Virtues of Laylatul Qadr (July 2015)
By Omar Suleiman | 2026-01-06T20:46:55.290368+00:00 | Topic: Ramadan
Virtues of Laylatul Qadr
A Ramadan Lecture by Sheikh Omar Suleiman (July 2015)
Opening
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh, everyone. So I want to start off this class with a very beautiful hadith. It kind of gives us that motivation as we're going into the second half right now of Ramadan, particularly the last 10 nights.
Ibn Umar narrates that the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) says:
Search for that night in the last 10 nights.
Meaning the night of Al-Qadr.
If one of you found yourselves to be lazy or weak during the first half of Ramadan or the first part of Ramadan, then don't let him be lazy with the last 7 nights.
Hadith narrated by Muslim
So the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) said, "Seek it in the last 10 nights and if you felt like you had a rough Ramadan, you didn't do that well, then don't mess up in the last week of Ramadan. Make sure that you catch the last week of Ramadan and you find (لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ)."
Three Safety Nets
Now, earlier in the hadith study on the virtues of Ramadan in discussing this topic, we said that the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) has three ahadith:
The Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) says, "Whoever fasts Ramadan with Iman and with Ihtisab, with faith and seeking accountability, will be forgiven for all of his sins."
Sahih al-Bukhari
He also said:
"Whoever prays Qiyam al-Layl throughout Ramadan then he's forgiven for all of his sins."
(Sahih al-Bukhari)
And:
"Whoever stands up and just catches (لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِر) then he's forgiven for all of his sins."
(Sahih al-Bukhari)
And the ulama say that each one is a safety net for the other. Meaning if there is deficiency in your fasting, your Qiyam will catch you inshallah. And if there is deficiency in your Tarawih and your Qiyam, (لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ) will salvage the entire month and in fact an entire lifetime.
The Concept of Deprivation
So what are the ways that the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) described this particular night? What are some of the virtues of this night? What are some of the things that we should be looking for? There's a hadith where the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) speaks about this concept of deprivation. And what that means is if Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) deprives you of (لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ) it means that you're a deprived person. It means that your sins are getting in the way of you being able to catch (لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ)
Whereas if Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) just like when we say that if a person does Hajj it's because they're the guests of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى). Right? Likewise if Allah allows you to catch (لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ) it's that Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) has decreed something amazing for you. And so the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) says in an authentic hadith:
"This month has come upon you. And in it is a night that is greater than a thousand months. Whoever is deprived of it is deprived of all good. And no one is deprived of the good of this night except for one who is deprived."
(Sunan Ibn Majah)
And what that means is (مَحْرُومٌ) that there is something that's keeping you between you and Allah that's keeping you away from Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى). And Allah (عَزَّوَجَلٌ) would prevent you from the khayr of this night because of that sin that you're insisting upon. So really in these last couple of nights before you go into the last ten nights, one of the main things you should keep in mind here is that I need to do away
with those things that would make me (مَحْرُومٌ) that would make me a deprived individual so that Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) doesn't deprive me of the good of this night.
The Prophet's Practice
So you know there are things that we actually keep in mind as we're going into the last ten nights particularly in regards to our (سَيِّئَات) and the things that we do that would keep us away from Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى). So the idea here if you're deprived that means that there's a reason why Allah has chosen you to be amongst those who are deprived. If you're amongst those who catch it and who catch the blessings of it there's a reason why Allah chose you to be amongst those who would catch the blessing of it.
And so we find that Aisha (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا) says:
That the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم) when he entered the last ten nights, he spent the entire night in prayer. (أَحْيَا اللَّيْلَ) The entire night was given life by the (عِبَادَات) of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم) by the acts of worship of the Messenger. (وَأَيْقَظَ أَهْلَهُ) but that didn't stop him from waking up his family he woke his family up as well and he became very serious and he tied his waist belt meaning you know the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم) wanted to remain in standing the entire night in these particular nights.
