All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds — we ask Allah to extol and praise the Prophet in the highest gathering, and send His peace upon him. To proceed:
Specifying the month of Rajab with the particular prayers and dhikr, or what the misguided ones call Ṣalāt al-Raghāʾib, or celebrating the night of the 27th of Rajab — claiming that it is the night of al-Isrāʾ and al-Miʿrāj — all of that is innovation and is not permissible. It has no basis in Sharī’ah and Religion.
Specifying this month of Rajab for Du’ās, special Dhikr evenings, gatherings and feeding the people is all misguidance — and was never practised by the Prophet, his family or his Companions.
The scholars of Hadith and Sunnah from the people of knowledge have drawn attention to this, and they have written about it on more than one occasion, clarifying to the people that these are innovations. There is a Salāh (called Raghā’ib) that some people perform on the first Friday night of Rajab — there is no proof for this in the Quran or Sunnah.
The exact night of al-Isrāʾ and al-Miʿrāj is not known, and even if it were known, it would not be permissible to celebrate it, because the Prophet ﷺ did not celebrate it —nor did his Rightly Guided Caliphs, nor the rest of his Companions رضي الله عنهم. Had it been a Sunnah, they would have preceded us in it.
All goodness lies in following them and proceeding upon their methodology, as Allah, the Most High, said:
“And the foremost, the first of the Muhājirīn and the Ansār, and those who followed them with excellence—Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them Gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide therein forever. That is the great success.” [At-Tawbah 9:100]
And it is authentically reported from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he said: “Whoever introduces into this affair of ours that which is not from it, it is rejected.” (Bukhari and Muslim)
So it is obligatory upon all Muslims to follow the Sunnah, to remain steadfast upon it, and to enjoin one another with it, and to beware of all innovations.
The Shi’ah and Sufis have no basis for singling out this month except their imaginations and the whisperings of devils that lead them to innovate actions and beliefs into the Islamic faith.
As for ʿUmrah, there is no harm in performing it in the month of Rajab, due to what is established by Bukhari and Muslim from Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما that the Prophet ﷺ performed ʿUmrah in Rajab.
The Salaf used to perform ʿUmrah in Rajab, as was mentioned by Al-Imam Ibn Rajab رحمه الله in his book al-Laṭāʾif from ʿUmar, Ibn ‘Umar, and ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنهم.
And Ibn Rajab cited from Ibn Sīrīn, that the Salaf used to do that. And Allah is the One who grants success.
Abu Khadeejah
Ref: Fatawa of Shaikh Ibn Bāz.
