The Night Of Power

Truly all praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and ask His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and our bad actions. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can turn him astray. And whomsoever Allah turns astray has none to guide him. I bear witness that there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah, the Only One without any partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and (final) messenger

Surah Inna Anzal na (chapter 97)

1. Verily, We have sent it down in the Night of Al-Qadr. 2. And what will make you know what the Night of Al-Qadr is 3. The Night of Al-Qadr is better than a thousand months. 4. Therein descend the angels and the Ruh by their Lord's permission with every matter. 5. There is peace until the appearance of dawn

Allah informs that He sent the Qur'an down during the Night of Al-Qadr, and it is a blessed night about which Allah says,

﴿إِنَّآ أَنزَلْنَـهُ فِى لَيْلَةٍ مُّبَـرَكَةٍ﴾

(We sent it down on a blessed night.) (44:3) This is the Night of Al-Qadr and it occurs during the month of Ramadan.

Ibn `Abbas and others have said, "Allah sent the Qur'an down all at one time from the Preserved Tablet (Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz) to the House of Might (Baytul-`Izzah), which is in the heaven of this world. Then it came down in parts to the Messenger of Allah based upon the incidents that occurred over a period of twenty-three years.'' Then Allah magnified the status of the Night of Al-Qadr, which He chose for the revelation of the Mighty Qur'an, by His saying,

﴿وَمَآ أَدْرَاكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ - لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ ﴾

(And what will make you know what the Night of Al-Qadr is The Night of Al-Qadr is better than a thousand months.)

As for the question as to which night it was, it is disputed and there are as many as 40 different views on this subject according to Tafsir Maududi, however, a great majority of scholars hold the opinion that one of the odd nights of the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan is Lailat-ul-qadr, and among these also most scholars think that it is the 27th night.

When Hadrat Abu Zarr was asked about it, he said: "Hadrat `Umar, Hadrat Hudhaifah and many other Companions of the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) had no doubt that it is the 271h night." (Ibn Abi Shaibah)

However, there are other narrations that state that it could be any of the other odd nights of the last 10 nights of Ramadan.

According to Hadrat 'A'ishah, the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) said: "Search for lailat-ul- qadr among the odd nights of the last ten nights of Ramadan. (Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad, Tirmidhi). Hadrat 'A'ishah and Hadrat 'Abdullah bin `Umar have also reported that the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) observed i`tikaf (seclusion in the Mosque) during the last ten nights of Ramadan every year during his lifetime.

Probably Allah and His Messenger have not specified any one night for the reason so that the people, in their zeal to benefit from the virtues of Lailat-ul-qadr, should spend more and more nights in worship and devotion and should not remain content with only one night.

And what do you know what the Night of Glory is? The Night of Glory is better than a thousand months.

The commentators in general have understood this to mean that the good acts performed in this Night are superior in value to the good acts of a thousand months in which Lailat-ul-qadr is not included. There is no doubt that this is in itself correct and the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) has described great excellencies and virtues of the good acts and devotions of this Night. Hadrat Abu Hurairah, the Holy Prophet said: The one who remained standing in worship in the state of belief and for the sake of rewards from Allah during Lailat-ul-qadr, would have all his previous sins forgiven."( related in Bukhari and Muslim)

We should therefore make a special effort to increase in our good actions especially in the last 10 nights odd of Ramadan. We do not know whether we will live to see another Ramadan, where we can have this opportunity to have all of our past sins forgiven. If we do not normally recite the quran, then we should make an effort for these nights. E.g. If we were to recite the entire quran, we will could receive 3,200,000 blessings, because there are  320,000 letters in the quran (times 10). Provided that the letters are equally distributed in the quran, if we recite ¼ of a juzz/ para, we shall read about 2,500 letters, gaining 25,000 rewards. However, this reward is multiplied in this holy month, and even more if it is recited in the night of power. This will not take us more than 30 minutes to accomplish. If we cannot read the Arabic, then we should try to read the transliteration, or even the English translation.

During the last 10 nights, we should also increase the amount of dua that we make to Allah. Hazrat Aisha Radiallah Anha stated that I asked Rasool Allah peace be upon him, "If I find Lailatul Qadar then what should I do? HE peace be upon him said, recite this Dua."ALLAH HUMMA INNAKA A’FUVUN TOHIB BUL AFVA FA’AFU ANNI" (Tirmidhi)

"O Allah! You are the Forgiver and You like forgiving so forgive me”

May Allah spread His richest blessings on us, and on all those who fast during Ramadhan, purely out of love for Him. May He help us to purify ourselves, by forgiving our sins.