(Sahih al-Bukhari)
And Ibn Umar (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ) he showed Nafi' he took Nafi' to the place that the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) used to pitch his tent and he said Rasulullah (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) used to pitch his tent in this particular spot in the masjid and he said Rasulullah (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) would not leave that tent except for a haja except for a need or to say salam to his family you know sometimes the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) would say salam to his family he would dip his head into the room of Aisha (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا) and she would comb his hair he would exchange a few words and then the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) went right back to that same spot which gives you by the way you know it gives you an idea that in these last ten nights you need to set yourself up for success and what that means is you know a lot of times people jump around from masjid to masjid in the last ten nights but what's preferable even if you're not doing i'tikaf just for the sake of your spirituality as Ibn Qudamah (رَحِمَةُ اللَّهُ) says even if you're not doing i'tikaf find the same spot to worship Allah the entire ten nights so that you associate ibadah with that spot so think about it if the first night you had an amazing night then the minute you see that spot again you're going to remember what you had last night and if you keep that going for ten nights then there is a continuity there of connection to Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى)
The Blessed Night
So Abdullah ibn Umar says he used to stay there the entire night (يُحْيِي اللَّيْلَ وَكَانَ) and he said what Aisha said he used to spend the entire night giving life to it with his ibadah he would not take a break (عَلَيْهِ)
(الصَّلاةُ وَالسَّلام) in that particular state.
Now the messenger (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) used to do this in the last ten nights one of the things that we find however is that one year he did twenty nights and the reason why he did twenty nights for those of you that took (أَمَّهَاتُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ) the mothers of the believers class you'll see that some of the wives of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) started to set up tents next to the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ)'s tent and essentially one wife set up a tent so the other wife got jealous she set up a tent so the other wife got jealous she set up a tent and the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) he left اعْتِكَاف that year (سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ) and he said that if you did this for Allah then you're going to stay and you're going to do this for Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) if you did it for some sort of competition then it's going to be in waste anyway so the messenger (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) he didn't stay in that tent for that particular year but then the next year (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) he did 20 days of اعتکاف and this was the way the Prophet used to operate and function as well was that he used to make up deeds that he missed in fact Ibn Al-Qayyim (رَحِمَةُ الله) says that's why we find that the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم) used to fast almost all of Sha'ban because he was making up voluntary days he missed in the past meaning if the Prophet (صلّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) missed a Monday or Thursday or three days of the month that he used to do then when Sha'ban came the Prophet (صلى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) even wanted to compensate and make up for those voluntary fasts.
So he had his particular spot (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) for these last 10 nights and Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) calls :(لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ) he says
Allah calls it a blessed night. Now if you remember that in Ramadan the messenger (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) called Ramadan (شهر مُبَارَكْ) it's a blessed month. Now the word (مُبَارَكٌ) what does it mean in this context? and Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim says it means (أضعاف) it means that Allah multiplies your deeds exponentially so Ramadan is a month where if something is done within that month it's multiplied exponentially right and (لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ) is a night from the month of Ramadan where if you do something in that night it's multiplied even more so it's called (لَيْلَةٌ مُبَارَكَةٌ)
Names of the Night
We find a narration from Ibn Abbas (رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْة) Himself we find a narration from Ibn Abbas (رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ) in this narration I have to be very clear that you know a lot of people take things out of context Ibn Abbas actually had names for the 15th of Shaaban he named that night and he named (لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ) and he named the night of Eid to himself alright and to the Sahaba basically to illustrate a concept so he used to call actually this is where there's no hadith that calls the 15th of Shaaban (لَيْلَةُ الْبَرَاءِ) the night where the souls are freed and there are a lot of innovated practices that take place on the 15th of Shaaban on (يُصْفٌ شَعْبَانَ) we know that the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) said that in the middle of Sha'ban Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) looks to his creation and Allah (جَلٌ وَعَزّ) forgives anyone who's not carrying shirk or carrying a major
sin or so on and so forth okay but there are no specific practices associated with the night however it's a blessed night just for that fact right that Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) looks to His (عباد) He looks to His servants and He frees them from hell fire so Ibn Abbas (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) called it (لَيْلَةُ الْبَرَاءِ) then Ibn Abbas (صلّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) called (لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ لَيْلَةُ التَّعْظِيمِ) which means the night in which you glorify Allah but the one that's doing the glorification right a night in which you glorify Allah so Allah frees you from your sins before Ramadan even comes in in Sha'ban Allah (جَلٌ وَعَزّ) already writes you from (الْعُتَقَاءِ) if you're a believer from those who are freed if you're a believer we ask Allah to make us amongst them (آمِينَ اللَّهُمَّ) then you have (لَيْلَةُ التَّعْظِيم) where you push yourself in that night of (تَعْظيم) of glorification of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) in ways that you've never pushed yourself before then he called the night of Eid (لَيْلَةُ الْجَائِزة) the night of payments alright why did he call it (لَيْلَةُ الْجَائِزَةِ) the sahaba asked him you know why wouldn't you call (لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ) the night of payment the payment of your good deeds he said because the Prophet (صلى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) said in a hadith and this is a hadith that's narrated by Muslim Imam Ahmed:
Speaking about Eid that he is given you know or the one who is owed compensation from Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) is given their compensation.
