The Halwa of the Night of Mid-Sha‘ban

Question

Making halwa (a sweet dish of semolina or flour cooked in ghee) is in itself mubah (permissible), on which the learned and the laity all agree. However, on the night of mid-Sha‘ban, the 14th of Sha‘ban al-Mu‘azzam, halwa — which is [ordinarily] prepared according to need — is prepared on account of the peculiarities of that very day, in word or in deed, as is observed. From what is written about this in “Islah al-Rusum” by Hazrat Mawlana Thanawi ﵀ (small format), pp.

Answer

To regard as necessary what is not necessary according to the Sacred Law, and to treat a permissible (mubah) matter as if it were wajib or sunna, is not correct; through this that thing becomes makruh: [ar]كُلُّ مُبَاحٍ يُؤَدِّي إِلَى زَعْمِ الْجُهَّالِ سُنِّيَّةَ أَمْرٍ أَوْ وُجُوبَهُ فَهُوَ مَكْرُوهٌ، كَتَعْيِينِ السُّورَةِ لِلصَّلَاةِ وَتَعْيِينِ الْقِرَاءَةِ لِوَقْتٍ،…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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