The Merits of Shaʿbān

And with the same chain of transmission, al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī b. Faḍḍāl said: “I asked ʿAlī b. Mūsā al-Riḍā عليه السلام about the fifteenth night of Shaʿbān, so he stated: “It is the night in which Allāh frees the necks from the Fire and forgives the sins (of the people who commit good deeds in it).” I asked him: “Is there any prayer to be performed on this night as opposed to the others?” The Imam replied: “There is nothing obligatory to perform in it, but if you want to perform something, then upon you is the prayer of Jaʿfar b. Abī Ṭālib, [1] and increase in it mention of Allāh عز وجل and the supplication of forgiveness, for my father used to say: “It is the supplication that is answered inevitably.” I asked him: “Indeed, people say that this is the Night of Decree,” to which Imam al-Riḍā responded: “That is the Night of Power in the month of Ramaḍān.”