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 precious days and nights. In it there is Laylatul Qadr (the Night of Power), a night of a tremendous rank with Allah, a night which is better than a a thousand months. This is equivalent to about eighty three years of worship.
The secret of the last ten nights of Ramadhan is the hope of finding Laylatul Qadr. Unlike the previous nations, we don't have a long life span to perform this amount of worship. Allah, through His kindness to the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his Ummah, the last nation which Allah called the best nation raised to mankind, gives this night. Truly impoverish is the one who does not have the desire to find this night.
كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّـهِ[Qur'an AleImran 3:110]
"You are the best Ummah singled out for mankind: you enjoin what is right (ma'ruf), forbid what is wrong (munkar), and believe in Allah..."
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)
Allah has honored a particular time, certain people and certain places. Part of being a slave of Allah is to honor what Allah has honored and considered great what Allah has made great. Such a person deems them special and he honors them and give them their due out of his desire of winning Allah's pleasure and out of his neediness to be close to Allah.
So the first thing we should do is to honor this time and feel tremendous awe of this time. Whoever venerates and exalts the special symbols of Allah verily that is from the taqwa of the heart.
This night is not like any other night. The angels, throng upon throng, and the Spirit (angel Jibril alayhissalaam) descend on this night with the leave by their Lord from every command. So it is a tremendous night when the heavenly beings all coming down to earth. With them barakah and with them the blessings of Allah. If one was to see these beings one would see something tremendous. The angels and the mankind have close relationship. The angels pray for people's forgiveness, greet people in heaven when they enter Paradise.
The angels have a special love for people of iman and places of worship. They search for places of worship. The people, if they have love for the angels, they seek not to annoy them by praying with garlic and foul smelling substances or quarelling and arguing with each other. When the angels descend and the believers are in worship, without a doubt the angels pray for the people of iman.
This night is nothing but peace, a deliverance from evil and harm. Peace is the greeting of the angels in Paradise. It is the angels' greetings when they come to earth. This peace continues all the way through until the rising of dawn.
Allah revealed the entire surah (Qur'an Al-Qadr 97) about this night. Why? So we would do something about it. It is very special that we search for it earnestly in these last ten nights. It means we worship in many nights hoping to find it. Allah has hidden this night. It is sunnah of Allah that He hides tremendous matters so that people will search for it.
Allah has hidden His friends around people. If we see people around us on the street, we don't know the friends of Allah, and if you are bad to them, hit them for example, you are in big trouble. Allah hides them so we would respect all people that perhaps we will respect those who are close to Allah also.
As well, Allah has hidden His pleasure among the good deeds. We don't know which of our deeds is the most pleasing to Allah so we earnestly continue to do as many good deeds as possible.
Any good deed done on this night 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, 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).
The main worship is the prayer, reciting the Qur'an and making du'as. You pray as much as you are able to at night. Do the maximum, push yourself and tax your body, but not tax it to the extent that it burns out. Everyone knows their own circumstance. Quality and quantity is the sunnah. The best thing to ask Allah is what He is asking from you--become firm in our slavehood, firm in acknowledging His Lordhood and rights of His Lordhood.
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).
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).
This du'a brings the spirit what we are feeling on these last nights, the feeling that we are sinful. We need Allah's mercy and we are begging at His doors for His forgiveness. He is All Generous and Oft Forgiving. We have nothing more than having tremendous hope that Allah will forgive us. This is the spirit that we should have in our worship.
Another special worship is the worship of i'tikaf (spiritual retreat). 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)
The sunnah i'tikaf is to spend the last ten days in mosque continuously. This is a tremendous act of worship. Every moment counts as worship. Ideal place for a woman to do i'tikaf is in her home. She can designate an area which she will stay in for that period and she doesn't leave the place other than using the bathroom. Married woman should get the permission of her husband to perform the i'tikaf only because sexual intercourse is not allowed during i'tikaf. If one cannot do the continuous 10 days, one can intend and do i'tikaf for part of it or for some short intervals according to one's ability and circumstance.
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.
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.
Don't forget your family. Have iftar together and take them to taraweeh and qiyamu lail (night prayers) on these last ten 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.
Pardon people who have harmed you and try to mend broken relationships.
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 been able to read the Qur'an properly or start reading Qur'an regularly or memorize Qur'an, ask yourself what prevented you from doing so and adopt a plan to remove the barriers. Seek Allah's help. Nothing is too big for Allah.
Don't spare any moment during these last ten nights with things other than worshiping and thanking the Lord, and asking for His forgiveness and protection from Hellfire.
May Allah forgive our sins, have mercy on us, save us from the punishment of the Hellfire, and make us witness Laylatul Qadr. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
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