Is there any report that more souls are taken during Sha’ban?
Praise be to Allah.
What is mentioned in some reports is that the names of those
for whom death has been decreed in the coming year are all revealed to the
Angel of Death in the month of Sha’ban, and that he is told of their names
in scrolls from Allah, or that the annual decree of people’s deaths is
written in Sha’ban, so death is decreed in this month according to these
reports.
But these reports and haadeeths (narrations) are all weak
(da’eef), so they should not be relied upon and no attention should be paid
to their contents.
Al-Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi (may Allah have mercy on him)
said:
There is no reliable hadeeth about Laylat al-Nusf min Sha’ban
(the fifteenth night of Sha’ban) or about its virtues, or that people’s
deaths are decreed on this day, so no attention should be paid to that. End
quote.
Ahkam al-Quran (4/117):
This has been discussed previously, and we have quoted
comments of the scholars on this topic in the answers to questions no.
8907,
49675 and
We will quote here some of the reports quoted by al-Suyooti
(may Allah have mercy on him) which speak of the decree of death during
Sha’ban, in his book al-Durr al-Manthoor (7/401-401), and we will comment
briefly on each report.
He (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Ibn Jareer, Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Abi Hatim narrated via
Muhammad ibn Sooqah from ‘Ikrimah: “Therein (that night) is decreed every
matter of ordainments” [al-Dukhan 44:4]. He said: On the night before the
fifteenth of Sha’ban, the affairs of the year are decreed, and death is
decreed for some people, and it is decreed who is going to perform Hajj, and
no name will be added to or omitted from whatever is decreed.”
This is contrary to the correct view and interpretation of
the verse on which the salaf (pious predecessors) were agreed, which is that
what is meant thereby is Laylat al-Qadar. This has been discussed in the
answer to question no.
11722
Ibn Zanjawayh and al-Daylami narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may
Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) said: “Death is decreed from one Sha’ban to another,
even if a man gets married and a child is born to him when his name is among
those who are going to die.”
This was classed as da’eef by al-Shawkani in Fath al-Qadeer
(4/801); al-Albani said in al-Silsilat al-Da’eefah (no. 6607): It is munkar
(denounced).
Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated that ‘At’ ibn Yasar said: The
Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not fast
in any month more than he did in Sha’ban, and this is because death is
decreed for some people in that month for the coming year.
This is mursal (a narration whose chain stops at the
Successor) and da’eef (weak).
Abu Ya’la narrated from ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with
her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
used to fast all of Sha’ban. She asked him about this and he said: “Allah
decrees in it every soul who will die that year, and I want the decree of my
death to come to me when I am fasting.”
This was narrated by Abu Ya’la in al-Musnad (8/311). Its
isnad (chain of transmission) includes Suwayd ibn Sa’eed al-Hadathani, and
Muslim ibn Khalid al-Zanji, and Tareef, all of whom are classed as da’eef in
books of narrators’ biographies.
Al-Deenoori narrated in al-Mujalasah from Rashid ibn Sa’d
that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “On the
night before the fifteenth of Sha’ban, Allah reveals to the Angel of Death
to take the soul of every person whom He wants to take (in death) that
year.”
Al-Mujalisah wa Jawahir al-‘Ilm (p. 206). It is mursal and
was classed as da’eef by al-Albani in Da’eef al-Jami’ (no. 4019).
Ibn Jareer and al-Bayhaqi in Shu’ab al-Eean narrated from
al-Zuhri, that ‘Uthman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Mugheerah ibn al-Akhnas said: The
Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Death
is decreed from one Sha’ban to another, even if a man gets married and a
child is born to him when his name is among those who are going to die.”
Al-Shaykh al-Albani said in al-Silsilat al-Da’eefah (no.
6607): It is munkar.
Ibn Abi’l-Dunya narrated that ‘Ata ibn Yasar said: When the
night before the fifteenth of Sha’ban comes, a scroll is given to the Angel
of Death, and it is said: Take (the souls) of those who are mentioned in
this scroll. A man may furnish a house and get married and build houses, but
his name is already written among those who are to die.
These are only the words of ‘Ata; there is no isnad for this
report.
Al-Khateeb and Ibn al-Najjar narrated that ‘Aishah (may Allah
be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) used to fast all of Sha’ban, until he joined it to
Ramadan, and he did not fast any month in full except Sha’ban. I said: O
Messenger of Allah, is Sha’ban one of the dearest of months to you in which
to fast? He said: “Yes, O ‘Aishah, for there is no soul who is to die during
the year but his death is decreed in Sha’ban, and I want my death to be
decreed when I am worshipping my Lord and doing righteous deeds.”
The version narrated by Ibn al-Najjar says: “O ‘Aishah, in it
the Angel of Death writes down whose soul he will take, and I do not want my
name to be written down except when I am fasting.”
Narrated by al-Khateeb in Tareekh Baghdaad (4/436). Its isnad
includes Abu Bilal al-Ash’ari who was classed as da’eef by al-Daraqutni, as
it says in Mizan al-I’tidal (4/507). It also includes Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn
Humayd al-Makhdoob, Abu Ja’far al-Muqri, of whom al-Daraqutni said: he is
not strong. So the hadeeth is da’eef jiddan (very weak).
To sum up: There is no saheeh hadeeth to suggest that there
are more deaths in Sha’ban.
And Allah knows best.
