– Dr. Nazir Khan, Sh. Ibrahim Hindy, Dr. Omar Suleiman
Credit: Yaqeen Institute
Introduction
Islam makes certain times and places especially sacred. While a believer can certainly engage in worship such as remembering or glorifying God at any time (“standing, sitting or lying on their sides”), some periods of time have special and unique blessings associated with them. Similarly, while the entirety of the Earth has been made a place of worship and prostration, there are some locations (such as the three Mosques) that are uniquely blessed. This creates within the psychology of the believer a yearning to seek out these unique opportunities in order to come closer to Allah. That yearning brings about several positive spiritual emotions: awe, reverence, wonder, anticipation, eagerness, excitement, hope, and longing, all of which are encompassed in the term shawq.
As we live today in an era of digital distractions and materialistic heedlessness, often acts of worship are squeezed into brief moments in our daily routine, which does not furnish one with a complete transformative spiritual experience. Serious worship requires not just taking a brief moment to pray, but allowing our prayers to define our direction in life. Thus, Islam offers opportunities for intense spiritual experiences, experiences that involve setting aside the dunya (worldly life) and its distractions. Of the greatest of such opportunities are the blessed nights of Ramadan. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, “Whoever spends the nights of Ramadan in prayer out of faith and in the hope of reward, he will be forgiven his previous sins.” The foremost of these opportunities are the last ten nights of Ramadan. As the Prophet’s wife `A’isha narrates, “When the last ten nights began Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) kept awake at night (for prayer and devotion), wakened his family, and prepared himself to observe salah (with more vigor).” It is no coincidence that i`tikaf (seclusion in the masjid) is also recommended in Ramadan. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ used to practice i`tikaf for the entirety of the last ten days of Ramadan.
What is Laylatul Qadr?
Laylatul Qadr is the night when Qur’an was revealed
By far however, there is no day or night that has been emphasized more than the night known as laylat al-qadr (the Night of Decree). The Qur’an’s 97th chapter is dedicated entirely to this night:
Indeed, We revealed [the Qur’an] during the Night of Decree. And what can make you know what is the Night of Decree? The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months. The angels and the Spirit descend therein by permission of their Lord for every matter. Peace it is until the emergence of dawn. (97:1-5)
The companion Anas ibn Malik reported: “Ramadan approached, so the Messenger of God said: ‘This month has come to you, and in it there is a night that is better than a thousand months. Whoever is deprived of it is deprived of all goodness, and no one is deprived of its goodness except one who is truly deprived.’” The precise night on which Laylatul-Qadr occurs has not been mentioned. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, “Search for Laylatul-Qadr in the odd nights of the last ten nights of Ramadan.” There is a tremendous wisdom behind not knowing exactly when it occurs, which scholars have pointed out. As Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi (d. 620 H) writes:
God has concealed this night from the ummah so that they may strive in seeking it and performing worship throughout the month in the hopes of catching it. Similarly, He concealed the hour of special acceptance on Friday so that one would increase in their supplications throughout the day, and He concealed His Greatest Name (ism al-a’dham) amongst His Divine Names and His Pleasure with acts of obedience so that people would strive for them. And He concealed an individual’s lifespan and the Hour [of the Day of Judgment] so that humanity would continuously strive in good deeds, being heedful of them.
those sins as well as the resultant decree, and remove them from our fates for the upcoming year.
Seeking the rewards of Laylatul Qadr
Praying in Laylatul Qadr is better than praying in thousand nights
As Laylatul-Qadr is certainly the most blessed night of the year, a person who misses it has certainly missed a tremendous amount of good. Many scholars mentioned that what’s to be avoided beyond sin is wasting time on that precious night, unnecessary socializing with people, arguing, shopping, etc. One should keep in mind that the night technically starts at Maghrib (sunset), and be heedful of how time is spent from that point onwards. If a believing person is keen to obey his Lord and increase the good deeds in his record, he should strive to spend this night in worship and obedience. If this is facilitated for him, all of his previous sins will be forgiven.
Suratul-Alaq, which was revealed on this blessed night, begins with the command to read the Qur’an, and ends with the command to prostrate and draw close to your Lord. In that is a Divine prescription for how the night is to be spent. Ash-Shafi’i (d. 204 H) said that some of the pious predecessors preferred to spend this night in prayer, some in Quran, some in dua, and all are rewarded by Allah. This also shows the importance of intention in that even if you don’t catch the night for some reason out of your control, you will still be fully rewarded for it. While it is best to perform full i’itkaf(i.e., seclude yourself in the masjid for the entirety of the 10 days), there are many important things one can do even if one is unable to engage in i’tikaf.
Merely praying Isha and Fajr in congregation on that night is enough to fill its scales. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever attends Isha prayer in congregation, then he has the reward as if he had stood half of the night. And whoever prays Isha and Fajr in congregation, then he has the reward as if he had spend the entire night standing in prayer.” Moreover, Imam Malik (d. 179 H) narrated that he had heard that Said ibn al-Musayyab (d. 94 H) used to say, “Whoever is present at Isha on Laylatul-Qadrhas taken his portion from it.”
If one is able to do more than that, the next step involves performing extra voluntary prayers during the night. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, “Whoever stands in prayer during Laylatul-Qadr with faith and hope in the reward of Allah, all of his previous sins will be forgiven.”
Finally, as mentioned earlier, the supplication the Prophet ﷺ advised his wife A’isha to make on that blessed night is a prayer for an all-encompassing forgiveness that involves invoking Allah’s love for forgiveness.
Here lies a benefit to the believer in discovering their own love to forgive as they invoke Allah’s love of forgiveness. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ stated to his companions: “I came to inform you of the (specific) night of Laylatul Qadr but found so-and-so arguing and (in the process of mediating) had the knowledge of the night lifted from me.” Since the Prophet’s knowledge of the specific night of Laylatul-Qadr was taken from him due to internal fighting between two individuals, this serves as a reminder that the grudges between mankind veils them from attaining the pardon and forgiveness of the night. For just as the Prophet was veiled from knowing the night due to the grudges between others, it is by offering forgiveness to others, and overlooking each other’s faults, that we discover the forgiveness of Allah during Laylatul-Qadr.
And in the equation of success found in the limited efforts of that one night, is the embedded infinite mercy found in the eternal pathway to salvation. The same God who commands you to seek His pardon willingly offers it to you for an effort that can be performed even by the youngest and weakest amongst us. The same God who created you with limited years to do good, gives you days and nights that are equivalent to lifetimes of worship. And the same angel, Jibreel, that He sent to honor the Prophet ﷺ that night is sent to the earth that same night annually to honor his nation.
Source Link: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/why-laylatul-qadr-the-significance-virtues-of-the-most-important-night-of-the-year
