فضل ليلة النصف من شعبان عند ابن تيمية وابن رجب الحنبلي والألباني

The virtues of the Mid-Shaʿbān Night according to Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī and al-Albānī

في شهر شعبان من كل عام يكثر الجدال حول فضل ليلة النصف من شعبان واستحباب قيامها ما بين قائل بذلك ومنكر، والذي أريد أن أوصله إلى القراء ثلاثة أمور:

In the month of Sha’bān each year, much debate arises regarding the virtues of mid-Sha’bān night and the recommendation of staying up in worship during it, between those who affirm this and those who deny it. What I want to convey to the readers are three matters:

المثال الأول: الشيخ ابن تيمية الحراني -رحمه الله-:

First Example: Shaykh Ibn Taymiyya al-Ḥarrānī – may Allah have mercy on him:

يرى ابن تيمية:

Ibn Taymiyyah’s view:

أولا: قد ورد في فضل ليلة النصف من شعبان احاديث وآثار .

First: There have been reported traditions [aḥādīth] and narrations [āthār] concerning the virtue of mid-Sha’bān night.

ثانيا: وكان بعض السلف يصلون فيها..

Second: Some of the predecessors [Salaf] would pray during it.

ثالثا: لا يجوز الإنكار على من صلى فيها منفردا أو جماعة.

Third: It is not permissible to condemn those who pray during it, whether individually or in congregation.

رابعا: يجوز أن يصلي الناس فيها بجماعة خاصة بل الصلاة فيها منفردا او جماعة حسن بل أحسن.

Fourth: It is permissible for people to pray in it in a special congregation; indeed, praying in it individually or in congregation is good, rather better.

خامسا: يرى ابن تيمية بأن الاجتماع في المساجد على صلاة مئة ركعة بِقِرَاءَة ألف {قل هُوَ الله أحد} دَائِما فَهِيَ بِدعَة لم يستحبها أحد.

Fifth: Ibn Taymiyya considers that gathering in mosques for a hundred-unit prayer with constant recitation of a thousand “Qul Huwa Allāhu Aḥad” is an innovation [bidʿah] that no one has recommended.

وإليك مجموعة من فتاواه على هذا:

Here are some of his legal opinions [fatāwā] on this:

قال: ” وَأَمَّا لَيْلَةُ النِّصْفِ فَقَدْ رُوِيَ فِي فَضْلِهَا أَحَادِيثُ وَآثَارٌ وَنُقِلَ عَنْ طَائِفَةٍ مِنْ السَّلَفِ أَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا يُصَلُّونَ فِيهَا فَصَلَاةُ الرَّجُلِ فِيهَا وَحْدَهُ قَدْ تَقَدَّمَهُ فِيهِ سَلَفٌ وَلَهُ فِيهِ حُجَّةٌ فَلَا يُنْكَرُ مِثْلُ هَذَا.

He said: “As for the mid-night, traditions [aḥādīth] and narrations [āthār] have been reported regarding its virtue, and it has been transmitted from a group of the predecessors [Salaf] that they used to pray during it. Thus, a man’s prayer in it alone has precedent among the predecessors [Salaf] and he has evidence for it, so such a thing cannot be denied.

وَإِذا صلى لَيْلَة النّصْف وَحده أَو بِجَمَاعَة خَاصَّة فَهُوَ حسن، أما الِاجْتِمَاع على صَلَاة فِي الْمَسَاجِد مقدرَة بِمِائَة رَكْعَة بِقِرَاءَة ألف {قل هُوَ الله أحد} دَائِما فَهِيَ بِدعَة لم يستحبها أحد”(1)

And if one prays on the mid-night alone or in a special congregation, it is good. However, gathering for prayer in masjids prescribed as one hundred units with the constant recitation of a thousand ‘Qul Huwa Allāhu Aḥad’ is an innovation [bidʿah] that no one has recommended.” (1)

وقال: مَسْأَلَةٌ:فِي صَلَاةِ نِصْفِ شَعْبَانَ؟

And he said: Question: Regarding the prayer of mid-Sha’bān?

الْجَوَابُ: إذَا صَلَّى الْإِنْسَانُ لَيْلَةَ النِّصْفِ وَحْدَهُ، أَوْ فِي جَمَاعَةٍ خَاصَّةٍ كَمَا كَانَ يَفْعَلُ طَوَائِفُ مِنْ السَّلَفِ، فَهُوَ أَحْسَنُ.