They asked the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) is it (لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ)? The Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) says that you're given your compensation when you finish your deeds.
(Sahih Muslim)
So there are these three steps that Ibn Abbas (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) mentioned. First Allah clears the way for us then we push ourselves in glorification then (بِإِذْنِ اللهِ تَعَالَى) when the night of Eid comes we receive the full reward of everything that we've done.
Special Virtues of Laylatul Qadr
So those are some of the names of (لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ) now what are the special virtues of (لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ)
First: The Night of Revelation
Number one first and foremost Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) revealed the Quran in this night and that makes it more special than any other night. Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) says:
That we have revealed it on (لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ) on the night of (الْقَدْرِ)
Quran 97:1
The Night of Decree
The ulama say Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى has the greatest قذر of anyone he has the greatest status of anyone and he sent on that night the angel with the greatest قَدْر the angel with the greatest status being Jibreel عَلَيْهِ السَّلام to the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ of the greatest قَدْر and he sent to that Prophet صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ the book with the greatest قَدْر and he sent it in the month of the greatest قَدْر of all of the months of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى so it's a very special night.
Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ actually tells us that all of the revelations were revealed in Ramadan in particular so he said صلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ that the Suhu of Ibrahim عَلَيْهِ السَّلام the scrolls of Ibrahim were revealed on the first night of Ramadan and he said that the Torah was revealed on the 6th of Ramadan and he says صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ that the Injil was revealed on the 13th of Ramadan and then he says the Zabur the Psalms were revealed on the 18th of Ramadan and he said the Quran was revealed on the 24th of Ramadan.
Sahih Ibn Hibban
So again the first Suhuf of Ibrahim were the first of Ramadan then you had the Torah on the 6th of Ramadan then you had the Injil on the 13th of Ramadan then you had the Zabur the Psalms on the 18th of Ramadan then you had the Quran on the 24th of Ramadan that's an authentic hadith in Ibn Hibban and Al-Tabarani.
Forms of Revelation
Now this brings about many questions: is Laylatul Qadr the 24th of Ramadan then? Is it the 24th day which would make it the 25th night or is it the 24th night and hence it's not only an odd night that Laylatul Qadr can be?
So the ulema they discuss this some of them bring some very interesting evidences. Imam Hassan Al- Basri says that Jibreel revealed or Jibreel reviewed the Quran with the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ a total of how many times? Think about it how many times did Jibreel used to review the Quran with the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ in Ramadan? One time right every night he'd review one time with the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ or he reviewed the Quran with the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم completing the entire Quran in Ramadan. The last year of the Prophet صلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ life how many times did Jibreel review it with him? Two times and how many years of revelation were there? 23. So that would mean Jibreel reviewed the Quran with the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ how many times? 24 times. So that's an interesting evidence that Imam Hassan Al-Basri رَحِمَهُ الله uses to say that Laylatul Qadr would be on the 25th night then ok the 24th day the 25th night.
Now the greater difference of opinion in this entire concept is what was revealed or was Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى talking about the beginning of the revelation to the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ or another form of revelation? Abdullah ibn Abbas says it has two meanings or there's a difference of opinion it could be one of two things: either Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى revealed the Quran in one shot to Baytul Izzah the house of glory in a written form from Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz from the preserved tablet and we know this this is established through the authentic Ahadith that Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى that Allah عَزَّوَجَلٌ preserved the Quran he took the Quran from Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz and preserved it in what's known as Al-Baytul Izzah which is in its own separate heaven the first heaven which means the house of glory and it's in its written form does that mean that Jibreel would just go to Baytul Izzah? No because the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ says when Allah speaks to Jibreel with the revelation which means that it's there in its written form and then Jibreel عَلَيْهِ السَّلام reveals the Quran to the Prophet صلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ directly from Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى in its portion so one opinion is that on Laylatul Qadr that is the revelation that's the descent that's being described. أَنزَلْنَاهُ means from Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz to Baytul Izzah and this was the opinion of many scholars.
