11-19-2003, 01:24 AM
Asalam~O~Alykum
The virtue of the night of al-Qadir
~EXTRA IMPORTANT, MUST READ! ACT NOW!~
Before u start reading the topic of Today, please realize the most favored sublication that Allah's apostle suggested our mother A`isha to suplicate during the last ten days of Ramadaan, which is, Oh Allah ur are the forgiver, u love forgiveness, Forgive us!
Allahuma inaka 3afun ( u are the forgiver), tuHibuu al-3afwa (u love forgiveness), fa 3ifu 3anAA (forgive US GOD!)
Tonight is naturally going to be all about Laylat El Qadr, what we will do in it, what the prophet used to do and why it was called laylat el qadr.
The first thing I want to say is that God is very generous and if he chooses you specially for something then He can bring you closer to Him. His selecting you is a very big deal and makes you want to say “take me!” He picked out the prophets and selected them above all the mankind, then he chose those from the prophets which were of a higher degree. And he chose sayidna moussa above the prophets and gave him the book, the taurat. He selected sayidna Mohamad pbuh above all mankind, and called him the Mustafa (the chosen one), and he selected all his friends above all mankind. And he selected the umma from all the other nations and said [ye are the best of Peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in God] (Al Imran).
He selected the martyrs from the omma and those who know the quran, those who read it, these people are within a special circle. He even chose from those angels, ones who will write our good and bad deeds. And from these He chose Gabriel and gave him a message to pass on to the earth and mankind. And not only that, but he selected Mecca and made the kaaba and haram the chosen places on this earth, so that it makes you want to go there and live. And He chose from the mountains arafa, which becomes a symbol of mercy. He chose from the months Ramadan, so that we love something called Ramadan because he chose it. He even preferred from the words we say, words that remember God. He chose from the days, the first days of thul hijja and made them closest to you, and made the last days for forgiveness to that you love the last 3 days.
And he chose from all the nights, one night, which he called laylat el qadr. Not only it but he chose the people who get this night. The angels which come down on this day were chosen above the rest to come down on this night. This is what I wanted you to feel, that you wish it to be you.
Now to us, there are so many things He selected you with. First, He chose you out of the millions of mankind and made you a human. Sometimes when one is walking along you see a lonely dog and you may think…I wonder, who knows…sobhan Allah, He chose me to be a human. Thank God, and He selected you to be from the omma of Mohammad pbuh. And he selected you from all those millions to be able to read Arabic and others can’t read the Quran. Then He selected you and made you able to pray, and cry at the humility to God. Then He selected you again for praying in the mosques, or wearing the hijab, or learning more about your religion. Then He selected you again to know about laylat el qadr. Look at how beautiful being specially chosen by God is.
An example of the feeling of being selected like this is like when you admire someone so much, and everyone is looking at him but you are standing far away, then he looks at you and calls you over and gives you his phone number saying let’s keep in touch. Then you call him but you think he’s not going to answer but he does, and you increase in happiness that he chose you. Then he says come even closer to me and work with me. In this world, if someone famous does this with you and brings you closer your heart will be filled with happiness. God is letting you come closer on this night! Why don’t you present yourself to Him? How? By 2 prostrations in the night, with strong prayers from your heart, with a heart filled with humility, with a gaze you are averting. Please God, choose me more and select me with this night.
If you have understood this meaning, then let’s go into it more. Let’s talk about the value of this night. Firstly, why was it called laylat el qadr? El qadr is something which has high value. When the arabs say that such and such has the level of qadr then they mean that he is of a very high degree. As the verse says [Do just estimate of God] (a’raf). Look at how important its value is that it is repeated 3 times in the sura [We have indeed revealed this (message) in the Night of Power] Where did the night get this high degree from? From the revelation of the quran to the prophet pbuh which happened on this day - the light came down on this night, and this is one of the 10 days we are in now. Another thing is that everything which describes the quran is a characteristic of this night. The quran is enlightenment and mercy on believers, therefore this night is enlightenment and mercy to believers. This quran is light, then so is this night. The quran is a remedy then in this night
people will be cured, they will be affected by the light of this night, and they will be enlightened and forgiven. So whoever reaches this night will get these characteristics, as if you will be an embodiment of the quran.
