Reality of Laylat-al-Qadr Shaykh

Reality of Laylat al-Qadr

Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi

Opening

As-Salaam Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu

Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Come to Prayer. Come to success. Come to success. Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest. There is no god but Allah.

The Incomprehensible Nature of Laylat al-Qadr

This is an Arabic technique, it's a term of balagha, that Allah Azawajal is inciting our curiosity. That what will make you understand, nothing will make you understand. It is beyond your comprehension.

So whenever the term (وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا - wa ma adraka ma) occurs in the Quran, it is an indication that what question is going to follow, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is drawing attention to it, that you will never understand. And as Sufyan al-Thawri says, whenever Allah says (وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ ما - wa ma adraka ma) He will tell you something about it. And whenever Allah says (وَمَا يُدْرِيكَ - wa ma yudrika) then that is going to be in the hereafter, it is not in this world.

So when Allah says (وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا - wa ma adraka ma) He will tell us something. But whatever He tells us, we are being told, our minds will never fully understand. (وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ - wa ma adraka ma laylatul qadr) (Quran 97:2) What will truly make you understand? You're never going to understand, how blessed Laylatul Qadr is.

The Value of One Night

The one night of Qadr, it is better than a thousand months, which is of course 83.3 years as we know. And as Qatada said, that night of Laylatul Qadr, it is equal to a thousand months, 83 years of constant worship, as if there was no Laylatul Qadr in those 83 years. And so one night is equivalent to this constant amount of worship.

The Prophetic Connection to Ramadan

And of course the linkage of Laylatul Qadr with Ramadan is something that our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) himself did, in the famous hadith in Sunan An-Nisa'i (An-Nasa'i hadith 2106), on the night of Ramadan, the last night of Sha'ban, he stood up and he gave a mu'idah, a lecture, and he said: (أَتَاكُمْ شَهْرٌ مُبَارَكْ) A blessed month has come to you. And then he said: (فِيهِ لَيْلَةٌ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ) That in it is one night, it is better than a thousand months. (مَنْ حُرِمَ خَيْرَهَا فَقَدْ حُرِمَ) Whoever has been denied the night, the blessings of that night, whoever doesn't take advantage of that one night, indeed that person has been denied all blessings.

The Three Paths to Forgiveness

And our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) also mentioned this night as one of the three things that forgives all sins in the month of Ramadan, in the famous hadith in Bukhari and Muslim (Bukhari hadith 38, Muslim hadith 760). Whoever fasts Ramadan with iman and wanting Allah's reward, will have his sins forgiven. Number two, whoever prays every single night, a special prayer, the qiyam or the tahajjud, will have his sins forgiven.

And number three, whoever prays on Laylatul Qadr. And so this one night will also guarantee our sins having been forgiven. And some of our scholars of the past, they said: (فِيهِ لَيْلَةٌ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ) They said, if Allah did not tell us in which month Laylatul Qadr was, and we thought it would be any one day of the whole night, this verse would have been enough of an encouragement that we pray tahajjud every single night, so that we get the opportunity that one of those nights is Laylatul Qadr.

How much more so when Allah has told us one of the ten, and then we are told especially more on the odd ten. How lazy can we be that we don't take advantage of something that Allah Azzawajal has specified so much.

When is Laylat al-Qadr?

Of course, as for the exact night of Laylatul Qadr, this is something that many treatises have been written, lots of interpretations of our classical ulama.

Some of the scholars of the past, al-Hassan al-Basri, actually he said it could be any night of Ramadan, and of course that is a minority position. Almost all of our scholars, they said that it is one of the last ten nights based on the authentic hadith. And after this, sahaba and tabi'oon and early scholars differed.

Various Opinions from the Sahaba

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri radiallahu anhu, he was of the opinion that Laylatul Qadr is most likely on the 21st night. And he based this on a hadith in which the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, that I saw myself in a dream doing sajda on Laylatul Qadr, and it was muddy, it was water was pouring down. And Abu Sa'id said that happened on the night of the 21st.

Abu Hurairah radiallahu anhu, and also Ibn Umar, and also Abdullah ibn Unais. Abdullah ibn Unais would swear that it is on the 23rd night, based on the exact same hadith that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, I saw myself prostrating in water and mud. And Abdullah ibn Unais said that happened on the 23rd night of Ramadan.

The other famous sahabi, Abu Bakra, he would say that the greatest candidate is the 25th night. But of course as we are all aware that the majority of scholars they say that out of all of the odd nights, the 27th has the greatest probability or the greatest chance.

The Strongest Evidence for the 27th Night

And this is based on the hadith in Sahih Muslim (Muslim hadith 1169) that our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: (مَنْ كَانَ يَلْتَمِسُ لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ فَلْيَلْتَمِسْهَا فِي لَيْلَةِ سَبْعِ وَعِشْرِينَ) Whoever is searching for Laylatul Qadr, let him search for it on the night of the 27th.

There is no other hadith that specifies a night other than this hadith, an authentic hadith. The others are interpretations of the sahabi. The 21, 23, 29, we have a number of sahabi that are reading in the signs and they think it is that night.

As for from the words of our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the only hadith that mentions a night is this hadith in Sahih Muslim that says the night of the 27th. And because of this, our popular culture of course has taken it and it is a point of validity that out of all of the candidates, the night of the 27th is indeed the most auspicious and the most likely.

Mystical Interpretations

Of course, later scholars have tried to derive other mystical interpretations. For example, the word Laylatul Qadr consists of 9 letters and it appears 3 times in Suratul Qadr. So 9 times 3 is 27. Or that the 27th word in Suratul Qadr is Salam.

So inna anzalnahu, if you count, the 27th is Salam. And all of these are interpretations that are not of the methodology that are sound. This is not, we should not rely on those interpretations.

The hadith in Sahih Muslim is enough for us that indeed out of all of the nights, the 27th night has the greatest probability. Nonetheless, we have to be very explicit here that we do not know for certain when Laylatul Qadr is. And this is of the blessings that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us.

The Wisdom of Its Concealment

Also, some of the tabi'un and the early scholars, Imam Malik was of this position, and also Abu Qilaba, the famous tabi'i, that he was of this position as well, that Laylatul Qadr changes from year to year. And that is an opinion, and Allah azza wa jal knows best. And we know for a fact that Allah azza wa jal intentionally obscured Laylatul Qadr.

The Hadith of Concealment

Ubadah ibn Samith reported (Bukhari hadith 2023) that once we were raising our voices, an argument took place in the masjid, and our voices started raising up. And then the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam came, and he came upon us while we were arguing. And then he said, I had come to tell you about Laylatul Qadr, but because of this argument, this knowledge has been lifted up from me.

And wal'allahu khair, this is in the hadith. And perhaps it is better that you don't know when Laylatul Qadr is. Therefore, seek it on the 9th and the 7th and the 5th of the last 10 nights of Ramadan.

So the 29th, the 27th, 25th, this is mentioned in the hadith in Bukhari. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam once again, out of all of the odd nights, the latter of the odd nights has more probability. And then the hadith in Sahih Muslim as we said, the 27th has the greatest probability.

The Blessing of Not Knowing

However, from this hadith we learn that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala intentionally lifted up from us the knowledge of Laylatul Qadr. And we thank Allah for that. Because imagine, if we knew what night it was on, and on that night, I seek refuge with Allah, we committed sins knowing it is that night.

Or on that night, some people were lazy, I seek refuge with Allah. At least ignorance is an excuse, perhaps Allah will forgive. But imagine somebody knew that it is Laylatul Qadr, and they did not worship Allah.

What a sad state of affairs. Imagine as well, if we knew Laylatul Qadr, how many of us would actually worship on the other nights as well. And so indeed, in this obscurity, there is a test for those that want to pass the test.

The Ease Allah Has Provided

And subhanallah, how much easier can we get? Out of all of the nights of the year, it is one month. Out of this one month, the last ten. Out of this last ten, especially the odd.

Out of the odd, especially the latter part, 25, 27, 29, how lazy can a person be? And that's why our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, whoever is deprived of Laylatul Qadr, has been deprived of all good. Because honestly, subhanallah, how sad is it dear brothers and sisters. We know for a fact that if a person said, you will get a million dollars, if you did something every night for five nights, five hours, you would get a million dollars.

Everyone amongst us, we would be doing that five hours routine for five nights for that million dollars. Subhanallah, 83 years of constant worship. That is a double, triple, quadruple lifetime of actual deeds.

Meaning if you were to calculate it out. And we are being lazy on this. La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah. This is the time to tighten our belt. This is the time to put up our sleeves and to really exert our utmost effort on this last night.

The Angels Descending

That all of the angels come down, including the angel Jibreel (تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيهَا) At Allah's commands they come down. And implementing Allah's commands, (بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهم)

Here means Allah's qadr is coming down. All of the rosters and the assignments are coming down. (مِّن كُلِّ أَمْرِ). Of all affairs were being told to us. Who will live? Who will die? Who will be inflicted with cancer? Who is gonna happen this? What's gonna happen? All of it is coming down. (مِّن كُلِّ أَمْرٍ تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ)

The Special Presence of Jibreel

So all of this is happening. And especially out of all of the angels. Who is coming? The angel Jibreel himself.

The angel Jibreel, who no longer visits this earth, except on Laylatul Qadr. The angel Jibreel, who spoke to every single prophet without exception. The angel Jibreel, who witnessed the creation of Adam, who drowned Firaun, who did what he did to the Qawm Lut.

That angel is coming down to this earth. The mightiest of angels. The one whom Allah specifies in the Quran. Whoever takes Jibreel as an enemy, he has taken me as an enemy. Allah mentions him by name. The angel Jibreel, who when the prophet s.a.w. saw him in his original form, Allah revealed in the Quran:

He saw of the miracles, of the most amazing miracles of Allah he saw.

