Is there any special virtue or reward for worship on the NIGHT BEFORE EID (Laylatul Jaa’izah)?

by Asma bint Shameem

QUESTION

Is there any special virtue or reward for worship on the NIGHT BEFORE EID (Laylatul Jaa’izah)?

ANSWER

Do NOT pick out the NIGHT BEFORE EID as something “special” or “virtuous” and do NOT make any SPECIAL ibaadaat on it.

Why not?

Because there’s NO PROOF of any SPECIAL VIRTUES for Ibaadah on the night before Eid.

The Prophet ﷺ did NOT stay up on the night before Eid for any extra ibaadaat or special prayers.

And there’s NO SUCH THING as “Laylatul Jaa’izah” that’s proven from the authentic ahaadeeth of the Prophet ﷺ.

Although it is true that Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala frees people from the fire of Hell at the end of Ramadhaan, the hadeeth talks about “the last NIGHT of RAMADHAAN”.

And NOT “the night of EID”.

They are two DIFFERENT nights.

🍃 The Prophet ﷺ said:

“Those fasting will be forgiven the last night in Ramadhaan.

The people said: Oh Messenger of Allaah, will this take place on Laylatul Qadr?

The Messenger ﷺ responded:

“No, verily the worker receives his pay upon completion of his duties.” (Musnad Ahmad)

So the Prophet ﷺ is clearly telling us that Allaah forgives people on the last night of Ramadhaan, which would be either the 29th night or 30th night of Ramadhaan, depending on the sighting of the moon.

That’s NOT the night before Eid.

You see, the “night” in Islaam begins BEFORE the day.

Thus, the night starts at MAGHRIB and lasts till Fajr.

Then the day starts AFTER FAJR and lasts till Maghrib.

So the night of the 29th of Ramadhaan comes BEFORE the 29th fast.

And similarly, the night of the 30th of Ramadhaan comes BEFORE the 30th fast.

When Allaah forgives people in the last night of Ramadhaan, that forgiveness happens in the LAST NIGHT of RAMADHAAN, which is the night BEFORE the LAST DAY of FASTING.

And it’s NOT the night when the moon for Shawwaal has been sighted and the next day is Eid.

So DO NOT think that the night before Eid should be spent in special ibaadaat or that this night has extra virtues.

There’s no proof of that.

The hadeeth that is reported about Laylatul Jaa’izah and spending the night in special worship is NOT AUTHENTIC.

The scholars have classified it as either EXTREMELY WEAK or even FABRICATED.

The “so-called” hadeeth says:

"Whoever stays up on the night of Eid, his heart will not die on the day when hearts die."

This hadeeth is NOT saheeh.

Shaykh al-Albaani said it is FABRICATED. (Da’eef Ibn Maajah)

He also mentioned it in Silsilat al-Ahaadeeth al-Da’eefah (521) and said, it is Dha’eef jiddan (very weak).

(Silsilat al-Ahaadeeth al-Da'eefah wa'l-Mawdoo'ah by Sheikh al-Albaani)

🍃Al-Nawawi said:

“It is a dha’eef hadeeth which we have narrated from Abu Umaamah in both marfoo’ and mawqoof reports, both of which are dha’eef.”

(al-Adhkaar)

🍃Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar said:

“This is a ghareeb hadeeth whose isnaad is mudtarib (unsound).”

(al-Futoohaat al-Rabaaniyyah, 4/235)

That means that the Prophet ﷺ DID NOT spend the night of Eid in any SPECIAL ibaadaat and he DID NOT TEACH the Sahaabah to do that either.

They spent the night of Eid, as they USUALLY spent the rest of the nights of the year.

🍃 Ibn Taymiyah said:

"The ahaadeeth in which the nights before the two Eids are mentioned are FALSELY attributed to the Prophet ﷺ."

🍃 Ibn al-Qayyim said regarding the actions of the Prophet ﷺ in the night of Eid:

“Then he ﷺ SLEPT until morning, and did NOT pray any (special) night prayers that night, and nothing is established from him regarding night prayers during both nights of Eids.”

(Zad al-Ma’ad 2/247)

So don’t think this night has ‘special virtue’ and don’t pick this night out for any specific ibaadaat.

HOWEVER, if you wake up every night for Qiyaam or Tahajjud and it is part of you NORMAL nightly routine to pray and worship at this time, then there’s nothing wrong with that.

But to specifically PICK OUT the night before Eid, thinking there is extra reward and special status to worship this night is not correct.

We should only go by PROOFS from the authentic sources when it comes to all acts of ibaadah.

🍃 The scholars of the Standing Committee said:

"Specifying the night of ‘Eid with standing (for prayer), apart from all other nights, is considered a Bid‘ah [religious innovation].

This is because it is not from the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ and he ﷺ said:

“Whoever performed a deed not from our affair (Islaam), then it will be rejected.”

The same applies whether praying alone or with a congregation.

As for the one who normally stands (for prayer) in the other nights, then there is nothing wrong with him doing so on the night of ‘Eid, but it should not be in congregation."

(Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah)

🍃 Shaykh Ibn Jibreen said:

"As for the night of ‘Eid, then NO MERIT has (authentically) been reported regarding keeping awake at it (for prayer)  and the Sharee‘ah never encouraged it to be distinguished with prayer or recitation.

Whoever singles it out for prayer, neglecting what comes before it and what comes after it, has invented a Bid‘ah and initiated something in the religion that Allaah has not permitted, due to his believing he has preceded the Companions and the people of the Sunnah, surpassing the Salaf (righteous predecessors) of the Ummah (by receiving a special reward that they never received). Such a person is included in the saying of the Prophet ﷺ:

“Whoever invented in our affair (Islaam) that which is not from it, it will be rejected.”

However, if this person normally stands and prays at night all year long or most of the year, then the night of ‘Eid is part of that (i.e., he is praying it without distinction)."

🍃 Shaikh Azeez Ibn Farhan al-Anzi said:

“What is narrated about staying awake the whole night before the day of Eid is NOT AUTHENTIC at all.

All of the ahaadeeth that mention such are all inauthentic, and differ from fabricated to extremely weak classifications.

Therefore, what is wrong is the concept that some have that the night before Eid has virtue or is special in regards to staying awake.

Therefore, one should pray as he does on any normal day, but as for intending specifically the night before Eid to stay awake to do such and such, this is incorrect.

Some scholars of Fiqh mentioned doing such but NONE of this is established or authentic and it is closer to innovation.

WARN the people of this matter.”

Also see the following link 

https://youtu.be/iQYWtF0jEbs

And Allaah knows best.