The second opinion is that it's ابْتِدَاءُ الْوَحْيِ the beginning of the revelation to the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ and this was the opinion of Imam Al-Shaabi رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى that this is when Jibreel came to the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ in Hira with the first few verses of Surah Al-Alaq ok and they support they have many evidences for that. One of them is that chronologically you know when the Prophet صلى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ received Surah Al-Alaq it definitely was Ramadan and back then Ramadan was called Na'iq the name of the month was Na'iq so it came down to the Prophet صلّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ on the ninth month of the lunar calendar so it makes sense that it was the beginning of Wahi some of the ulama they even said that that it came with five verses Surah Al-Alaq which is the Surah before Surah Al-Qadr Jibreel عَلَيْهِ السَّلام صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ came to the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ with five verses initially and Surah Al-Qadr is five verses ok so there is that there is a connection there is a correlation between the two that this was ابْتِدَاءُ الْوَحْيِ and then some of the scholars said that it could be both ok because both you know the revelation from Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz to Baitul Izzah could have been in Ramadan on Laylatul Qadr as well as the beginning of the Wahi to the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ
Now the way that you look at this from a Quranic perspective Ibn Abbas صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ prefers the first opinion why? Because he says أَنزَلْنَاهُ أَنزَلْنَاهُ means one time so it's one descent so it's referring to the descent on Laylatul Qadr from Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz to Al-Baitul Izzah when Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَی says:
That we were the ones that caused the revelation to descend upon the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. نَزَّلْنَا means over a period of time ok so it's not just one time it's over a period of time.
The month of Ramadan in which the Quran was revealed which again indicates one descent.
So Laylatul Qadr would be the night and Allah knows best that the Quran was revealed from Al-Lawh Al- Mahfuz or it was taken from the preserved tablet and placed in Al-Baitul Izzah however it could also be the night that the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ revelation started as well ok because it is a blessed night and there is no limitation to its Barakah so Allah عَزَّوَجَلٌ could have blessed it in numerous ways so it could refer to both forms of revelation.
Second: The Night of Decree
Also Allah عَزَّوَجَلٌ says about this night:
That Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى decrees every precise matter so it's a night of decree.
And Imam Al-Kathir رَحِمَةُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى he says about this he says:
That Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى on that night takes the decree from Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz the preserved tablet and gives it to the angels and that decree is for the upcoming year.
And basically everyone's life spans and their Rizq their sustenance that's been decreed for the year.
And everything that would happen in that year until the end of the year so basically until the next Laylatul Qadr until the next Laylatul Qadr.
And he says this is what was narrated from Ibn Umar and from Mujahid and from Abu Haq and many others and Ibn Abbas سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى who went so far to say that even the names of the people that will go to Hajj for that year are decreed on Laylatul Qadr the angels are given the scrolls with the names of the people in Ihram subhanallah.
So it's a night in which everything that's going to happen for the next year is rolled out it's decreed by Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى and it's a mercy from Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى that Allah chooses that night to decree why? Because what will most of us be doing? Worshipping Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى
And the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم he mentioned for example that he would fast Mondays and Thursdays because the actions are presented to Allah on the days of Monday and Thursday so the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ wanted to be in a state of fasting when the deeds were presented to Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى . So Laylatul Qadr is the night you know in which number one if you're a Muslim you know most likely you would have been fasting that day unless you had some form of excuse so you're already in a state of Siyam so you've already gotten that the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ made a connection a favorability between fasting and having the deeds presented to Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى so you've already gotten that in fact you have three weeks of fasting right? At least three weeks of fasting before that even happens on top of that you're probably praying Taraweeh you're probably worshipping Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى in those ten nights more than any other nights of the year and Allah عَزَّوَجَلٌ could have just chosen any day of the year to be the yearly decree and it could have just been random but instead Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى gives it to you within these ten nights that you can push yourself because you're going to be making Du'a in these ten nights aren't you? You're inevitably going to be asking for matters of the Dunya as well as matters of the Akhirah so you're pushing yourself and Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى chooses that to be the night that He decrees.
