Nights are naturally pregnant. They give birth to wonders in the days. In human life, the essence of night is not just to sleep and rest. It is also to plan how the day is to be meaningfully spent. Thus, the great things that men do in the day are initiated in the nights. There is a single night in the month of Ramadan that is more valuable than 1000 months in the life of man. That night which is pearled in this third segment of the month of Ramadan is called Laylatul Qadr.
This is confirmed by the Almighty Allah in Qur'an 97: 3 thus “The Night of power is better (and more prosperous) than one thousand months.” That Night of power, commonly known to Muslims as Laylatul-Qadr, is the mother of all nights.
It is the night in which the secret of human destiny is concealed. It is the night that combines all three divine features of Ramadan: blessings, forgiveness and emancipation of the faithful from the claw of Satan. It is the night in which Allah’s favour is granted to His obedient servants. If only one night (Laylatul-Qadr) is more prosperous, for Muslims, than 1000 months according to the Qur’an, then meeting that one night once in a life’s time is enough for a true believer to gain entry into Al-Jannah. And, by analogy, it means that the average life span of modern man as determined by Allah is 83 years and four months. That is what 1000 months amount to in calculation of years.
Yet, in His mercy, Allah makes that night available to us every year. That makes it an endless opportunity for whoever seeks the favour of his Creator.
The exact night of Laylatul-Qadr in the month of Ramadan is not specified. This is to enable the faithful ones make efforts in seeking the favour of Allah, by searching for the night. Even Prophet Muhammad (SAW) could not be specific about identification of that night.
When he was asked about Laylatul-Qadr, all Prophet Muhammad (SAW) could proffer as solution was for the Muslims to search for it among the odd nights in the last ten days of Ramadan. Those are the odd nights that preceed the odd days in the last ten days of Ramadan. They are the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th and 29th of the month.
But since one is not sure of which of those nights will actually be Laylatul-Qadr, the best way out is to wake up in all the last ten nights. Each night is spent by observing Nawafil (superogatory Salat), recitation of the Qur'an and the chanting of Allah’s glorification: Tasbih, Tahmid, Istighfar, Tahlil and Salat ala-n- Nabiyyi.
The numbers of rakats to be observed are not specific. It is according to one’s ability. Ditto the chanting. The recitation of the Qur'an can be done in Arabic only by those who understand Arabic and know what they are reciting.
Others may recite the Qur'an in their vernacular languages or in English. The essence of reciting the Qur'an is to understand what the book contains to be able to meditate and act on those contents. It is of no use reciting what you do not understand. Even those who understand Arabic very well do make mistakes in the recitation of the Qur'an. After all these, one can then supplicate to Allah in a very sober and humble mood.
The best supplications are those already provided in the Qur'an. They are the supplications made by the Prophets who preceded Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and those made by the last prophet himself. Most of those supplications start with Rabbana (our Lord!) And, they contain all that any human being may wish to request from Allah.
In the night of power, thousands of Angels are dispatched into our own world (the earth) to say Amin to the prayers being offered by sincere Muslims. Make sure you do not miss this unique night. RAMADAN KARIM!
Dr. Femi Abbas is a columnist at THE NATION NEWSPAPER and can be reached via: E-mail: femabbas756@gmail.com Tel: 08115708536 (Text only)
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