wikishia:Featured Article/2017/14

Laylat al-Ragha'ib (Arabic: ليلة الرغائب) Is the first Thursday night of Rajab which has especial rituals.

Al-Ragha'ib is plural form of al-Raghiba (Arabic: الرغيبة) which means "great donation", either because of its desirability or because of its large extent.

It is said that Prophet Muhammad (s) used to fast on the first Thursday of the Rajab and recite twelve rak'as of prayers in six sets of 2 rak'ats between al-Maghrib prayer and al-'Isha prayer. In every rak'a, after reciting Sura al-Fatiha (Qur'an 1), recite 3 times Sura al-Qadr (Qur'an 97) and 12 times Sura al-Ikhlas (Qur'an, 112).

The Prophet (s) has said, these prayers are means of forgiveness and on the first night in our grave, God will send the reward off this prayer in the best and the most enlightened form. It has been also narrated that the person, who recites Sura Yasin before going to bed and performs special prayers for Lailat al-Ragha'ib, will be saved from the terror of the grave.

This hadith has not been mentioned before Iqbal al-a'mal by al-Sayyid b. Tawus; and there is no mention of chain of narrators for this hadith in the aforementioned book. Sayyid Muhammad al-Mishkat believes al-Sayyid b. Tawus has taken this hadith from sunni works. Ayatollah Fadil Lankarani, one of shi'a Marja's, rejects prayer of Laylat al-Ragha'ib as mustahab and only permits performing it with the hope of reward.

In sunni works this hadith has been also introduced as a fabricated one. Ibn al-Jawzi in al-Mawzu'at explicitly mentions to its fabrication, and Muhyi al-Din al-Nawawi in his commentary on Sahih Muslim also regards prayer of Laylat al-Ragha'ib as a dirty Bid'a and a Bid'a that some scholars, as he says, has written books to reject. Read more...