Is Fasting on Al-Isra and Shab-e-Barat Permissible?

Can you pray more than 8 rak’ahs in Tarawih?

Praying more than 8 rak`ahs in Tarawih is not considered bid`ah, on the condition that one does not single out certain nights for increasing the number, such as the last ten nights . The number of raka`hs during the last ten nights should be the same as the number during the other nights. The last ten nights should be characterized by making the rak`ahs longer. 

Is fasting on the day of al-Isra and al-Mi`raj permissible?

Fasting on the day which one believes to be the day of the Mi`raj is not permissible, and comes under the heading of bid`ah. Even if a person is not sure, but he fasts this day for the sake of being on the safe side, it is as if he is saying, ‘If it is really the day of the Mi`raj, then I will have fasted it, and if it is not, it will still be a good action that I have done, and if I will not be rewarded for it then I will not be punished.’ 

This attitude means that a person is committing bid`ah, and he is a sinner who deserves to be punished. But if his fast is not because it is the day of the Mi`raj, but is rather because it is his habit to fast alternate days, or to fast Mondays and Thursdays, and that happens to coincide with the day known as the day of the Mi`raj, there is nothing wrong with him fasting it with that intention, i.e., the intention of fasting on Monday or Thursday, or a day on which he usually fasts. 

Is fasting the day of Shab-e-Barat allowed?

What we have said about fasting on the day of the Mi`raj also applies to fasting on the day of Shab-e-Barat . If any Muslim says that fasting on the day of the Mi`raj or on the day of Shab-e-Barat is not bid`ah because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) taught us these acts of worship, so what is wrong with fasting any day apart from the days on which it is haram to fast? Our response to that is:

If the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) taught us these acts of worship, then where is the evidence for singling out the day of the Mi`raj or any other day for fasting? 

If there was any evidence that it is prescribed to fast on these two days, no one would be able to say that fasting on these days is bid`ah. But what is apparent is that those who say this mean that fasting is an act of worship in general terms, so that if he fasts he has done an act of worship for which he will be rewarded, so long as it is not on one of the days when fasting is not allowed, such as on ‘Eid. This would be correct if the person who is fasting did not single out a day which he believes is a day of virtue, such as the day of the Mi`raj or the day of Shab-e-Barat. What makes this the matter of bid’ah is the fact that one is singling out these days. If there was any virtue in fasting these two days, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would have fasted them, and he would have urged us to fast them. It is known that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah were more keen to do good than we are; if they had known that there was any virtue in fasting these two days, they would have fasted them. Since we find no reports to that effect from them, we know that this is an innovated bid’ah, and the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever does an action that is not a part of this matter of ours (Islam) will have it rejected,” i.e., it will be thrown back on the one who does it. Fasting these two days is an action which we find no report of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) enjoining, so it is to be rejected. 

Is Salat al-Tasbih sunnah?

The “salat tasbih nafilah” is to be regarded in the same way as the matter discussed above, in the fullest sense. Acts of worship that have no evidence to support them are to be rejected. Salat al-Tasbih has not been proven in the Book of Allah or in the Sunnah of His Chosen Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that there is any prayer in which “Qul Huwa Allahu Ahad” is to be recited 100 times, so doing that is an innovated bid`ah for which the one who does it will be punished.

Allah knows best.