Some of the Ulema they said that Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى only decrees Rahmah because in those last ten nights فُتِحَتْ أَبْوَابُ الرَّحْمَةِ وَغُلِّقَتْ أَبْوَابُ النَّارِ right? The doors of mercy are open and the doors of hellfire are closed some of them said that Allah only decrees mercy on that night some of them said Allah decrees everything but He decrees in the spirit of mercy and that's the more correct opinion what that means is everything is going to be decreed because our life spans are decreed inevitably there's going to be some you know some people that are going to pray on that night and they're going to suffer in their rizq but that's because Allah deemed it better for them and that decree came with a decree of mercy not with a decree of punishment you understand the difference between the two? Everything is decreed but it's decreed within that spirit of mercy everything that's going to happen is going to happen through that lens of Rahmah for you and there is no better night of the year that you would want Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى decreeing what's going to happen with your job what's going to happen with your life what's going to happen with your Hajj plans or your Umrah plans you wouldn't want it to be any other night other than Laylatul Qadr so it's Laylatul Mubarakah it's a blessed night the night Allah reveals the Quran the night of decree.
Third: Better Than a Thousand Months
And of course Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى says:
It's better than a thousand nights notice that Allah did not say لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ كَأَلْفِ شَهْرٍ that the night of decree is like a thousand months. Allah said خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ which means it's open okay it could be better than two thousand months it could be better than a thousand years it's better than a thousand months.
Now what's the context of that the ulama debated. First of all is Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ being is this literal to say a thousand months or is this just talking about الكثرة this just talking about abundance like this is greater than a thousand months like when Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى says that the disbelievers would have wished to live for a thousand years okay so is Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى being literal or is Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى demonstrating الْكَثْرَة or الْوَفْرَة that this will be an abundance that this is greater than anything you could ever achieve in life?
Now there's a narration from Mujahid and Ibn Jarir it's منقطع it's not traced to the prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ there's a missing link a tabi'i or tabi'i narrating something of the prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ that the prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ saw a man from Bani Israel that used to worship Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى for 83 years he lived for 83 years a thousand months equals 83 years and the prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ saw this man from Bani Israel worshiping for 83 years and every single night he prayed qiyamul layl and he would spend his days in jihad in the way of Allah he spent his days striving for the sake of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ the prophet تَعَجَّبَ عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلام in battle and so on and so forth and وَتَعَالَى was impressed by this man okay so Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى gave it to us in one night what would otherwise need to be achieved in 30,000 nights. Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى gave it to us in one night. Allah عَزَّوَجَلٌ said this is a gift to your Ummah.
So that's one narration another narration which doesn't necessarily contradict this is a narration from Anas ibn Malik رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ and this narration is sahih Anas رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ says:
That Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى showed the prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ the life spans of people that came before this Ummah so the prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم he feared why:
So the prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ was afraid because you know it seemed like the life spans of the Ummah that came before were a lot longer and rasoolallah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ says:
That the life span of my Ummah is between 60 and 70 years so the prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ sees the life spans that Bani Israel had and the nations that came before them and he was afraid so he would be afraid that they would not be able to do the things that the Ummah that came before did so Anas صلّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ says:
Allah gave the prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ laylatul qadr which is greater than a thousand months so Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى gave us because if our life spans are average between 60 and 70 years then Allah gave us what is greater than 83 years in ibadah.
Sahih narration
There is one more narration and it is a weak narration but it is in the books of Sunnah so I will mention it because it is in At-Tirmidhi and others but it is a weak narration and it has political connotations to it which is why I will squash it now as a da'eef hadith because I am sure it is probably going to circulate at some point if it has not already circulated that when al-Hassan ibn Ali رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ وَرَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْ أبيه when he gave the bay'ah to Muawiyah رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ when al-Hassan made peace with Muawiyah someone stood up and said that you have made fools of the believers that you have you have you have mocked the believers and al-Hassan said how can you he said رَحِمَكَ اللهُ may Allah have mercy on you he says the Prophet had a dream in which he saw Bani Umayyah upon the manbar meaning he saw Bani Umayyah ruling the ummah so he said Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى revealed to the Prophet:
Ok that what we have given to you is al-kawthar the fountain the river alright then after that Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى revealed:
That we have you know given you the night of al-qadr which is better than a thousand months and now this is the interesting part of the narration al-qasim he says that we counted the months that Bani Umayyah ruled the ummah and it came out to exactly a thousand months so he said that Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى is telling the Prophet you have longer even than that so this narration is a da'if narration but I thought I'd mention it because it's found in the books of sunan.
Now what is the most amazing thing I came across honestly in this entire discussion of a thousand months I came across a narration from Imam Hassan al-Basri رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى and it's beautiful he said that surat al-kawthar was revealed to the Prophet right before surat al-qadr surat al-kawthar is a gift to who? Rasool Allah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:
We've given you al-kawthar.
