Glorious night of Laylat al-Qadr

Mirza Muniruzzaman 

The Arabic word 'Laylat al' means night. 'Shab' is a Persian and Urdu word, which also means night.  The word ‘Qadr’ means honor, dignity and respect. Another meaning is redefining wealth, quantity and destiny.

The revelation of the Qur'an began on Shab-e-Qadr. And that is why the honor of this night has increased more. Moreover, Allah has declared the worship of this night to be better than a thousand months and has said, “Surely I have sent down this Qur'an on a glorious night. 

And do you know what a glorious night is? The glorious night is better than a thousand months. Yes, by the command of their Lord. That night is peace until Fajr” (Qadr: 1-5).

According to Islam, the followers of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) are honored on this night and the destiny of mankind is redefined. On Laylat al-Qadr, Allah, the manager and enforcer of the ordinance for the next one year, handed it over to the angels in charge of its administration. In it are written all the good and evil of every human being’s age, death, sustenance, wealth and fortune.

According to the narration of Hazrat Ibn Abbas (RA), “On the night of Qadr, Allah gave the angels the responsibility of enforcing and supplying the decision regarding the sustenance of the servant, their life, death and other destiny for one year” (Qurtubi).

Allah declared, “Every wise thing is decided on this night”.

In Surah Dukhan of Al-Quran it is said about Shab-e-Qadr, “Lailatim Mubarakatin or Blessed Night” and Surah Qadr says, “Lailatil Qadr or Glorious Night”. Some of the meanings of the word are - glorious, majestic, rich, etc. And blessed means good luck, benevolent, auspicious, fortunate, liberation, forgiveness, etc.

A search of several verses of Surah Dukhan makes it clear that Allah the Almighty has spoken of Shab-e-Qadr here. And Surah Qadr gives the message of its glory!

Shab-e-Qadr takes place on any odd night in the last 10 days of Ramadan. There is no difference of opinion about this. Narrated from Hazrat Ibn Omar (RA), Hazrat Mohammad (SAW) said, “Whoever wants to seek it, let him seek it in the last seven nights” (Bukhari: 1888). Narrated Obadah Ibn Samet, Hazrat Rasulullah (SAW) said, “Seek Laylatul Qadr on the fifth, seventh and ninth night of the last ten days (25, 26 and 29)” (Bukhari: 1896).

Hazrat Khwajababa Ajmeri (ra) came to show the way to Siratal Mustaqim by embracing Islam in the subcontinent in the 7th to 9th centuries and was able to propagate Islam through many means. At one stage, religion had to be involved in war. Events like Hijrat happened.

The journey of Islam and Muslims started in this region war of Tarakanda hill and the testimony of Hijrat.

Hazrat Shahjalal (R) helped bring Islam to Bangladesh. Since then, according to the advice of hundreds of successor ulamas of Hazrat Rasul (SAW), worship have been observed in this region. It has been established in the belief and faith of the Muslims that the 27th of Ramadan is Laylat al-Qadr.

The prayer of Shab-e-Qadr is, “O Allah! I apologize for all the mistakes I have made in my life. You are our owner, where will we go without you, to whom? Measure us by looking at the river of your mercy without looking at our actions.” Ask God for mercy and shed tears for all the wrongdoings of the past year and to pray for the good of the future and promise not to do any more wrongs.

Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Hazrat Rasul (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Whoever prays Shab-e-Qadr prayers with faith and belief and fasts Ramadan, all his past sins will be forgiven” (Bukhari: 1780).

Immediately after sunset on Shab-e-Qadr, Allah descends from the throne to the first heaven and calls out to His servants, “Who are you, sinners, ask forgiveness, I will forgive, I will relieve you, I will heal you. Who are you responsible? I will absolve you, whoever needs sustenance, I will increase the sustenance.” This goes on till morning.

On this night we should offer Nafl prayers, recite the Qur'an, recite tasbeeh, recite darood and milad, meet murshids, give food of choice to parents, in-laws and visit graves in case of death. It is better to visit Rawza Mubarak of Auliya Keram, to give alms, to give good food to the Imam of the mosque and to spend more time doing zikr.

O Allah! On this night of glory, sinners cry out in your court, forgive the world; Save us from the coronavirus epidemic.

O Merciful Lord, bestow upon us the good fortune of your beloved servants who were born on the day of Qadr. May our destiny be blessed with the help of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and Imam Mahdi (AS) who will come in the last days and grant us Qadr. Accept our limited efforts. 

Ameen.