The answer: If a person prays on the mid-night alone, or in a special congregation as groups of the predecessors [Salaf] used to do, then this is better.

وَأَمَّا الِاجْتِمَاعُ فِي الْمَسَاجِدِ عَلَى صَلَاةٍ مُقَدَّرَةٍ كَالِاجْتِمَاعِ عَلَى مِائَةِ رَكْعَةٍ، بِقِرَاءَةِ أَلِفِ: {قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ} [الإخلاص: 1] دَائِمًا فَهَذَا بِدْعَةٌ، لَمْ يَسْتَحِبَّهَا أَحَدٌ مِنْ الْأَئِمَّةِ”.(2)

However, gathering in mosques for a prescribed prayer such as gathering for one hundred units, with the constant recitation of a thousand ‘Qul Huwa Allāhu Aḥad’ [Al-Ikhlāṣ: 1], this is an innovation [bidʿah] that none of the scholars [aʾimmah] has recommended.” (2)

وقال: “ومن هذا الباب: ليلة النصف من شعبان، فقد روى في فضلها من الأحاديث المرفوعة والآثار ما يقتضي أنها ليلة مفضلة وأن من السلف من كان يخصها بالصلاة فيها، وصوم شهر شعبان قد جاءت فيه أحاديث صحيحة.

And he said: “And from this category is the mid-Sha’bān night, for there have been reported concerning its virtue elevated traditions [aḥādīth marfūʿah] and narrations [āthār] which indicate that it is a preferred night and that some of the predecessors [salaf] would designate it for prayer, and regarding fasting in the month of Sha’bān, authentic traditions have been reported.

ومن العلماء: من السلف من أهل المدينة، وغيرهم من الخلف، من أنكر فضلها، وطعن في الأحاديث الواردة فيها، كحديث: «إن الله يغفر فيها لأكثر من عدد شعر غنم كلب» وقال: لا فرق بينها وبين غيرها، لكن الذي عليه كثير من أهل العلم، أو أكثرهم، من أصحابنا وغيرهم -على تفضيلها، وعليه يدل نص أحمد، لتعدد الأحاديث الواردة فيها، وما يصدق ذلك من الآثار السلفية، وقد روي بعض فضائلها في المسانيد والسنن وإن كان قد وضع فيها أشياء أخر.

And among the scholars: there were some predecessors [Salaf] from the people of Madina, and others from later generations [khalaf], who denied its virtue and criticized the traditions reported about it, such as the tradition: “Indeed Allah forgives in it more than the number of sheep hairs of the tribe of Kalb,” and said: there is no difference between it and other nights. However, many scholars, or most of them, from our (Hanbali) companions[i] and others, hold the view of its preference, and this is indicated by the text of Aḥmad (ibn Hanbal), due to the multiple traditions reported about it and what confirms that from the predecessors’ narrations [āthār salafiyyah], and some of its virtues have been reported in the Musnad compilations [masānīd] and  Sunan (hadith collections), even though other things have been fabricated regarding it.

فأما صوم يوم النصف مفردًا فلا أصل له، بل إفراده مكروه، وكذلك اتخاذه موسمًا تصنع فيه الأطعمة، وتظهر فيه الزينة، هو من المواسم المحدثة المبتدعة، التي لا أصل لها.

As for fasting the mid-day alone, there is no basis for it; rather, singling it out is disliked [makrūh].[ii] Similarly, taking it as a season in which foods are prepared and decorations are displayed is among the innovated [muḥdatha] and invented [mubtadaʿa] seasons that have no basis.

