Laylat al-Baraʾah, Eid of the Angels by Hajja Rukiye Sultan

Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm

Madad Ya Sayyidi Ya Rasul Allah ﷺ, wa Mashayikhina Sheikh Nazim Adil Al-Haqqaniق, Sheikh Muhammad Ar-Rabbaniق

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuhu

The month of Sha’ban is the month of the Prophet ﷺ. It has one holy night from the holiest nights of the year of the Islamic Hijri year. It is Laylat al-Baraʾah, Laylat Nisf Sha’ban, the night of the 15th of Sha’ban.

Laylat al-Baraʾah is like a New Year day, like the Eid of the angels in the Heavens. It is the Eid of angels. Muslims have two Eids, one is Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr, and the angels also have two Eids. One is Laylat al-Baraʾah and the other is Laylat al-Qadr, the Night of Qadr.

Allah ﷻ made the Night of Qadr secret. You have to look for it and you have to keep trying to make every night as Laylat al-Qadr in Ramadan, especially the last ten nights. The wisdom of it is that you seek the rahmah, mercy and forgiveness of Allah ﷻ. Keep looking for it because it is a night of mercy and blessing and forgiveness from Allah ﷻ for mumins (believers).

The night of Baraʾah is known. Everyone knows this, and the wisdom of it is that on this night every hukm, every order is written from one year to the next year, for life, for death, for hajj and travelling, for the destiny of a person. It is given to the angels also to write new books for this person, this servant of Allah ﷻ.

The night of Baraʾah is a very holy night. In many places in the Quran, especially in Surah ad-Dukhan:

“Inna anzalnahu fi laylatin mubarakatin inna kunna mundhirin. Fiha yufraqu kullu amrin hakim”

(Quran 44:3–4)

“Every order, everything that will happen this year is made clear on this night.”

The Prophet ﷺ was praying for his Ummah on the night of the 13th and until morning, making du’a in sajdah, and Jibril (AS) came to him and said that one third of his Ummah is forgiven. The next day, the 14th of Sha’ban, we count the night before the day in the Islamic calendar, the Prophet ﷺ was praying also until morning, and Jibril (AS) came and said that the second third of his Ummah is forgiven. On the night of Baraʾah, the night of the 15th of Sha’ban, the Prophet ﷺ was praying and he was in sajdah, and Jibril (AS) came and said:

“Ya Muhammad ﷺ, ya RasulAllah ﷺ, lift your head and look to the Heavens. All the doors of the Heavens are open, and all the angels are praying for your Ummah the whole night, and all your Ummah is forgiven except those who make shirk with Allah ﷻ or whoever commits the major sins, drinking alcohol, doing bad things like zina, adultery, killing, or practising magic. If they are not repenting, they are not forgiven, but all your Ummah is forgiven.”

On this night all the doors of the Heavens are opened. All the angels are calling for the Ummah to ask for istighfar and for mercy until morning, and Allah ﷻ is forgiving them. It is the time for the renewing of our books. The books that the angels wrote, registering all our deeds, are raised to the Heavens, and new books are given for the angels to write. So we wish that on this night our books are filled with more good deeds than sins.

The night of the 15th of Sha’ban we make our wird as we all know. Between Maghrib and Isha there are three Yasin Sharif to read. You read the first Yasin with the intention to have a long life with health. The second is to keep bad things away, daf al-bala, with the intention of protection from bad things. The third Yasin Sharif is for rizq halal wal-ghina an an-nas, to have halal provision and not be in need of others.

You may read these three Yasin Sharif with these three intentions, and after every Yasin Sharif there is a du’a.

To be fasting on this day is good, and to be fasting the next day also is better in the middle of Sha’ban. If you are fasting that day, at Maghrib time quickly break your fast and read the three Yasin, because the time is short.

Fast at least one day in Sha’ban, the day of Baraʾah, and fast the second day of the middle of Sha’ban. After that, if you are used to fasting Monday and Thursday, you can fast. If you are not used to it, then wait until Ramadan starts and fast.

There is a special prayer for the Night of Baraʾah, one hundred rakat. In each rakat it is advised to read one Fatiha then Ikhlas Sharif. You can pray them in jamaah or you can pray alone. It is a blessed prayer. InshaAllah it will be easy for you. You can pray them all together, or you can pray ten rakat and rest, then pray ten more as you like. You have to do it in one night, the night of the 15th of Sha’ban.

If you cannot pray them all, at least pray two rakat, or ten, or twenty, or thirty, or forty, or as much as you can. If you can pray all one hundred rakat, it is the best. Mawlana Shaykh Nazimق used to pray them two by two.

The salihin advised to pray these one hundred rakat with one Fatiha in the first rakat and ten Ikhlas in the second rakat, to complete one thousand Ikhlas, so that when you finish the one hundred rakat you have made Khatm al-Ikhlas.

If this is difficult, or there is no time, as usual we are tired or sleepy, Mawlana Shaykh Nazimق and Mawlana Shaykh Mehmetق were praying with two Ikhlas in the first rakat and one Ikhlas in the second rakat, so that when you finish you have completed one hundred and fifty Ikhlas with the one hundred rakat, and then you complete the remaining eight hundred and fifty Ikhlas with tasbih.

Hajjah Anneق and Mawlana Shaykh Nazimق advised that if you owe prayers, you should make them up on this night. So instead, pray the one hundred rakat with the intention of Laylat al-Baraʾah and also with the intention of making up your missed prayers. You will have double reward.

Laylat al-Baraʾah is the time of renewing our books. The books that the angels wrote are raised to the Heavens and new books are given.

We ask Allah ﷻ to make our books full of good deeds, to give us good destiny, health, wealth, happiness, iman, and to allow those who pass away to pass away with iman and Islam.

Al-Fatiha.

• Hjh Rukiye Sultan

Full Guide to the Night of Laylatul Baraʾah (Nisfu Shaʿban) can be found here.

PDF to the Full Devotions here.

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