This exercise is not carried out to make the psyche of a Muslim control just his hunger, thirst, carnal desires and the urge to relax. Nor is this done to retain control over baser-self and body, for a month only. Strictly, the primary objective is that after having tamed the three strongest cravings of the psyche, one should emerge strong enough to exercise restrain over his all desires and emotions; and be prepared to comply with the injunctions of Allah during the remaining eleven months of the year as well, through his body; and its forces. One should strive for every piety which consents with the will of Allah, restrict himself from every vice which is abhorred by Allah and strictly adhere to those restrictions which Allah has place on his demands and demotions. Baser-self should not be put in the driver’s seat to steer him at will, the responsibility of navigation should rather be in his own hands to direct the urges as desired by Allah. One should not have such a weak will power that even after recognising the mandatory instructions (faraiz) as a must and wishing to fulfil them; but finding the body beyond his control. Never! Within the physical empire, should one behave like a dominant ruler who always commands his subordinates according to his own whims? Creating this power is the ultimate objective of fasting. One who fails to achieve this strength through fasting, he unnecessarily puts himself to the inconvenience of hunger, thirst and of sleep and rest.
Qur'an and Hadees (the sayings of Prophet Muhammad Sallallallhu Alaihi Wasallam (P.B.U.H) both have clearly elaborated this: Qur'an states: Fasting has been made mandatory for you so that you attain the trait of self restraint. Hadees of Prophet Muhammad Sallallallhu Alaihi Wasallam (P.B.U.H) is: One who tells lies and practices lies, he is not required by Allah to stop eating and drinking. He further added that most of the fasters are such that they do not gain anything from fasting, except hunger and thirst.
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