The mere seeing of Jibreel, Allah praised the prophet s.a.w. that he was granted that seeing. This is the angel that is coming down to this earth. And he never comes down, except on this night.

Preparing to Meet the Angels

And that is why it is authentically narrated that a number of sahaba, including Anas ibn Malik, a number of tabi'oon, and Nakh'i, and Abu Ayyub and others, many of them, they would wear their finest garments. Anas ibn Malik had a special clothes, that he would only wear on the odd nights. And Nakh'i would take a ghusl every single time, between Maghrib and Isha, before he stood for tahajjud.

Another great scholar of Kufa, he had a thousand dinars cloth, the most expensive. And he would keep it in a special box, only wore it on the nights of Laylatul Qadr. When someone asked one of these great scholars, why are you dressing up like this? Why are you putting your best perfume on?

He said, subhanallah, Jibreel is coming down, shouldn't I be prepared to meet and greet him? This dignitary, this VIP is coming, shouldn't I be in my finest when Jibreel comes down? So on this night of Laylatul Qadr, we actually are anticipating, this is the night that Jibreel is coming.

This is the night that all of the angels around, and the angels, they love to see dignified clothing. The angels love perfume. Allah Azawajal tells us: (خُذُوا زِينَتَكُمْ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدِ) (Quran 7:31) Wear your best garments when you come to the masajid.

So when we stand in salatul tahajjud, we should also dress up for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Night of Peace

Even though technically, if you say (السلام) it would make more sense, but (سلام) Again this is a bit advanced, but why is the mubtada placed before the khabar here? Is that to emphasize, that this night is nothing but peace. That peace, all of it.

Peace, this whole night is (سلام). And some of our scholars say, there are no Shayateen on Laylatul Qadr. Even those that are Qareens and what not, they get away because there's too many angels here.

So there's nothing but peace. (سَلَامٌ هِيَ حَتَّى مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ) Until the coming of the dawn, there will be nothing but peace. So until from Fajr, from Maghrib up until Fajr, it is as if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us, it's a small time frame, only a few hours, until the (مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ) that's all that you have.

So we should really strive our best to do our utmost. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us of those who take advantage of this blessed night.

Signs of Laylat al-Qadr

Our books of tafsir and also some narrations mention some of the signs of Laylatul Qadr.

Moderate temperature, sun rises without the rays, some say that the sun is slightly brighter, some say that the night is brighter, some say that there's no wind blowing, and the opinion of some of the muhaqiqeen, some of those that have done research, is that all of these signs, firstly the majority of them are not authentically ascribed to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and secondly, most likely these signs, even if they are authentic, they apply some years and not others. And that is because circumstances change, and not every single year will the sun rise without rays or whatnot. And in fact this is something that most likely it goes back to some of the tabi'oon and whatnot.

But in any case, it is never reported that the sahaba and tabi'oon actually monitored those nights. In other words, you don't look at the temperature and decide Laylatul Qadr. You don't observe the atmospheric pressure and then decide Laylatul Qadr.

No, you exert your utmost. These signs, they are factors that perhaps we can take some benefit from after the night is over. But during the night, don't worry about the atmospheric pressure.

During the night, don't worry about what it is. You need to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. As for all of these signs, again this is a bit of a more complicated issue.

The Prophetic Example

But nonetheless, the point is that we need to exert ourselves the utmost in these last odd nights of this night of Ramadan. And Aisha herself narrates (Bukhari hadith 2024) that when the last ten nights of Ramadan came, the Prophet shallallahu alayhi wasallam would tighten his waist belt. He would tighten his belt.

And he would spend the entire night in worship. And he would wake his whole family up. And in another hadith, Aisha radiallahu anha said, the Prophet shallallahu alayhi wasallam would exert himself in the last ten nights of Ramadan more than at any other time of the year.

These are the ten nights. This is also the night Allah gives a qasam on : That wal fajr, by the ten blessed nights, these are the ten nights that we are here.

What Should We Do?

So what should we do, dear Muslims? A number of things. Obviously number one on this list is extra prayer. Standing in extra salah.

This is the number one thing that should be done. This is what our Prophet shallallahu alayhi wasallam did for as long as we can. And as I have said in other lectures, the quantity of rak'ahs is not important.

It is the quality that is far more important. Do not become obsessed with the quantity of numbers. Look more to the quality.

How is your khushu? How long is your tilawah? What are you doing in your sajdahs? Also the duas during this night. The duas in salah, duas before salah, duas in sajdah, duas at all time of this night. Also reciting the Quran, also doing dhikr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, generic dhikr.

The Special Du'a of Aisha

Also the dua of that Aisha specifically asked the Prophet shallallahu alayhi wasallam (Tirmidhi hadith 3513(, what dua should we make? (اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي) This is one of the most important duas to make on this night.

Also to encourage our families, we're all in the COVID lockdown. And obviously our schedules, especially our children's,