A Night Even Better Than Laylatul Qadr

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

I seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him. Whomsoever He misguides, none can guide him.

I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah. He is alone and has no partner. To Him belongs the kingdom and all praise. He gives life and causes death, and He is alive and never dies. In His hand is all good and He is able to do all things.

I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger and His chosen one and His companion. He fulfilled the trust and conveyed the message and advised the Ummah and exposed the darkness. And he left us on the white path — its night is like its day. Only one who is destroyed can stray from it. So upon him be the best prayer and the most perfect submission, and upon his family and his companions and those who follow his sunnah until the Day of Recompense.

O Allah, make us of them and of those who believe and do righteous deeds and associate with the truth and associate with patience.

And He has commanded us to fear Him as He should be feared. He said:

O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.

O people, fear your Lord who created you from one soul, and He created from her her husband, and He spread from them many men and women. And fear Allah with whom you ask for mercy. Indeed, Allah is watching over you.

O you who believe, fear Allah and say the right word. It will amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has won a great triumph.

We begin by praising Allah and bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for Him. And we bear witness that Muhammad ﷺ is His final messenger. We ask Allah to send His peace and blessings upon him, the prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him, and those that follow in his blessed path until the Day of Judgment. We ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allahumma ameen.

The Community's Sacrifice for Gaza

Dear brothers and sisters, over the last couple of months, we have had people from this community that have made a painful decision along with their families to literally go to Gaza — not knowing whether they would be returning to their families or not. And subhanAllah, if you were to ask me a year ago if I would be privy to these types of conversations at the level that I've had to be privy to these types of conversations, I wouldn't have known how to respond.

Doctors upon doctors, medical volunteers — people who, many of whom grew up in comfort, have lived extremely comfortable lives — decided to go place themselves in the middle of a genocide in hospitals that are being targeted, to help our brothers and sisters in Gaza. And almost none of them are actually Palestinian. Muslims, people of conscience, who sit with their families and say, I'm going to leave all of this behind and go put myself there because this is where I'm needed right now.

And I can't tell you how proud I am of each and every single one of them and of their families. SubhanAllah, witnessing this in front of my eyes — in Eid, many of you would not have known, some of the kids are even here now, mashaAllah, that their fathers were actually in Gaza at the time of Eid because they left quietly to go on these medical volunteer missions. And some of them came back today. May Allah bless them all.

And may Allah protect our brothers and sisters who have gone there. And may Allah protect our brothers and sisters who are the original murabitun — who have stayed there, who have insisted on holding it down and refused to be terrorized and psychologically brutalized and removed from their land. Allahumma ameen.

The Hadith: A Night Better Than Laylatul Qadr

Why do I begin with this type of an introduction? We've been talking about how Gaza has given life to many ahadith and many stories from the seerah that otherwise we were not familiar with. And we're coming out of Ramadan. And I couldn't think of a better time to talk about this narration from the Prophet ﷺ and a body of narrations that speak to this, because otherwise these things seem so distant from us.

And the title of the khutbah is: A Night Even Better Than Laylatul Qadr. Some people messaged me and said, "Sheikh, is this clickbait?" I said, no, it's not clickbait — it's an actual hadith. And I'll say that there are multiple narrations, all of which are traced to the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, about acts of worship that continue after Ramadan in which you can realize the reward. And I'll talk about those another time, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala.

But a night better than Laylatul Qadr — something actually better than Laylatul Qadr. It is an authentic hadith narrated by al-Hakim and al-Bayhaqi, and others have considered it to be authentic. Imam al-Nasa'i also narrates it. Abdullah ibn Umar رضي الله تعالى عنهما narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said to the companions:

(Narrated by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak and al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-Iman; authenticated by al-Hakim and others, on the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar, radiyallahu 'anhuma)

"Shall I not tell you about a night that is greater than Laylatul Qadr, that is even greater than the Night of Power?" So obviously the Sahaba, knowing the value of the greatest night of the year — Laylatul Qadr,

Better than an entire lifetime of good deeds — they asked: "What is it, O Messenger of Allah?" The Prophet ﷺ said: "A guard who stands guard in a land of fear, not knowing if he's going to return back to his family or not."

Understanding Al-Ribat and the Spirit of the Hadith

He is speaking about al-murabitun, al-ribat — and Palestine of course is Ard al-Ribat. Al-ribat is holding down the fort. And I want you to try to put yourself in the mindset of a person — because obviously this is a circumstance that most of us will probably never live. But to derive the spirit from it is so important when you see the reward of it, because this is a religion where circumstance and outcome are not nearly as relevant as intention.

Among the believers are men who have been true to what they pledged to Allah. You spiritually prepare yourself for circumstances even if you never physically get put in that circumstance — and that is a testimony to your truthfulness with Allah. What would it be like for me to be in that situation? Would I be willing? What would I tell myself? Would the reward be worth it if a time came?

Because if you were to talk to some of the brothers — I'm just giving one example of this hadith that came to life — if you were to speak to some of these brothers and sisters before October of last year, they would have never thought they'd be stepping into a genocide today. And they've had to make certain calculations in their mind, and their families have had to make certain calculations. Even though we have a false sense of security when we drop our families off at the airport, certain that they will return to us even when they go anywhere else. Allah knows best where our place of death is — but you've got to know when you're stepping into a circumstance like that, you might not come back.