وكذلك ما قد أحدث في ليلة النصف، من الاجتماع العام للصلاة الألفية في المساجد الجامعة، ومساجد الأحياء والدروب والأسواق. فإن هذا الاجتماع لصلاة نافلة مقيدة بزمان وعدد، وقدر من القراءة لم يشرع، مكروه. فإن الحديث الوارد في الصلاة الألفية موضوع باتفاق أهل العلم بالحديث، وما كان هكذا لا يجوز استحباب صلاة بناء عليه، وإذا لم يستحب فالعمل المقتضي لاستحبابها مكروه”.(3)

Likewise, what has been innovated on the mid-night, such as the general gathering for the thousand-unit prayer in congregational mosques, neighbourhood mosques, alleyways, and markets. For this gathering for a voluntary prayer restricted by time and number, and an amount of recitation that has not been legislated, is disliked [makrūh]. The Hadith reported regarding the thousand-unit prayer is fabricated [mawḍūʿ] by consensus of the scholars of tradition [ahl al-ʿilm bil-ḥadīth], and what is such cannot be the basis for recommending a prayer, and if it is not recommended, then the practice implying its recommendation is disliked [makrūh].” (3)

المثال الثاني: ذكر الشيخ ناصر الدين الألباني في فضل ليلة النصف من شعبان عدة احاديث حكم علي بعضها بالصحة وعلى بعضها بأنها حسنة: منها:

The second example: Shaykh Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī[iii] mentioned several traditions regarding the virtue of mid-Sha’bān night, ruling some as authentic [ṣaḥīḥ] and others as good [ḥasan], including:

– «إذا كان ليلة النصف من شعبان اطلع الله إلى خلقه فيغفر للمؤمنين ويملي للكافرين ويدع أهل الحقد بحقدهم حتى يدعوه» . (حسن)

“When it is the mid-night of Sha’bān, Allah looks upon His creation and forgives the believers, gives respite to the disbelievers, and leaves the people of rancor with their rancor until they abandon it.” (Good [ḥasan])

– «إن الله تعالى ليطلع في ليلة النصف من شعبان فيغفر لجميع خلقه إلا لمشرك أو مشاحن» . (حسن)

“Indeed Allah, the Most High, looks down on the mid-night of Sha’bān and forgives all His creation except for a polytheist [mushrik] or one bearing grudges [mushāḥin].” (Good [ḥasan])

ثم أورد حديث «في ليلة النصف من شعبان يغفر الله لأهل الأرض إلا لمشرك أو مشاحن» . (صحيح)

Then he cited the tradition: “On the mid-night of Sha’bān, Allah forgives the people of the earth except for a polytheist [mushrik] or one bearing grudges [mushāḥin].” (Authentic [ṣaḥīḥ])

– ” يطلع الله تبارك وتعالى إلى خلقه ليلة النصف من شعبان، فيغفر لجميع خلقه إلا لمشرك أو مشاحن “.

“Allah, Blessed and Most High, looks upon His creation on the mid-night of Sha’bān, and forgives all His creation except for a polytheist [mushrik] or one bearing grudges [mushāḥin].”

وقال بعده مباشرة: حديث صحيح، روي عن جماعة من الصحابة من طرق مختلفة يشد بعضها بعضا وهم معاذ ابن جبل وأبو ثعلبة الخشني وعبد الله بن عمرو وأبي موسى الأشعري وأبو هريرة وأبو بكر الصديق وعوف ابن مالك وعائشة.

And he said immediately after it: An authentic tradition [ḥadīth ṣaḥīḥ], narrated from a group of Companions through various chains that strengthen each other, and they are: Muʿādh ibn Jabal, Abū Thaʿlabah al-Khushanī, ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr, Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, Abū Hurayra, Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, ʿAwf ibn Mālik, and ʿĀʾisha.

ثم قال: “وجملة القول أن الحديث بمجموع هذه الطرق صحيح بلا ريب والصحة تثبت بأقل منها عددا ما دامت سالمة من الضعف الشديد كما هو الشأن في هذا الحديث”

Then he said: “The sum of the matter is that the Hadith, with all these chains combined, is undoubtedly authentic, and authenticity is established with fewer chains than these as long as they are free from severe weakness, as is the case with this Hadith.”

ثم ردَّ الألباني على القاسمي وغيره ممن أنكر صحتها وقال: “فما نقله الشيخ القاسمي رحمه الله تعالى في ” إصلاح المساجد” عن أهل التعديل والتجريح أنه ليس في فضل ليلة النصف من شعبان حديث صحيح، فليس مما ينبغي الاعتماد عليه، ولئن كان أحد منهم أطلق مثل هذا القول فإنما أوتي من قبل التسرع وعدم وسع الجهد لتتبع الطرق على هذا النحو الذي بين يديك. والله تعالى هو الموفق”.(4)

