The holy Shab-e-Barat, known as the night of fortune, will be observed across the country tonight with due religious fervour and devotion.The Muslim devotees would spend the night at mosques and homes offering prayers, reciting from the holy Quran and seeking blessings to Allah for long life, peace, progress and happiness for themselves, their families, relatives and friends as well as the nation and the Muslim Ummah. President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday greeted all Muslims of Bangladesh and elsewhere the world on the occasion of holy Shab-e-Barat. In separate messages on the eve of the holy occasion, they prayed for peace, progress and prosperity of the nation as well as the Muslim Ummah of whole world. Muslims consider Shab-e-Barat as one of three most sacred nights and believe that on this night Almighty Allah decides the fate of all human beings fixing their ‘rizq’ (livelihood) for the next year. The devotees across the country would visit graves and pray for the peace of the souls of beloved ones who are no more. Many will also visit the mazars, shrines of saints all over the country. Traditional foods like handmade rice-bread with beef and halua would be prepared in the afternoon in the rural and urban areas across the country. Many Muslims will observe fast on the following day. They will distribute food and sweets among the neighbours and the poor today.Foods and money will be distributed among the destitute on the occasion. The Islamic Foundation and other religious organizations have chalked out daylong programmes, including discussion meetings, hammd, naat, milad, zikr and doa on the occasion of the holy Shab-e-Barat 1437 Hijri. Islamic Foundation will organize night-long programme on the occasion. Since Magrib prayer, it will hold different programmes including recitation from the holy religious book, hammd-naat, waz-mahfil, milad and offering special prayer at Baitul Mukarram, the national mosque of the country. Senior Islamic scholars including Senior Pesh Imam Hafez Maulana Muhammad Mizanur Rahman, Principal Maulana Mohammad Abdur Razzak and Hafez Maulna Muhammad Ehsanul Haque, among others, will take part in there. The day after today will be the national holiday for the Shab-e-Barat. Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar, and private television channels and radio will broadcast special programmes. The daily newspapers will publish special articles highlighting the significance of Shab-e-Barat.