Right so Allah عَزَّوَجَلٌ gave the gift to the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ of the fountain and Imam Hassan al-Basri رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ said the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم wanted a gift not only for himself but for the ummah as a whole so Allah عَزَّوَجَلٌ revealed surat al-qadr subhanallah that the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ
وَسَلَّمَ wasn't satisfied with something just for him and this is the nature of our Messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أُمَّتِي أُمَّتِي his one du'a on the day of judgment would be intercession for the ummah and so he said that's why you find the closeness of revelation between surat al-kawthar and surat al-qadr Allah gave the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ a gift then he gave a gift to the ummah as a whole out of love to the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ and out of his mercy to the ummah.
Fourth: The Descent of Angels
Finally we find Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى says:
Allah عَزَّوَجَلٌ says that of the blessings of this night is that the angels are constantly coming down and by the angels constantly coming down and saying salam upon the believers the night is tranquil there is a tranquility on the night of al-qadr that is unlike the tranquility found throughout the year and imam al- shaabi رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى says and there is not a single masjid or group of people or individual that is praying except that the angels are covering the span between him and Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالٰی and them and Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى and reporting their names to Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى sending salam upon the believers.
You can't imagine subhanallah how many malaika are coming down on that night in fact that's why some of the ulama said it's called laylatul qadr because qadr means that it's constriction it's restricted that the space in the heavens is restricted because of the amount of angels ascending and descending there is no space in the heavens subhanallah because of how many of them are coming down and sending salam upon the believers and it makes sense the angels love ibadah they love worship they love prayer they love tawbah they love istighfar they love sadaqah and on laylatul qadr there is more of that than any other night so the amount of angels that are coming down what did the prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ say he said in a hadith from abu hurairah رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ the prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ says that the amount of angels on that night are greater than the number of stones on the earth the mountains that are made of stones and the amount of خصتی and خصی these are the smallest rocks right there are more angels on the earth on that night than the small rocks of this world think about all of the mountains think about all of the pebbles outside there are more angels than that.
Abu hurairah رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ he basically commented on this hadith he said there are even more than the stars in the galaxy there are more angels on that night than the rocks on the earth the pebbles on the earth and the stars in the galaxy looking for people and sending salam upon them the angels look for حلقات of dhikr on regular days they look for the people remembering Allah they look for the circles of knowledge they look for salah and قراءة الْقُرْآنِ they come to صَلاةُ الْفَجْرِ right in the قُرْآنِ الْفَجْرِ they look forward to the recitation of al fajr so what about then these nights where people where the masajids are full throughout the world and the people are standing up and reading quran and praying to Allah سُبْحَانَهُ
وَتَعَالَى and subhanallah Allah عَزَّوَجَلٌ says jibreel عَلَيْهِ السَّلام basically commemorates the initial revelation he is the one that brought it to the prophet the first time on this night according to that opinion right and jibreel is coming down every single Ramadan in laylatul qadr sending salam upon the believers as a whole and imam al saadi رَحِمَةُ الله says what a great nobility that is that was reserved previously for khadijah who received the salam of jibreel and people like that mariam عَلَيْهَا السَّلام what a شرف that the believers as a whole have that opportunity that jibreel is sending salam upon them and the angels as a whole are sending salam upon them.
Now jibreel عَلَيْهِ السَّلام comes to the earth of course every night in Ramadan doesn't he because he is reviewing the Quran with the prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ but this is a night that the salam of jibreel extends to all of the people which means the salam of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى extends to everyone as well now Allah عَزَّوَجَلٌ says هِيَ حَتَّى مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ and I really want to make a point here that Allah says it's all the way until fajr comes in you know if you go to most masajids the program people finish their qiyam around what like 4 am and then there is the suhoor and the conversations and the discussions and stuff like that and then the fajr adhan someone might take a nap or something like that but Allah says it's until fajr comes in now when does laylatul qadr start what do you guys think those of you that are here when does laylatul qadr start? Maghrib.