Then al-Albānī responded to al-Qāsimī and others who denied their authenticity, saying: “What Shaykh al-Qāsimī – may Allah the Most High have mercy on him – transmitted in ‘Iṣlāḥ al-Masājid’ from the scholars of validation and criticism [ahl al-taʿdīl wal-tajrīḥ] that there is no authentic (Sahih) Hadith regarding the virtue of mid-Sha’bān night, is not something that should be relied upon. And if any of them made such a statement, it only came from haste and lack of extensive effort in tracing the chains in the manner that is before you. And Allah the Most High is the One who grants success.” (4)

أقول:

أين هذا من كلام بعض المتشددين الذين نراهم اليوم يُضَلِّلُونَ من يريد إحياء ليلة النصف من شعبان ويُبَدِّعُونَهُ بل ينشرون مقاطع فيديو وفتاوى في تبديعه وتضليليه.

I say:

How far is this from the speech of some hardliners whom we see today declaring as misguided those who want to revive the mid-Sha’bān night and accusing them of innovation [bidʿah], even spreading video clips and legal opinions [fatāwā] declaring them innovators and misguided.

الهوامش:

Footnotes:

(1) مختصر الفتاوى المصرية لابن تيمية، محمد بن علي بن أحمد بن عمر بن يعلى، أبو عبد الله، بدر الدين البعليّ (المتوفى: 778هـ)، المحقق: عبد المجيد سليم – محمد حامد الفقي، مطبعة السنة المحمدية – تصوير دار الكتب العلمية:81

(1) Mukhtaṣar al-Fatāwā al-Miṣriyyah of Ibn Taymiyya, by Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar ibn Yaʿlā, Abū ʿAbdullāh, Badr al-Dīn al-Baʿlī (d. 778 AH), edited by: ʿAbd al-Majīd Salīm – Muḥammad Ḥāmid al-Fiqī, Maṭbaʿat al-Sunnah al-Muḥammadiyyah – reproduction by Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah: 81

(2) الفتاوى الكبرى لابن تيمية، تقي الدين أبو العباس أحمد بن عبد الحليم ابن تيمية الحراني الحنبلي الدمشقي (المتوفى: 728هـ)، دار الكتب العلمية، الطبعة: الأولى، 1408هـ – 1987م:2/262

(2) Al-Fatāwā al-Kubrā by Ibn Taymiyya, Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm Ibn Taymiyyah al-Ḥarrānī al-Ḥanbalī al-Dimashqī (d. 728 AH), Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, First Edition, 1408 AH – 1987 CE: 2/262

(3) اقتضاء الصراط المستقيم لمخالفة أصحاب الجحيم، تقي الدين أبو العباس أحمد بن عبد الحليم ابن تيمية الحراني الحنبلي الدمشقي (المتوفى: 728هـ)، المحقق: ناصر عبد الكريم العقل، دار عالم الكتب، بيروت، لبنان، الطبعة: السابعة، 1419هـ – 1999م:2/136-138

(3) Iqtiḍāʾ al-Ṣirāṭ al-Mustaqīm li-Mukhālafat Aṣḥāb al-Jaḥīm, by Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm Ibn Taymiyya al-Ḥarrānī al-Ḥanbalī al-Dimashqī (d. 728 AH), edited by: Nāṣir ʿAbd al-Karīm al-ʿAql, Dār ʿĀlam al-Kutub, Beirut, Lebanon, Seventh Edition, 1419 AH – 1999 CE: 2/136-138

(4) سلسلة الأحاديث الصحيحة وشيء من فقهها وفوائدها

المؤلف: أبو عبد الرحمن محمد ناصر الدين، بن الحاج نوح بن نجاتي بن آدم، الأشقودري الألباني (المتوفى: 1420هـ)

الناشر: مكتبة المعارف للنشر والتوزيع، الرياض

الطبعة: الأولى، (لمكتبة المعارف): 3/ 138.

(4) Silsilat al-Aḥādīth al-Ṣaḥīḥah wa Shayʾ min Fiqhihā wa Fawāʾidihā

Author: Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn, ibn al-Ḥājj Nūḥ ibn Najātī ibn Ādam, al-Ashqūdarī al-Albānī (d. 1420 AH)

Publisher: Maktabat al-Maʿārif for Publishing and Distribution, Riyadh

Edition: First (for Maktabat al-Maʿārif): 3/138.