[And what will explain to thee what the Night of Power is?] the thawab, the importance of this day, is above your minds’ capability to understand!
I want you to feel this night, do you know what this night is all about?!
Why else? Because this is the night that everyone’s blessings are valued. All these people’s blessings will be valued based on this night. So if you spend this night in worshipping God, then this is a good sign for your blessings. The blessings are sent down on this night so the angels write them down and then start going through the world on this night. Your future blessings, your heaven, your hell, everything is decided for the next year on this night. [We sent it down during a blessed night for We (ever) wish to warn (against Evil)] (dukhan) what is [Affair of wisdom], his wise choice in the management from year to year is in this night. See how valued it is?
Not only your blessings are decided, but those for all mankind. I wonder what will happen to the people in Palestine next year, If you don’t want to worship and pray for yourself, then pray for the rest of the umma. Oh you who have hopes that God will succeed the umma, laylat el qadr will be the night which God will specify what will happen to everyone next year. Can you understand this meaning? Wake up! Oh you in the audience, all of you watching this, wake up and see what we’re saying. [Therein come down the angels] The angels will come down in multitudes as many as the number of drops from the sky if it rains. It will be busy and will be a celebration!
Look at how the quran is valued and we are keeping the quran on a shelf.
I wonder how the angels will find you on this night, will they find you on your way to the mosque or will you be in a daze? What will they be doing? They will be walking around the people praying for their forgiveness. All of this for this poor umma who don’t realize how valuable it is to God! When you know that these angels are coming down to pray for your forgiveness, do you not feel shame and wanting for God to choose you? Imagine these angels coming down. Will they also pray for forgiveness for those whoa re sinning? Yes, even them!
Not just the angels but sayidna Gabriel will come down again because his main responsibility is to come down because it’s his anniversary of this day when he came down to the prophet. I wonder who the happiest of God’s creations will be on this night, sayidna Gabriel! So God will honour him with his coming down on this night to look for the quran in this earth. Beware you don’t forget the quran in these 10 days for the whole point is about it.
Gabriel will come down and remember the first time he came down to the prophet and hugged him. The scientists say that this hug was to strengthen the prophet. Also, the hug was from longing for the message because the last time he came down was for sayidna Isa . Imagine the beginning of this religion was a hug, and the end of it was a hug with sayida aisha. Look at what our religion is?! For those who accuse it for being a terrorist religion!
Sayidna Gabriel comes down to this earth on this day when he never comes down otherwise, for this celebration. Are you understanding this?! Laylat el qadr is when the earth meets the sky! The sky doesn’t come down with it’s mercy and blessings apart from on this night.
After the prophet’s death pbuh, sayidna abu bakr and sayidna omar went to visit om ayman for the prophet of God used to visit her. So when they visited her she started crying. When they asked her “Why are you crying for don’t you know that the after-life is better for the prophet of God?” She said “I’m not crying about that for I know that the after-life is better for the prophet of God but I am crying because I am missing saydina Gabriel”. So they ended up both crying for this loss as well.
Sayidna Gabriel comes down every year in Ramadan in laylat el qadr! God says that it is [Peace!] All this is for that. Salam from God with His mercy, salam from the angels with their prayers for you, salam to the umma of Mohamad. Salam to the sinners whom God may forgive.
Let’s go into it, we’ve started now in the 10 days. Look at the thawab in it:
1 – [The Night of Power is better than a thousand Months]. Look how important this sura is! Better than 1000 months ie. 84 years, so around the life-span of a human. So it’s as if your 2 prostrations on this night means your link to God is as if it has been like this for your whole life. Imagine how many hasanat. So as if the kiss on your parent’s hand tonight, or the tear from your eye, or the money you are giving to charity on this day, the religious lessons, it’s as if you were doing this all of your whole life. Allaho Akbar!
2 – whoever stayed up in worship on laylat el qadr then all your bad deeds will be forgiven
3- prayers will be answered, pray and keep at it!
