Precious Things Aren't Given Away For Cheap

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

This is the time when we pray the most, make du'a the most, listen attentively to the imam reciting Qur'an the most. We stand, bow, prostrate for a long time, tirelessly, giving no concern to comfort or temperature for that matter. We only hope to find laylatul qadr, the night better than a 1000 months. We have the humility of asking, "O Allah, please accept my worship and let my worship be in laylatul qadr."

Imagine if we knew when laylatul qadr was, we won't be worshiping the same way as we do. When we don't know when it is, we worship all the last 10 nights. Our deeds and earnestness increase by not knowing this night. Our extreme desire of this night and awe of this night increases when the matter is hidden. This is the kindness of Allah to the believers.

Things that are very precious aren't given away for cheap. They are sought after. You have to give up a lot to find this night--your sleep, your comfort, your emails, your FB, your wanting to make money, and many of the worldly things that you ordinarily like to do. As well, this is not the time to make Eid cookies, shopping for Eid clothes and making all those last minute Eid preparations. You can postpone that to some other time. Remember, you might not reach next Ramadhan or even Eid.

If you didn't see laylatul qadr yet, you may still have the chance to witness it. There are a few more nights left of Ramadhan of praying, reciting Qur'an, asking Allah, and crying. Take the opportunity to increase your worship at night. For men, make sure not to miss praying Maghrib and Isha in the masjid.

The scholars said, on this night sins are forgiven except the sins of people who have grudges against other people. So part of the worship of this night is forgiving people, not taking people to task even in the heart.

Ramadhan is the month of generosity, not just with your money, but also with your heart, overlooking people's faults, praying to Allah to forgive them and honor them. We enter into this night with our hearts clean towards the creation of Allah. There is nobody who is free of need of forgiveness in this night. If we hope to be forgiven, we should forgive others and not hold grudges against people. If the thought of so-and-so comes in a negative light, we ask Allah to protect us from these thoughts and we pray for them for Allah to forgive them and to honor them.

May Allah forgive our sins, grant us His mercy and protect us from the punishment of the grave, the torment of Day of Standing and punishment of Hellfire. Ameen.

Please include us in our du'as. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam