Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Thousand Months
Al-Qadr (The Power) Chapter 97: Verse 3

"The Night of Power is better than a thousand months."

Laylat ul-Qadr is the most blessed night. A person who misses it has indeed missed a great amount of good. If a believing person is zealous to obey his Lord and increase the good deeds in his record, he should strive to encounter this night and to pass it in worship and obedience. If this is facilitated for him, all of his previous sins will be forgiven.

There is no consensus of the Ummah over when the night of Qadr occurs. Imam Razi has a few novel points to offer on why that is the case:

Allah concealed its knowledge from His slaves since His rida (approval and pleasure) is concealed in devotions to Him, and in concealment of the night is the cause of increase in devotions. This is following His general method: He concealed His friend (waliyy) among the people in order that all people might be respected; He concealed His response to supplications in order that they might resort to it more often; He concealed His Great Name (Al-Ism al-A'zam [some scholars believe that Allah is the Ism al-A'zam.]) in order that all of His Names might be revered; He concealed the accepted prayer in order that the people pay special attention to every Prayer; He concealed the time of death in order that the people never be oblivious of it.

Again if the night of Qadr been known, the sins of the sinners in that night would have weighed heavily upon them, since, to commit sins on a known blessed occasion is greater in enormity than when committed on the same blessed occasion but without the sinner knowing that it is a blessed occasion.

Three Ways to Seek Laylat ul-Qadr

1. Performing Night Prayer (Qiyam)

It is recommended to make a long night prayer during the nights on which Laylat ul-Qadr could fall. This is indicated in many hadiths, such as the following:

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever stands (in qiyam) in Laylat ul-Qadr [and it is facilitated for him] out of faith and expectation (of Allah's reward), will have all of his previous sins forgiven." [Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad]

2. Making Supplications

It is also recommended to make extensive supplication on this night. Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that she asked Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him), "O Messenger of Allah! If I knew which night is Laylat ul-Qadr, what should I say during it?" And he instructed her to say: 'Allahumma innaka afuwwun tuhibbul afwa fafu annee - O Allah! You are forgiving, and you love to forgive. So forgive me.'" [Recorded by Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and at-Tirmithi. Verified to be authentic by Al-Albani]

3. Abandoning Worldly Pleasures for the Sake of Worship

It is further recommended to spend more time in worship during the nights on which Laylat ul-Qadr is likely to be. This calls for abandoning many worldly pleasures in order to secure the time and thoughts solely for worshipping Allah. Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: "When the (last) ten started, the Prophet (peace be upon him) would tighten his izaar (i.e. he stayed away from his wives in order to have more time for worship), spend the whole night awake (in prayer), and wake up his family." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Compiled From:
"Tafsir Ishraq al-Ma'ani" - Syed Iqbal Zaheer
“How to Seek Laylat ul-Qadr” – Muhammad Nasir-ud-Deen al-Albani

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Sincerity Towards The Quran

It is established in Muslim's Sahih that Tamim al-Dari stated, "The Messenger of God, peace be upon him, said, 'Religion is sincerity.' We said, 'To whom?' He said, 'To God, His Book, His Messenger, the leaders of the Muslims, and their common folk.'"

The scholars (God grant them mercy) said that having sincerity regarding the Book of God is believing that it is the speech of God Most High and His revelation; that it does not resemble anything from the words of people; and that people are incapable of anything like it even if they all joined together [to attempt it]. Sincerity is to extol its glory; recite it and give its recitation its just due - beautifying it, being humble while doing so, and correctly pronouncing its letters. Sincerity is defending it from the misinterpretations of the deviators and the opposition of the tyrants; believing in everything that it contains; not exceeding its boundaries; and understanding its knowledge and examples. It is paying attention to its exhortations; pondering its amazing wonders; acting according to what has unequivocal meaning; submitting to what is open to interpretation; searching out its universal and restricted rulings; its abrogating and abrogated passages; and propagating its sciences; and calling others to them.

Compiled From:
"Etiquette with the Quran" - Imam al-Nawawi, p. 97

Blindspot!

Sacred Actions

In addition to being a religion built upon a few foundational unchanging doctrines or rational assertions, Islam is a religion of obligatory practice and observance. If a person wants to run a marathon, we all understand that she will have to embrace a long-term, daily routine of training and discipline. This might include a special diet, a specific number of miles to run every day, a curbing or letting go of certain activities or behaviours that are not conducive for the training, and other life changes. While her work or study life might continue somewhat normally, everything else in her life, including her social life, would be touched and affected by the consuming preparations that are required for this great task.

In a sense, observant Muslims all see themselves as "in training" for a kind of marathon; the great task is making one's way home to God, in whose presence Muslims believe they will find their greatest happiness and peace. This worldly life is understood to be the training ground and the theatre for the most crucial part of the race. Thus, the daily discipline an observant Muslim embraces is the basic part - the nuts and bolts - of the training, the preparation for the race into eternity. When seen in these terms, the daily prayer, the fasting, the almsgiving, the dietary observance, and the other aspects of Islamic practice may not seem so strange or foreign to us.

Compiled From:
"In the Light of a Blessed Tree" - Timothy J. Gianotti, pp. 51, 52