[1] Views on the permissibility of observing it also differ among Muslim scholars, and have been the subject of repeated debates over the past millennium.
[3] Laylat al-Raghaib marks the beginning of the "Three holy months" (Rajab, Sha'ban and leading to Ramazan) in the Hijri calendar.
[5] Followers of this tradition believe that if, on the first Thursday of Rajab, they recite a special set of prayers, they will be rewarded by the fulfillment of their wishes.
[2] Since most contemporary scholars agreed with ʿIzz ad-Dīn,[11] the Ayyubid Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil forbade the performance of Raghaib prayer in the mosques in 1235.
The custom remained popular in the area, however, and the sultanate ultimately permitted it again a few years later, based on Ibn al-Salah's fatwa.
[13] During the 17th century, the Kadizadeli movement in the Ottoman Empire controversially challenged the permissibility of observing Ragha'ib, as part of their broader anti-innovation ideology;[14] their responses ranged from walking out of the prayer in protest to (in Bursa in 1703) physically attacking the congregation, although by that time Anatolian Muslims widely viewed these prayers as part of canonical Islamic worship.
[15] The opponents of the Kadizadelis, on the other hand insisted that these prayers were too deeply rooted in local custom to be banned, and that they attracted people to a life of piety.
[15] From the 18th century, special poems of praise to the Prophet were written for Raghaib night, which were recited with musical accompaniment.
[18] While jurists of the four major Sunni Madhhab, Shafi’i,[19] Hanbali,[19] Hanafi,[20] and Maliki,[21] rely on writing by Al-Nawawi, warning against such practice, stating that the Hadith attributed to Prophet Mohammad is fabricated and observance of such a night is a Bid'ah.
No one should be deceived by the fact that they are mentioned in Qut al-Qulub and Ihya Ulum al-Deen, or by the hadith which is quoted in these two books, because all of that is false.
Imam Abu Muhammad Abd al-Rahman ibn Ismail al-Maqdisi wrote a valuable book showing that they are false, and he did well in that, may Allah have mercy on him.
[23] In Turkey, this and other Kandil nights were traditionally marked by cooking lokma and baking a small round loaf.