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.