———-

Compiled by –

دكتۆر عثمان هه‌ڵه‌بجه‌يى ​Dr. ʿUthmān​ Ḥalabjayī[1] ​ Translated with footnotes by:   Abul Hasan Hussain Ahmed, Sha’ban 1446 AH

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[1] This is a Kurdish spelt name and the author is from Kurdistan, Iraq.

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[i] Translators note:  The following is from a well known Hanbali scholar known as Imam Zayn al-Dīn Abū al-Faraj ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī (d. 795 AH) from his work known as Laṭāʾif al-Maʿārif fīmā li-Mawāsim al-ʿĀm min al-Waẓāʾif (The Subtle Insights of Knowledge Regarding the Duties of the Seasons of the Year).  Arabic text was sourced from (pp. 327-330) here – https://shamela.ws/book/1151/322#p1):

Imām Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī said in his Laṭāʾif al-Maʿārif:

The mid-night of Sha’bān was highly regarded by the Successors [tābiʿūn] from among the people of Syria, such as Khālid ibn Maʿdān, Makḥūl, Luqmān ibn ʿĀmir and others. They would honour it and strive in worship during it. From them, people learned of its virtue and veneration. It has been said that they received Israelite traditions [āthār isrāʾīliyyah] regarding it. When this became well-known from them in various lands, people differed concerning it. Among them were those who accepted it from them and agreed with them in venerating it – including a group of the devout worshippers from Basra and others – while most scholars from the Hijaz denied it, including ʿAṭāʾ and Ibn Abī Mulaykah. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd ibn Aslam transmitted this from the jurists of Madina, and it is the position of the followers of Mālik and others – and they said all of this is an innovation [bidʿah].

The scholars of Syria differed on how to observe it, holding two views:

First: That it is recommended to observe it in congregation in the masjids. Khālid ibn Maʿdān, Luqmān ibn ʿĀmir and others would wear their best clothes, use perfume and kohl (on the eye area), and stand in prayer in the masjid that night. Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh (teacher of al-Bukhari the author of the famous Sahih collection) agreed with them on this and said regarding praying it in congregation in the masjids: “This is not an innovation.” This was transmitted from him by Ḥarb al-Kirmānī (student of Ahmad ibn Hanbal) in his “Masāʾil.”

Second: That gathering in the masjids for prayer, storytelling and supplication is disliked [makrūh], but it is not disliked for a person to pray individually. This is the position of al-Awzāʿī, the leader of the people of Syria, their jurist [and scholar]. This is the more correct view, Allah willing.

It has been reported that ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz wrote to his governor in Basra: “You must observe four nights of the year, for Allah pours forth mercy abundantly in them: the first night of Rajab, the mid-night of Sha’bān, the night of Fiṭr, and the night of Aḍḥā.” However, there is doubt about its authenticity from him.

Al-Shāfiʿī said: “We have been informed that supplications are answered on five nights: the night of Friday, the two Eid nights, the first of Rajab, and mid-Sha’bān.” He said: “I recommend all that I have mentioned on these nights.” (This is in his Kitab al-Umm (1/264))

No statement is known from Imam Aḥmad regarding the mid-night of Sha’bān. Two views can be derived regarding the recommendation of standing in prayer during it based on the two narrations from him concerning standing in prayer on the night of Eid. In one narration, he did not recommend praying it in congregation because it was not transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ and his companions, while in another narration he recommended it due to the practice of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Aswad ibn Yazīd, who was from among the Successors. Similarly, regarding standing in prayer on mid-Sha’bān night, nothing is established from the Prophet ﷺ or his companions, but it is established from a group of the Successors from among the leading jurists of Syria.

It was reported from Kaʿb that he said: “Indeed Allah sends Jibrīl, peace be upon him, to Paradise on the mid-night of Sha’bān and commands it to be adorned, saying: ‘Indeed Allah has freed from the Fire on this night of yours a number equal to the stars of the sky, the days and nights of the world, the leaves of trees, the weight of mountains, and the number of sands.'”

Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr narrated: Abū Maʿshar told us, from Abū Ḥāzim and Muḥammad ibn Qays, from ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār who said: “There is no night after the Night of Power [Laylat al-Qadr] more virtuous than the mid-night of Sha’bān. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, descends to the lowest heaven and forgives all His servants except for a polytheist [mushrik] or one bearing grudges [mushāḥin] or one who severs family ties.”

