Holy Shab-e-Barat, the night of reverence, fervour and divine blessings for the Muslims was observed across the country on Saturday night. Faithfuls were seeing offering special prayers, while Mahafil-e-Na’at had also been held in Mosques to mark the holy night and win divine blessings.

Ulema and religious scholars in their sermons highlighted the true teachings of Islam and various aspects of the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).

The houses, streets and especially Mosques were decorated with colorful pennants and buntings.

Media, including print and electronic highlighted the importance of the holy night through its special programmes and editions.

Shab-e-Baraat, the night of praise of Allah, is observed 15 days before the start of the Holy month of fasting Ramadan-ul-Mubarak. Shab-e-Barat, a great advantage of Muslims is known as Laylat-ul- Bara'ah or Laylat-un- Nisfe min Sha'ban in the Arab world.

This is the best night of prayer and worship of ALLAH Almighty to seek His forgiveness for sins and blessing on this occasion to achieve success in the world and hereafter.

People also visit the cemetery of their relatives to offer Fateha and special Manajaat to seeking Allah Almighty's blessings for the departed souls.

According to Muslim belief, Shab-e-Barat is the night when Almighty Allah arranges affairs of the next one year. On Shab-e-Barat, Allah writes the destinies of all His creations for the coming year by taking into account their past deeds.

The significant distinction of this night, according to Islamic belief, is that it falls on the night of 15th Sha'aban in which all births and deaths on universe are written on the "Loh-e-Mehfooz" for the forthcoming year.

According to religious scholars, there are some nights in Islam, which are significant, sacred with grandeur and Divine Majesty and "Lailatul Baraat" is one of these.

According to Hazrat Ayesha Siddiqa (RA) "Allah Almighty opens the doors of Mercy and Grace for the mankind, the door remains open throughout the night till the Fajr prayers," in which He exonerates those seeking forgiveness.

The administration of Rawalpindi and Islamabad had deployed law enforcers for peaceful observance of the Shab-e-Barat in twin cities.