Finding Laylatul Qadr (The Night of Power)

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

Our noble guest, the blessed month of Ramadhan, is going to leave us very soon. We are in the last 10 days. In it there is Laylatul Qadr (the Night of Power). This night is described in the Quran as "better than a thousand months."

Allah Most High 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)

The secret of the last 10 nights of Ramadhan is the hope of finding Laylatul Qadr. Truly impoverish is the one who does not have the desire to find this night.

Any worship done on this night such as prayers, reciting the Quran, act of rememberance of Allah, and so on is better than worship for one thousand months which do not contain the night of Qadr. Unlike the previous nations, we don't have a long life span to perform a huge amount of worship. Therefore, we should devote ourselves in worship during this last 10 nights.

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 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.

In these last 10 days of Ramadhan, focus on Allah with various forms of worship (e.g. learning and reciting the Qur'an, memorizing some Quran and hadith, more and longer prayers, making lots of du'a, dhikr, put into practice your knowledge of the Quran and Hadith, contemplating and reflecting on the meaning of the verses of the Quran, read the seerah of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace--his life and his characteristics to increase your love for him.

Strive to wake up an hour or two before suhur and devote yourselves in worship and supplication.

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 Lordhood and the rights of His Lordhood. One of the best times to do this is during the last part of the night.

Put your regular work aside and bond with your family. Reach out to your family and relatives who are not living with you.

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.

May Allah grant us tawfiq and make us witness Laylatul Qadr. Ameen.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.

And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all.

Wassalaam