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Crowning Glory

Laylatul Qadr is the crowning glory of the holy month of Ramadhaan. It is associated with the sending down of the Qur’an Majeed, the last Book of Allah on His last Prophet Muhammad (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam), for the guidance of mankind. The Qur’an Majeed describes this Night.

“We have indeed revealed this (message) in the Night of Power: And what will explain to you what the Night of Power is? The Night of Power is better than a thousand months. Therein come down the Angels and the Spirit (Jibraeel) by Allah’s permission, on every errand: Peace! This until the rise of Morn!” (Surah 97)

The Night of Power is the night of spiritual bliss. Our Nabi (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) is reported to have said concerning Ramadhaan:

“Verily this month has come to you; and therein is a night which is better than a thousand Months. Whosoever is deprived of it, is deprived of all good; and none is deprived of its good except a totally unfortunate person”. (Ibn Majah)
“Whosoever stands up (in prayer) at the Night of Power out of faith and hopeful of reward, all his past sins will be forgiven.”(Targhib)

Better than a thousand months

A thousand months are equivalent to 83 years and 4 months. Fortunate is the person who spends this night in prayer. The man or woman, who prays for the whole night during this Night, will deserve blessings and reward for the period as if he or she had been praying for eighty three years and four months consecutively. Since the Night of Power is better than one thousand months no one can actually measure the extent as to how much better it is.

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The Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said: “Laylatul Qadr has been bestowed by Allah to my Ummah (People). It was not given to any people before this.” (Dur-Mansoor).

How manifest and replete the special bounties and mercies of Allah Ta’ala are upon this Ummat is quite really beyond imagination. It will therefore be extremely foolish to allow ourselves to be deprived of these great blessings at the expense of sheer laziness and a few hours of extra sleep.

Which Night is it?

Although there are different reports in different traditions regarding the exact night, it is almost unanimous that the blessed night occurs in one of the last ten nights of Ramadhaan and more probably in one of the last ten odd nights i.e. 2lst, 23rd, 25th 27th or 29th night.

The popular opinion is, however, in favour of the 27th Night of Ramadhaan but that is not absolutely certain. The traditions indicate that it is to be sought in one of the last ten nights and preferably in the last three odd nights. It was therefore the practice of the Holy Prophet (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) and his companions to make I’tikaaf in the Mosque for the whole time offering Divine service during the last ten days of Ramadhaan.

Hazrath Aisha (Radhiallaahu Anha) reported that the Apostle of Allah said: “Search for the Blessed Night in the odd (nights) from the last ten (nights) of Ramadhaan” (Bukhari).

Hazrath Aisha has narrated another saying:
“I asked: O Messenger of Allah! Tell me if I were to find a Night of Power, what should I recite therein” Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) advised her to recite:

Allahumma innaka ‘affuwwun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa’fu ‘anni’.

Meaning: O Allah! You are Forgiving, You love forgiveness, so forgive me.
(Bukhari, at-Tirmithi and Ibn Majah )

Special attention should therefore be given to the excessive recitation of this dua on the blessed night. Furthermore one may engage in lengthy rakaats of Tahajjud salaat, Tilaawat of the Qur’an Dua, Zikr, etc.

The worship and the vigil of the Night of Power are a treat to the soul. The heart tends to melt into tears of heartfelt gratitude. The body is in a state of angelic ecstasy The soul strives to reach nearer to Almighty Allah. In this holy month of Ramadhaan let us strive to seek the Night of Power and its bliss. May Allah reward us with His bountiful blessings. Aameen.

Source: Jamiatul Ulama

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Lailatul Qadr (Night Of Power)

“Seek Lailatul Qadr in the odd-numbered nights of the last ten nights of Ramadan,” said the Prophet sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam.

What is Lailatul Qadr?

Lail means “night” “Qadr” is a Proper Noun, so Lailatul Qadr is Night of Qadr. Qur’an tells us “Lailatul Qadr is better than a thousand months.” Better than 1000 months. Better than 30,000 days? Better than 83 years? Notice the word “better” It is better than 83 years, not equivalent. How much better, that only Allah knows.

What is it about Lailatul Qadr that makes it so special?

Again, we refer to Qur’an for that. “We have indeed revealed this (Qur’an) in the Lailatul Qadr.” In Lailatul Qadr, the Almighty Creator Allah revealed His final message Qur’an, to the Best of all Creations our Beloved Prophet, for the Best Ummat of all Ummats the Muslims, and the Message was revealed in the Best Month Ramadan, in the Best nights of all nights — Lailatul Qadr. Think about this comparison, in Lailatul Qadr when everything is at its best, the Divine Mercy of Rabbil A’lameen is also at its best, and in all honesty it is this very perfection and eagerness of Divine Mercy which makes this night better than 3 thousand nights.

The sincere believer who worries day and night about his sins awaits patiently Lailatul Qadr. During it he hopes to be forgiven by Allah for his past sins, because the Prophet promised that whoever stood in prayer on the night of Al-Qadr, in faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, he will have all of his previous sins forgiven. To achieve this, the believer remembers the Prophet’s advice in different sayings wherein he used words like “seek”, “pursue”, “search” and “look hard” for Lailatul Qadr.

There is a difference of opinion as to when actually the Lailatul Qadr occurs. But there is no doubt that it is one of the odd numbered nights in the last 10 days of Ramadan. Some scholars do believe that the probability of Lailatul Qadr is on the 27th of Ramadan, but there is no way to be sure of it. Hence it is best to do ibaadat in all the nights without actually trying to “catch” Lailatul Qadr. It is not essential for the one who “catches” Lailatul Qadr to know that he has “caught” it. The point is to strive hard and to be sincere in worship, whether or not one knows that one has “caught” it. It may be that some of those who do not know may be better in sight of Allah and higher in status than those who did know which night it was, because the former struggled harder than the latter.

The dua:”Allahuma innaka ‘afuwwun karimun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa ‘afu anni Ya Ghafoor”O Allah! You are the Most Forgiving and Most Gracious! You love to forgive, so forgive my errors and sins, oh Forgiver of sins.

Lailatul Qadr is the most blessed night. Peace descends in Lailatul Qadr until dawn. It may be that you may leave the Masjid after Fajr one day without realizing that you have been forgiven by Allah the Most Merciful. A person who misses it has indeed missed a great amount of good.