What is Laylatul Qadr?
Laylatul Qadr is known in English as the night of power. It is the night in which The Qur’an was revealed to The Prophet ﷺ and it is reported to have happened on one of the odd nights in the last ten days. Most of the scholars’ state that the night of power is on the 27th night, however there is a difference of opinion. Thus, one should increase worship and supplication in all the odd nights.
The virtues of Laylatul Qadr in light of The Qur’an and Sunnah:
Allah (almighty) said:
‘Indeed, it is We Who sent this Quran down on the Night of Glory. And what will make you realise what the Night of Glory is? The Night of Glory is better than a thousand months. That night the angels and the holy spirit descend, by the permission of their Lord, for every decreed matter. It is all peace until the break of dawn.’ (Quran 97:1-5).
As mentioned in the above verse, the night of power is greater than a thousand nights! Most of the pious predecessors and earlier scholars understood that this meant that worship and a righteous action is better in this night than a thousand nights.
Therefore, The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, urged his nation to stand in prayer during it, and thus said, ‘Whoever stands [in worship] during the Night of Divine Decree, in faith and anticipation [for reward from Allah alone], his past sins will be forgiven.’
As believers we should take advantage of this gift given to us by Allah (almighty), which was not given to the other nations prior to us, by reciting Qur’an and supplicating to Allah (almighty) asking for forgiveness from our past sins.
Another virtue of this blessed night is that Angels descend and convey greetings of peace and blessings to each believer. However, an exception has been made of three groups of people: the first is the alcoholic; the second is a soothsayer (fortune teller); the third is an individual who has long standing hatred for a fellow Muslim. The reward for the one who is blessed with receiving greetings from the Angels is that he will be forgiven of his past sins as is reported from Imam al Nawawi from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas RA. Thus, we must make extra effort to refrain from sins as the reward is too great for us to lose out on!
Acts of worship for Laylatul Qadr:
It is related in the books of Hadith (Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim) that when the last ten of Ramadan would arrive The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would wake His ﷺ family up and spend the entire night awake in worship. The scholars of hadith mention that the reward is for the one who stands in prayer i.e., tahajjud or Qiyam al layl. Tahajjud is the practice of going to sleep and then waking up in the night, making wudu, and praying cycles of prayer. Whereas Qiyam al layl is the practice of staying awake in the night without going to sleep and praying cycles of prayer.
Furthermore, Sayyidah A’isha RA said to The Messenger of Allah ﷺ “Tell me, Oh Messenger of Allah ﷺ, if I know it is the night of decree [Laylah tul qadr], what should I say during it?” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied
“say,
“اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي
Allahumma innaka afuwwun tuhibbul afwa fa’fu anni.
Oh Allah, indeed you are oft pardoning, generous, you love to pardon so pardon me.
Sayyiduna Anas RA narrates that The Prophet ﷺ said “On the night of Qadr Jibraeel AS descends unto Earth with a group of Angels and supplicates for each and everyone performing the dhikr of Allah either standing or sitting.” The scholars state that the best form of dhikr is saying la ilaha illallah. If a person constantly reads this, he will find acts of worship easy and will begin to experience and see amazing things.
May Allah (almighty) allow us to make the most of this blessed night which is better than a thousand nights and allow us to do that which is mentioned in the Qur’an and sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Don’t forget to donate to the Islamic Centre of Britain on the last nights of Ramadan for extra rewards and blessings!
