the Prophet ﷺ that would make fasting on that day a sanctioned act of worship. Therefore, since nothing authentic has been established that pertains to it in particular, setting it apart for fasting is an innovation. An innovation is anything by which a person seeks closeness to Allah without proof from the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ, for acts of worship are strictly devotional matters that require explicit evidence from the Lawgiver.

Every ḥadith reported on this topic is weak, as the scholars have affirmed, and on the basis of weak reports no form of worship may be instituted—neither night prayer on that night nor fasting on that day. Whoever already makes a habit of fasting the three “white days” each month may do so in Shaʿbān just as he does in the other months; and whoever normally fasts Mondays and Thursdays may fast if mid-Shaʿbān coincides with one of those days, without believing that the fifteenth itself possesses any special virtue. Likewise, anyone who generally increases his fasting during Shaʿbān, following the practice of the Prophet ﷺ, may do so, but he must not single out the fifteenth: that day is only included incidentally.

In summary: no sound proof establishes that the night of mid-Shaʿbān should be revived with extra night prayer, nor that the fifteenth day of Shaʿbān should be singled out for fasting. Whatever some people—especially the general public—do on that night or on that day is entirely an innovation that must be prohibited and against which the people should be cautioned. The authentic prayers and fasts transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ suffice and render these newly invented practices unnecessary. Allah, exalted is He, knows best.