4- it is a night of being saved from hell but this is more than any other night of Ramadan
So when is this night? Some people may say ‘Well I think it is the 27th of Ramadan, and every year I go for this night’. I am sorry to say this to you that you can’t do this. Why are you being selfish like this with God? What if it’s not the 27th of Ramadan? Let’s not deal like this with God. If it was for a gain in the world we would have killed ourselves over gaining it. The prophet said you will feel it in the watr (the odd numbers) of the last 10 days of Ramadan. The first day after fasting he spent the first 10 days of Ramadan in the mosque. Then Gabriel came to him and told him that what he was looking for he hadn’t found yet. So the next year the prophet itakaf in the mosque in the middle 10 days and again he said that what he was looking for he hadn’t found yet. Then when he did it in the last 10 days Gabriel finally said “You have found it”. Exert your energy to try and get it. Why don’t we bring together the whole umma and say we will look for it together in the last 10
days, imagine if God looks down on us and all of His umma is looking for this day?
We wish to feel the hug of our umma. So have we all decided now? We’re going to look for it in these last 10 days.
So what did the prophet used to do in these 10 days? Sayida aisha said of the prophet, that when the last 10 days came, he would wake all night, wake his family, motivated those around him and urged them, folded over his sheets, and went to stay in the mosque (i‘takaf). The prophet in the first 10 days used to mix sleeping and worshipping. But when the last 10 days came he would only be seen awake, no more sleeping. These 10 days are when God sent down [Read] so go on, read! Recite Quran and pray to God.
He would wake his family. In the first 20 days he would leave sayida aisha sleeping and she would get up and pray as she liked but in the last 10 days he would wake her. As if to say that women too must pray, we want to see our women praying and praying in the mosques too. I am so happy when I see women going to pray and tahajud in the mosques in Syria, Egypt in the haram.
He made his bed, so no more sleeping. We are not saying that you must not sleep, no you must rest too and if you are studying especially, but it means to have this motivation. Then he went and stayed in the mosque and performed I’takaf, why? For concentration. If I stay in the mosque then I will catch this day! This is the energy we are talking about, wanting to catch a religious programme you are following, wanting to pray tahajud in the night, wanting to stay in the mosque and perform I’tikaf. Come on everyone, this is your future, in these last 10 days!
Look at what the companions used to do. They used to wash every night and dress well in the last 10 days in preparation for laylat el qadr. Look at the civilisation of islam which made us think about looking well, and smelling good.
Remember how sayidna Gabriel hugged the prophet hard that first time? This was a strong hug to signal the strong beginning. Begin to embrace your religion with this strength, and encourage people with this strength.
We’ve now talked about what the prophet did and what the date of it is, the angels coming down, what about what we will do? 3 of the most valuable things the prophet used to do in this night:
1- Tahajud prayers, in the last 1/3 of the night.
2- Reciting quran
3- Prayers (du3a)
What’s going to help us with these 3 things? Performing I’tikaf in the mosque. You take a holiday from your work so that you can go and take a summer holiday, why don’t you take the time off and spend it in the mosque. We don’t mean forfeiting your work but taking the holiday you are entitled to!
What if you can’t? You can go and pray in your mosque tahajud with the intention of I’tikaf and go and pray between isha and fajr, and you women too. But if you are a student and you can’t because you have exams, no now this studying takes priority. You must study, but pray at home, but concentrate well in both. What about the women with their periods? You can remember God and pray to him (du3a) and may God know from you heart that you wished you could have woken up praying.
Why did God hide it? One of Gods’ names if Al Sattar. We all know this name to mean the One who hides our sins. But it has another meaning. God hid this night from his followers so that they may exert their energy throughout the 10 days, just like He hid the hour of forgiveness on a Friday so that we may worship all day long. He hid His greatest name so that we may feel attached to all of His names. He hid the time of death so that you can fear Him at all times and worship all of the time. Laylat el qadr reminds me of a very delicate meaning. You know when sayidna ya’koob lost sayidna youssef, and cried until he was blind. I feel that our lives are like we are all missing something all year round without Ramadan, and when it comes, the light comes back to your eyes like it did to sayidna ya’koob.
Lastly, if you miss this day then it’s a very big loss, beware you don’t miss it. The practical work for tonight is to send everyone messages tonight reminding them to pray the prayer which the prophet pbuh prayed Allahoma innaka ‘afowon tohibo el ‘afw fa’fo ‘anna. Forgive us God.
Oh, Allah You Are the Forgiver, u love Forgiveness, forgive us then!
~~Ramadan is a month whose beginning is Mercy, whose middle is forgivensss and whose end is freedom from fire~~
The Prophet, fullest peace be upon him