Source: “Ghair Masnoon Nafli Namazain” by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Ameenpuri❖ Miʿrāj Prayer: An Innovation with No Basis in Sharīʿah
Some people regard the 27th night of Rajab as the night of Isrāʾ and Miʿrāj, and designate it for special acts of worship. However, this belief is baseless and unsupported by authentic evidence. Engaging in acts of worship on this night is a clear innovation (bidʿah) and a condemned act in religion.
❖ Firstly: The Date of Miʿrāj is Not Proven
There is no sound, authentic evidence to definitively determine the exact date of Miʿrāj.
❖ Secondly: The Narrations About Worship on This Date are Fabricated
Let us examine some of these narrations:
✿ First Narration
Narrated from Sayyidunā Salmān al-Fārisī رضي الله عنه that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"In Rajab, there is a day and night — whoever fasts on that day and stands in prayer during that night shall receive the reward of fasting and praying for a hundred years. That night is when Muhammad ﷺ was appointed as a Prophet."
Reference: Shuʿab al-Īmān by al-Bayhaqī: 3530
Reference: al-Gharāʾib al-Multaqaṭah by Ibn Ḥajar: 5/1040
Reference: Faḍl Rajab by Ibn ʿAsākir: 10–11
Reference: Dhail al-Laʾālī al-Maṣnūʿah by al-Suyūṭī: 1/459
Verdict: A very weak and rejected narration.
Reasons for Rejection:
➊ Khālid bin Hiyāj bin Basṭām is weak, and his narrations from his father are rejected (munkar).
- Imām Ibn Ḥibbān said:
"His narrations are acceptable only when not reported from his father."
(al-Thiqāt: 8/225–226)
- al-Dhahabī stated:
"He narrates rejected (munkar) ḥadīths from his father."
(Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ: 4/114)
➋ Hiyāj bin Basṭām is weak.
➌ Sulaimān bin Ṭarḥān al-Taymī is a mudallis (obfuscates chains).
- al-Bayhaqī declared the narration weak.
(Shuʿab al-Īmān: 7/393)
- Ibn Ḥajar:
"This ḥadīth is extremely rejected (munkar ilā al-ghāyah)."
(Tabyīn al-ʿAjab: 1/21)
✿ Second Narration
Narrated from Sayyidunā Anas bin Mālik رضي الله عنه:
"There is a night in Rajab (i.e., the 27th) on which whoever prays 12 rakʿahs will receive the reward of a hundred years of good deeds. After prayer, he recites praises and supplications a hundred times, fasts the following day, and all his supplications are accepted except if he asks for a sin."
Reference: Shuʿab al-Īmān by al-Bayhaqī: 3531
Reference: Faḍl Rajab by Ibn ʿAsākir: p. 316
Verdict: Fabricated narration
Reasons for Rejection:
➊ Muḥammad bin Faḍl bin ʿAṭiyyah al-ʿAbsī is abandoned (matrūk) and a liar (kadhdhāb).
➋ Abān bin Abī ʿAyyāsh is abandoned.
➌ Khalaf bin Muḥammad al-Khayyām is weak and abandoned.
➍ Abān is not known to have heard from Anas رضي الله عنه.
➎ Naṣr bin Ḥusayn Abū al-Layth al-Bukhārī needs authentication.
➏ ʿĪsā bin Mūsā al-Ghanjār is a mudallis — no evidence of direct hearing.
➐ Makkī bin Khalaf and Isḥāq bin Aḥmad bin Khalaf are unknown.
- al-Bayhaqī graded the narration weak.
(Shuʿab al-Īmān: 7/394)
- Ibn Ḥajar said:
"Its chain is obscure (isnādahu muẓlim)."
(Tabyīn al-ʿAjab: p. 63)
✿ Third Narration
Attributed to Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh bin ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما:
"Whoever prays 12 rakʿahs on the 27th night of Rajab, reciting Fātiḥah and any sūrah, then recites al-Fātiḥah seven times, followed by tasbīḥāt (سبحان الله...) four times, fasts the next day, all his sins for 60 years will be forgiven. This is the night the Prophet ﷺ was appointed."
Reference: Tārīkh Ibn ʿAsākir: 27/308
Reference: Tabyīn al-ʿAjab by Ibn Ḥajar: p. 52
Verdict: Fabricated statement
Reasons for Rejection:
➊ Muḥammad bin Ziyād al-Yashkurī al-Kūfī is a liar.
- Declared a kadhdhāb (liar) by:
- Imām Yaḥyā bin Maʿīn
- Imām Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal
- Imām al-Fallās
- Imām Abū Zurʿah al-Rāzī
- Imām al-Nasāʾī
➋ Abū al-Ḥusayn ʿUbaydullāh bin Khālid is unknown.
The same narration is falsely attributed to al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, with the exact wording and ritual.
✿ Another Fabricated Report
"ʿAbdullāh bin ʿAbbās used to give special significance to the 27th of Rajab..."
Reference: Ghaniyyat al-Ṭālibīn by Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī: 1/182
Reported from his teacher Hibatullāh bin Mubārak al-Saqṭī, who was a liar.
- al-Samʿānī:
"I asked Ibn Nāṣir about al-Saqṭī. He said: 'By Allah! He is a liar, worthless.'"
(Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ by al-Dhahabī: 19/283)
- Ibn al-Najjār:
"He had weak memory, was unreliable. His narrations are fabricated and contain no authentic chain. He even falsely claimed to have met scholars he never met."
(Lisān al-Mīzān by Ibn Ḥajar: 8/326)
✿ Scholarly Verdicts on These Narrations
❖ ʿAllāmah ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Lakhnawī
"Fabricated (mawḍūʿ)."
(al-Āthār al-Marfuʿah: p. 78)
❖ Ibn al-Qayyim (751 AH)
"Every ḥadīth regarding fasting in Rajab or praying in its nights is a fabrication and lie."
(al-Manār al-Munīf: p. 96)
❖ al-Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī (1014 AH)
"Ṣalāt al-ʿĀshūrāʾ, Ṣalāt al-Raghāʾib, and all other Rajab night prayers including that of 27th Rajab are unanimously fabricated."
(al-Asrār al-Marfuʿah: p. 289)
❖ al-Shawkānī (1250 AH)
"No ṣaḥīḥ, ḥasan, or even slightly weak narration exists about Rajab. All specific narrations are either fabricated or extremely weak."
(al-Sayl al-Jarrār: 2/143)
✿ Fatāwā of Prominent Contemporary Scholars
❖ Shaykh Ibn Bāz (1420 AH)
"There is no authentic ḥadīth determining the date of Miʿrāj. Even if its date were established, it is not permissible to designate it for worship, gatherings, or celebration, as neither the Prophet ﷺ nor his companions did so."
(Majmūʿ Fatāwā wa Maqālāt Mutanawwiʿah: 1/183)
❖ Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn (1421 AH)
"There is no historical evidence to prove that the Prophet ﷺ ascended on 27th Rajab. Even if it were proven, it would still not be permissible to initiate celebrations or specific acts of worship on this night — such practices were never done by the Prophet ﷺ or his companions."
(Majmūʿ Fatāwā wa Rasāʾil: 2/297)
Conclusion
◈ The specific worship associated with 27th Rajab is based on fabricated and extremely weak narrations.
◈ Neither the date of Miʿrāj is confirmed, nor are the practices valid in light of the Sunnah.
◈ Creating special observances for this night is an innovation (bidʿah).
◈ The Prophet ﷺ and the Companions never practiced or recommended such acts.
