Shaʽban (Arabic: شَعْبَان, Šaʿbān) is the eighth month of the Islamic calendar. It is the month of “separation”, so called because the pagan Arabs used to disperse in search of water. The fifteenth night of this month is known as the “Night of Records” (Laylat al-Bara’at). However, observance of this day is disputed.
It was in the middle of the month of Shaaban when Muslims believe that God ordered Prophet Mohammed to change the Qiblah, the direction towards which Muslims face when they pray, from Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem to the Holy Kaabah in Mecca.