Can you imagine how messed up it would be if you prayed the entire night but your entire laylatul qadr was nullified because you had iftar and you made a dumb joke or you backbited while you were eating iftar with people so it's important to keep in our minds that laylatul qadr is from the adhan of maghrib to the adhan of fajr it starts at maghrib so when you eat your iftar keep to yourself keep quiet keep indulged in dhikr even as you are eating your food when you finish your food go worship Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى until isha comes in finish your isha finish your taraweeh the point is as Mujahid رَحِمَةُ الله says most people lose laylatul qadr because of their interactions with people and there's a hadith which he uses as evidence which I'll bring here by the way inshallah ta'ala in a moment but most people will miss out on laylatul qadr because they're too busy talking they're arguing they're getting into discussions and when you use your tongue for other than Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى it's only natural that you're going to mess up at some point so keep in mind it starts from maghrib and it goes all the way until fajr هِيَ حَتَّى مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ it's until fajr comes out so even if you're going to eat iftar and suhoor with people make sure that you watch your adab your manners and so on so forth and you don't say anything that you're going to regret that could make you miss out on a lifetime of good deeds.
When is Laylatul Qadr?
Now the discussion comes when is laylatul qadr so all of those ten nights you need to watch yourself from iftar to suhoor basically to the adhan of fajr when is laylatul qadr and this discussion by the way it can be it can be a little shocking the conclusion might be a little bit shocking at least my own personal conclusion allahu a'lam but it's a very very in depth discussion and you find multiple opinions here.
You find the opinion of ikrama رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ وَرَحِمَةُ اللَّهُ ikrama who's the tabi'i not the sahabi great scholar of the quran who believed that laylatul qadr was the 15th of sha'ban and the ulema say that he's مَرْدُودٌ in that that's a rejected opinion why? Because allah says:
So the quran was revealed in ramadan so no matter how you cut it up there's no way that laylatul qadr can be outside of ramadan.
You find the opinion of imam ibn hazm رَحِمَةُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى who said it's the 20th or the 21st night the very beginning of those 10 nights it's at the onset of the 10 nights and the rest of the nights are just honoring the first or second night.
You find the early opinion of ibn abbas رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ and abu saeedal khudri and some group of the companions that said it's the 23rd of ramadan they actually thought it was the 23rd of ramadan.
You find the opinion of ibn umar who said it's the 24th or the 25th based upon that hadith of when the scriptures were revealed so he obviously holds the second opinion as to what it means to say that the quran was revealed in ramadan so he believes that it was ibtida al wahi as well with the prophet so he says the 24th or the 25th of ramadan.
Then you find the opinion of a large group of companions obey ibn ka'ab muawiyah ibn abbas رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ and his later opinion that it is definitely the 27th night of ramadan so it's not just some opinion that people made up alright there's actually solid grounding for that to believe that it is definitely the 27th night of ramadan there are sahaba that swore by it which we'll mention inshallah ta'ala.
And then you find the opinion of some like imam ahmed imam malik and sufiana thawri and others that every year it's a different night so when you find a hadith where the prophet specified a night it was for that year in particular okay so let's go through these evidences alright and that opinion you know is there as well and it's you know there are many different weak hadith as well so there's a weak hadith that i've seen circulating and it is a weak hadith meaning it's in the books of hadith but it's a da'if hadith that if an odd night of the last ten nights coincides with laylatul juma'ah with the night of friday then that's laylatul qadr i remember it actually happened a few years ago and a lot of people were passing around that hadith in particular so it's a weak hadith alright.
Imam al-razi رَحِمَةُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى says in any case the reason why the prophet did not tell us when laylatul qadr was definitively was that we would fall into sin at that point if we didn't honor the night you know that's one thing if you're looking for the last ten nights and you take a break on some nights and you don't really know when laylatul qadr is and it's another thing if Allah and the messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ tell you laylatul qadr is this night and you still don't do anything about it then at that point you risk being even sinful due to your neglect alright because it becomes such a form of ingratitude so let's go
through the evidences now the evidences that i chose some of these hadith are very redundant i chose the ones that have stories in them just because i like those alright.
Evidence from Abu Sa'eed Al-Khudri
The first one is from Abu Salama رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ he says i went to Abu Saeed Al Khudri رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ and i said you know can you take a walk with us and talk to us about the messenger صلى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ so he said he came out and we started to walk in the garden and i asked him tell me what you heard from the prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ regarding laylatul qadr so listen to what he says he says the first Ramadan the prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ made itikaf the first ten nights فَاعْتَكَفْنَا مَعَهُ so we did i'tikaf with him as well the first ten nights he said then just as he finished those first ten nights jibreel عَلَيْهِ السلام came to him and says:
That which you are seeking is still ahead of you so the prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