Laylat al-Bara'ah, the "Night of Forgiveness" or "Night of Records", is kept on the night of the fifteenth of Sha'ban, the month before Ramadan, by many Muslims, especially in South Asia (where it is known as Shab-e-Barat), Southeast Asia, Turkey, Iran and much of the Arab world. It rests on reports that on this night God descends in mercy, forgives those who seek pardon, and, in one widespread interpretation, records or affirms the destinies, the provisions and the deaths, of the coming year.
Where it is observed, the night is spent in voluntary prayer, recitation of the Qur'an and supplication for forgiveness; in many regions the following day is fasted, and it is a customary time to visit graves and pray for the dead and to give charity. As with the Mawlid and Isra and Mi'raj, the observance is contested: Salafi scholars regard the specific rites of the night as an innovation lacking sound early warrant, while the traditions that keep it point to the reports of its merit and to long practice. It functions in many communities as a spiritual preparation for the approaching month of Ramadan, a night of stock-taking and seeking pardon before the great fast begins.