576 – Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “When the middle of Sha‘ban has passed, do not fast.” It was transmitted by the Five, and Ahmad declared it objectionable (1).

Grade of the ḥadith
The report is weak. Imam Ahmad rejected it because it is uniquely narrated by al-‘Alāʾ ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. Some scholars note that he is one of Muslim’s narrators, while al-Ḥāfiẓ in al-Taqrīb states that he is truthful but prone to error. Ahmad and Ibn Maʿīn deemed the report munkar (denied). Al-Bayhaqī and al-Ṭaḥāwī argued for its weakness by citing Abu Hurayrah’s authenticated ḥadith in the two Ṣaḥīḥs: “None of you should precede Ramaḍān by fasting one or two days.” Al-Shawkānī added that the majority of scholars have graded this ḥadith weak.

Vocabulary
• “When the middle of Sha‘ban has passed”: that is, when half of the month has elapsed and half remains.
• “Do not fast”: lā here is prohibitive, and the verb that follows is in the jussive, indicated by the omission of the final nūn.

Points derived from the ḥadith
1 – Among the aims of the Sacred Law is to distinguish one act of worship from another. Thus, in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim it is reported that the Prophet ﷺ instructed us not to link one prayer to the next without first speaking, or