Catch the Last 10 Days of Ramadhan

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

The blessed month of Ramadhan is about to leave us. We are in the last 10 days. In it there is Laylatul Qadr (the Night of Power). This night is described in the Qur'an as "better than a thousand months."

Allah says,

إِنَّآ أَنزَلْنَـٰهُ فِى لَيْلَةِ ٱلْقَدْرِ ﴿١﴾ وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ ٱلْقَدْرِ ﴿٢﴾ لَيْلَةُ ٱلْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ ﴿٣﴾ تَنَزَّلُ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ وَٱلرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِم مِّن كُلِّ أَمْرٍ ﴿٤﴾ سَلَـٰمٌ هِىَ حَتَّىٰ مَطْلَعِ ٱلْفَجْرِ ﴿٥

Behold, We sent it down on the Night of Power; (1) And what shall teach thee what is the Night of Power? (2) The Night of Power is better than a thousand months; (3) in it the angels and the Spirit descend, by the leave of their Lord, upon every command. (4) Peace it is, till the rising of dawn. (5)

(Qur'an Al-Qadr 97:3)

Any good deed done on this night such as prayers, reciting the Qur'an, remembering Allah, and so on is better than acting for one thousand months which do not contain the night of Qadr.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to exert himself in devotion during the last ten nights to a greater extent than at any other time. (Muslim)

Aisha, Allah be pleased with her, related that the Prophet Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

Look for Laylatul Qadr on an odd-numbered night during the last ten nights of Ramadhan.

(Bukhari)

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

Whoever prays during the night of Qadr with faith and hoping for its reward will have all of his previous sins forgiven.

(Bukhari and Muslim).

So, don't spare any moment during these last 10 nights with things other than worshiping and thanking the Lord, and asking for His forgiveness.

This is a good time to take a vacation from work so you can focus on Allah with various forms of worship (e.g. learning and reciting the Qur'an, memorizing some Qur'an and hadith, more and longer prayers, making lots of du'a, dhikr, put into practice your knowledge of the Qur'an and Hadith, contemplating and reflecting on the meaning of the verses of the Qur'an, read a book on the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace--his life and his characteristics to increase your love for him) and i'tikaf (spiritual retreat) at the masjid. For woman you may designate a place in your home for i'tikaf. If you are married you should get the permission of your husband to perform i'tikaf.

It was a practice of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, to spend the last ten days and nights of Ramadhan in the masjid for i'tikaf.

Aisha, Allah be pleased with her, said:

I asked the Messenger of Allah: 'O Messenger of Allah, if I know what night is the night of Qadr, what should I say during it?' He said: 'Say: O Allah, You are pardoning and You love to pardon, so pardon me.' (Allahumma innaka 'afuwwun tuhibbul 'afwa fa'fu 'annee).

(Ahmad, ibn Majah, Tirmidhi).

Abu Hurayra narrated that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

Whoever stands (in prayer) in Laylatul Qadr while nourishing his faith with self-evaluation, expecting reward from Allah, will have all of his previous sins forgiven.

[Bukhari and Muslim).

Try to make your prayers longer, deeper and meaningful. If you are familiar with longer Surahs, read the translation and explanation and then pray reciting these Surahs, carefully reflecting on the meaning while you pray. Even if you are only familiar with the shorter Surahs, read the translation and explanation beforehand, and then pray reflecting on the message of the Surahs. This is a good way to develop the habit of concentration, even in regular prayers, and inshaAllah this habit will stay with you after Ramadhan.

Ask yourself what you really want from Allah. Make a list of each and everything that you want that is lawful, no matter how small or how big it is, whether it deals with this world or not. The All Generous loves our asking Him. Ask Allah to give you those things and develop a work plan to get those things. Make long and sincere du'as with conviction every night. This can be done using the Du'as of the Sunnah or in your own language. The best thing to ask Allah is what He asks from us--ask Allah that we become firm in our slavehood, become firm in acknowledging His Lordhord and the rights of His Lordhood. One of the best times to do this is during the last part of the night.

Abu Hurayra, Allah be pleased with him, related that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

When the last one-third of the night remains, our Lord, the Glorious One descends towards the heaven of the earth and proclaims: Who is that who supplicates for Me, and I grant his supplication? Who is that who begs Me for anything and I grant it to him? And who is that who seeks My forgiveness, and I forgive him?

(Bukhari, Muslim).

This means we should strive to wake up an hour or two before suhur and devote ourselves in worship and supplication.

Don't forget your family. Have iftar together and take them to taraweeh and qiyamu lail (night prayers) on these last 10 days. Put your regular work aside and bond with your family.

Don't forget the poor and the needy. Increase your charity. This is a great time to pay your zakat on your wealth and zakat al-fitr.

Choose one night to evaluate yourself and your situation and think about where you want to go for the next 12 months. Then take action. For example, if you haven't memorized Qur'an, ask yourself what prevented you from doing so and adopt a plan to remove the barriers and put a working schedule of memorizing the Qur'an. There was a woman who started memorizing Qur'an about 9 years ago. She memorized about 3 lines per day and recited what she has memorized that day during prayers and after prayers consistently. She made this her regular daily zikr. Now she has memorized the entire Qur'an at age 70. MashaAllah. If there is a will there is a way and Allah alone gives success. So ask Allah. Nothing is too big for Allah Mighty and Majestic.

May Allah give us tawfiq and make us witness Laylatul Qadr. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam