THE LAILATHUL QAD’R
A NIGHT OF SHEER MAGNIFICENCE:
By M. A. QAIYUM
Islam, to me, is a saga of family living. At the head of the table is Allah and everyone else is at a hand’s stretch. The head of the family is strong and powerful, but he has a heart of gold.
He knows all our antics but lets us be. The cane stands at the far corner. None has seen it touched. How could a father beat or break the bones of a dear child?
The Holy Qur’an and Hadith have informed us how there was nothing like man for trillions of years and Allah’s Throne was on water. As a prelude to Creation, as we know it today, the Big Bang occurred on Allah’s Command. And the earth and the Heavens that were bonded together, separated and Allah made the world worth living for Adam and Eve and their descendents.
As Allah established Himself, in His Own Majesty, on the miraculous throne, He wrote unto Himself the Law that would govern the universe from thereon:
“My Mercy shall overcome My Wrath!”
It is our ignorance of, or studied indifference to, this diktat that we owe all the wars and calamities to which we have subjected ourselves since day one of Allah’s creation of Adam as His Own Choice to be the Vice Regent of Allah.
In a most important Hadith, we find proof of this eternal truth in Allah’s Command of Compassion to the angels charged to keep an eye on us and also protect us round the clock: “The Prophet S.A.W.S. informed us: Allah instructed the angels as to how they should record the good and bad deeds of everyone. If a person intends sincerely to perform a good deed and fails to do so, Allah will have it recorded as a full good deed in that person’s account. And if the person actually fulfills his intent and performs the good deed he will be accorded the equal reward, that could be ten to seven hundred times its worth or even more in his/her account. And when a person intends to do something bad but finally desists from the evil act, the reward of one full good deed is credited to his/her account. And if a person intends and goes on to perform an evil deed (and does not repent it) only one bad deed will be written into his/her account. (Hadith Sahih al Bukhari: Vol. 8 No. 498)
Salaah Lai’ylathul Qad’r - (Prayers on the night of Ramadan 26th/27th)
The Lai’ylathul Qad’r is the special glory of Ramadan.
It is the night more radiant and venerable to us than a thousand nights.
It is universally celebrated on the 27th of Ramadan.
However, there is a possibility that it could be any one
of these nights: the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th or 29th of Ramadan.
Through these nights and with the highest devotion to Allah and His Chosen Rasool S.A.W.S. on the night of the 27th Ramadan, we perform special Salaah’s as a community.
The Prophet of Islam S.A.W.S. has said that whoever fails to avail the opportunity for Salaah and devotion to Allah on this Glorious Night suffers a grievous loss indeed.
He counseled the Mother of Momineen Saiyidathi Ayesha Radi Allahu An’haa that the Best Du’aa for Lailathul Qad’r is:
ALLAHUMMA INNAKA AFOOVUN, THU'HIBBUL AF'VA, FA AAF'VU ANNEE.
Ya Allah, You are undoubtedly the Forgiver Supreme,
You love to pardon (sinners), kindly forgive me all my sins.
Insha Allah, it will work wonders for us.
We recite the Holy Qur'an and make Dua’yaen, prayers, to Allah from the depth of our hearts.
We remain generous to those in need and we are kind to one and all.
We pray to Allah to kindly pardon their sins of our elders who are no more, widen and illumine their resting places and grant them Paradise.
May Allah kindly accept our prayers and grant an abode in the highest heaven, to all our elders who are no more. A'meen!
By these and similar observances, to which we will feel inspired, we guarantee ourselves peace and happiness on earth by the grace of Allah. And in the life to come, we look forward to the eternal happiness Allah has promised us – mansions and gardens in Jannathul Firdau’s, the highest heaven.
The Lai’ylathul Qad'r commemorates the first revelation of the Holy Qur'an (in the mountain top cave of Hira just outside Makkathul Mukarramah).
Every Salaah, every good deed, every recitation of the Holy Qur'an performed during this night, brings in rewards a thousand times greater than at other times. On this night of nights, our prayers and good deeds bring us boundless Neymaath, blessings from Allahu Subhanahu va tha Alaa.
If our Salaah and our Du’aayen are accepted by Allahu Rabbul Izzath, the rewards will be as though hundreds of acres of fertile land and numberless villages are gifted to us as all our own -- and that too, in the best of heavens, the Jannathul Firdau's.
The following suggestions for Naf’l Salaahs to be performed on this night have been handed down to us by learned Ulema from the practice of Syedina Muhammed Sallallahu Alaihi va Sallam.
We may follow them, or increase or reduce the number of their rakaahs in accord with our stamina and our circumstances.
Naf’l prayers are our expression of gratitude to Our Glorious Lord for the blessings that we and our family enjoy from His Rah’math, Compassion. We may recite any Thasbeeh in them that is authentic and is from the Holy Qur’an. And we must ensure that the Salaah’s do not deviate in any manner from the normal, the masnoon pattern of our prayers.
What is essential is that we pray to Allahu Rahmaanir Raheem with true devotion that dwells in and wells from, the heart of the blessed Muslims, for Allahu Rabbul Izzath.
Two Rakaahs: - After Surath Fa’thiha, we recite, in each rakaah, Surath al Qad’r: INNAA AN'ZALNAA once and Surath al Ikhlaas: starting with QUL HU’VALLAHU AHAD, thrice.
Two Rakaahs: - After Surath al Fa’thiha we recite in each Rakaah, the Surath al Ikhlaas: starting with QUL HU’VALLAHU AHAD, seven times.
After completion of the Salaah we recite ASHTAGH'FIRULLAHUL AZEEMIL LAZEE LAA ILLAHU ILLAA HUVAL HAI'YUL QAIYOOMU VA ATHOOBU ILAY'HI seventy times.
Four Rakaahs :- After Surath Fa’thiha, we recite Surath Al Thakaassur starting with AL'HAAKU MUTHTHA KAASURU once and Surath al Ikhlaas, starting with QUL HU’VALLAHU AHAD, thrice in each Rakaah.
Four Rakaahs - In each Rakaah, after Surath Fa’thiha, we recite Surath al Qad’r, starting with INNAA AN'ZALNAA once and Surath Surath al Ikhlaas, starting with QUL HU’VALLAHU AHAD QUL HU’VALLAHU AHAD 27 times. (Recital of Surath al Qad’r starting with INNAA ALN'ZALNAA seven times is also very rewarding).
Four Rakaahs: - In each Rakaah, after Surath Fa’thiha, we recite Surath al Qad’r starting with: INNAA AN'ZALNAA thrice and Surath al Ikhlaas, starting with QUL HU’VALLAHU AHAD fifty times.
On completion of Salaah, we recite SUB’HAANALLAHI VAL HAMDULILLAHI VA LAA ILAAHA ILLALLAHU VALLAHU AKBAR a hundred times.
We recite the Saiyidil Asthaghfar and the Darood.e Shareef.
And we make a heartrending Du’aa, invocation, to Allah to kindly grace our Salaah’s with acceptance and to grant us His Choicest Neymaath.
These Dua’yaen are generously rewarded and our highest aims fulfilled by Allahu Subhanahu va tha Aalaa.
The Revered Imams at the Holy Masaajid of Makkathul Mukarramah and Madinathul Munawwarah make heartrending Dua’yaen to Allah on this Glorious Night, with tears in their eyes, for the health, safety, prosperity and salvation of Muslims all over the world.