O you who have been freed from the Fire on this night! Congratulations to you for this magnificent gift. And O you who have been turned away on it! May Allah compensate your calamity for it is indeed a great calamity.

[Poetry translation:]

I weep for myself, and it is my right to weep

For I have no doubt about the waste of my life

If I say that in my deeds I am doing good

Then in saying so I am surely lying

The nights of Sha’bān and its mid-night

In what state will they be recorded in my scroll?

By my life, it is my duty to maintain my supplication

Perhaps the God of creation will grant release

• It befits the believer to devote himself on that night to the remembrance of Allah the Most High and supplication for forgiveness of sins, concealment of faults, and relief from distress, and that he should precede this with repentance, for Allah accepts the repentance of whoever repents on this night.

[Poetry translation:]

Stand in prayer on the noble mid-night

For the most noble of this month is its mid-night

How many youth have spent the mid-night heedless

While their death warrant was written during it

So, hasten to do good before its passing

And beware of death’s sudden arrival in it

Fast its day for Allah and maximize your hope in Him

To achieve His kindness in times of distress

It is incumbent upon the Muslim to avoid sins that prevent forgiveness and acceptance of supplication on that night. It has been reported that these are: polytheism [shirk], murder, and adultery. These three are the greatest sins in Allah’s sight, Mighty and Majestic, as in the authentic hadith of Ibn Masʿūd where he asked the Prophet ﷺ: “Which sin is greatest?” He said: “That you set up a rival to Allah while He created you.” He asked: “Then which?” He said: “That you kill your child fearing that he will eat with you.” He asked: “Then which?” He said: “That you commit adultery with your neighbour’s wife.” Allah the Most High sent down confirmation of this: “And those who do not invoke with Allah another deity or kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except by right or commit unlawful sexual intercourse” [Al-Furqān: 68].

Among the sins that prevent forgiveness is also bearing grudges [shaḥnāʾ], which is a Muslim’s hatred for his brother due to his own desires. This also prevents forgiveness during most times of forgiveness and mercy, as in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim from Abū Hurayra in a raised tradition [marfūʿ]: “The gates of Paradise are opened on Monday and Thursday, and every servant who does not associate anything with Allah is forgiven, except for a man who has enmity between himself and his brother. It is said: ‘Wait for these two until they reconcile.'”

Al-Awzāʿī interpreted this preventing grudge [shaḥnāʾ] as referring to one who harbours resentment against the companions of the Prophet ﷺ. There is no doubt that this type of grudge is a greater crime than the mutual antagonism between peers.

From al-Awzāʿī, he said: The bearer of grudges [mushāḥin] is every innovator who has separated from the community over it.

Similarly, Ibn Thawbān said: The bearer of grudges [mushāḥin] is: One who abandons the Sunnah of his Prophet ﷺ, criticizes his community, and sheds their blood.

This type of grudge – meaning: the grudge of innovation [bidʿah] – necessitates criticizing the Muslim community and making permissible their blood, wealth, and honour, like the innovations of the Khawārij and the Rawāfiḍ and their like.

Therefore, the best of deeds is having a heart free from all types of grudges, and the best of these is being free from the grudges of the people of desires and innovations that lead to criticizing the predecessors of the community, hating them, bearing grudges against them, and believing in declaring them disbelievers or innovators or misguided. Following this is having a heart free from bearing grudges against Muslims in general, wanting good for them, giving them sincere advice, and loving for them what one loves for oneself. ([End of quote]

[ii] By this he means singling out just fasting on the 15^th day of Sha’ban.  One can still fast and fulfil the Sunna by fasting 3 days continuously as the following Hadith mentioned for every month of the year:  Abu Dharr narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: “O Abu Dharr! When you fast three days out of a month, then fast the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth.” Jami` at-Tirmidhi 761 (https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:761)

Also:  Narrated `Aisha:

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) used to fast till one would say that he would never stop fasting, and he would abandon fasting till one would say that he would never fast. I never saw Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) fasting for a whole month except the month of Ramadan, and did not see him fasting in any month more than in the month of Sha’ban.  Sahih al-Bukhari 1969 (https://sunnah.com/bukhari:1969)

[iii] See his view here – https://www.darultahqiq.com/virtues-of-the-night-of-mid-shaban/