So it's not about the actual circumstance, it's about the spiritual preparation, the intention, understanding where that comes from. I want you to imagine walking out to a place where you are anticipating the enemy attacking. Put yourself back in Khandaq, put yourself back in Uhud, put yourself back in Badr the night before. You have to go out there and you have to stand there. And from your direction, it is anticipated that at any moment in the night, something can happen.

Think about Ali رضي الله تعالى عنه sleeping in the bed of the Prophet ﷺ when the Prophet ﷺ had already migrated. There was an assassination attempt that was anticipated for the Prophet ﷺ that night. And Ali رضي الله عنه sleeps alone in that house, in that bed, knowing that that night there are certainly going to be men with spears over him — and he still does it. Not only that, he gets some of the best sleep of his life because of his certainty in Allah. What type of spiritual engineering is necessary to be able to be in that type of situation? And what type of calculation do you have to make? And when you make that calculation, what type of contentment do you realize that you did not even know was possible for yourself?

Because one of the conversations I was able to have with the brothers who came back — he said, subhanAllah, "This elevated my spirituality in a way that no Ramadan, no Laylatul Qadr, no Hajj, no Umrah ever has. This elevated my spirituality. This brought me to a place that I didn't know in my relationship with Allah."

Because think about that. Imagine being that person. You know that you are voluntarily stepping into a place where that might be it.

The Hadith of the Two Eyes

Now, what does this have to do with us? And how do we bring this back to a reality? And why would the Prophet ﷺ even relate it to Laylatul Qadr? Why would he relate it to this concept of Qiyamul Layl — this concept of standing up in prayer at night? The scholars speak to multiple reasons, and they find the implication in multiple narrations.

So it's fresh to you as someone who just came out of the last 10 nights of Ramadan: there's the sacrifice of comfort for a greater reward; there is the realization of something greater than your material life; there is something more worth it than sleep; there is the contradicting of a natural desire of your body to rest so that your soul can find itself alive. You're doing certain things that contradict your physical nature for a higher spiritual goal — sacrificing for the sake of Allah.

And the Prophet ﷺ put these two things together in multiple narrations. The famous hadith of the Messenger ﷺ, narrated by Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1639; graded hasan by al-Tirmidhi, on the authority of Ibn Abbas, radiyallahu 'anhuma)

Two eyes that will not be touched by the Fire: an eye that shed tears in awe of its Lord, and an eye that spent the night watching for the sake of Allah.

How many of those eyes were shedding tears in these last 10 nights. May Allah protect us from dry eyes and hard hearts. Allahumma ameen.

The same word is used: حَرَسَ — to stand guard, to watch. And I want you to think about this, dear brothers and sisters. May Allah reward our volunteers and our security who, while we were all in here in these last 10 nights, were making certain calculations. They're out there watching the masjid, seeing if something is wrong. They're out there sacrificing the night of spirituality here — because they have a reward out there and a responsibility that's out there. That's a certain type of mindset.

And the Prophet ﷺ is able to include the reward of both of those things in the same sentence. One eye is looking down and shedding tears. Another eye is wide open. But they are both — open and closed, dry and wet — for the sake of Allah. And the scholars say, look at the beauty of this: a watchful eye doesn't blink, so it gets dry. Whereas an eye in prayer gets wet. But both of them are فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ — both of them are in the cause of Allah — and that's where the beauty of this comes from.

And so that person on the outside of the masjid might be realizing the same reward — if not a greater reward — for the sake of Allah.

Bringing This to Our Daily Lives

How do we bring this back to our own reality, dear brothers and sisters? There are multiple narrations where the Prophet ﷺ talked about how to bring the lessons of these practices and circumstances into your life. So when he mentions, for example, salah to salah — prayer to prayer — ribat is a form of holding it down. You're just fighting a different type of enemy. When you stay in the masjid from prayer to prayer, that's a form of ribat.

But the Prophet ﷺ doesn't want you to become distant from these lofty stations in the religion because the circumstances seem so distant from you. There's a mindset. There's a heart that's involved. There's a spiritual preparation that's involved. There's a willingness to sacrifice for the sake of Allah that's involved. And there is a spiritual realization — that either precedes that or comes after it, but it certainly perfects itself after a person goes through one of these circumstances — and that is: Allah is the source of my energy, therefore I'll give up my sleep for Him. Allah is the true source of sustenance. He's the true source of security. He's the true source of dignity. And I will find that nothing that I do in these noble endeavors is in loss — all of it is in gain — because Allah is the one who has put me in these circumstances to test me with my intentions.

The Relevance Today — Gaza and Our Own Conviction

Now why does this become increasingly relevant today? We can praise — as we should praise — our brothers and sisters, men, women, and children who are holding it down in Gaza today. You look at them, subhanAllah, under the bombs saying, "If we stay here, we will stay here." That is ribat. And there is no doubt that that is the greatest realization of a hadith like this.

But we can also bring it to our daily lives and say: listen, there might come a time where you're going to be asked out of nowhere, or you're going to be put in a situation where it's going to be your deen, your principles, versus your job. How quick is that calculation going to happen? The same one that you were standing for at night is worth it for you during the day. There are going to be moments where maybe even your safety is compromised, where you are threatened, where you have people come after you because of your principles. Right now, there is nothing more dangerous in the vocation of activism than to be pro-Palestinian. That means that every single element of you is suddenly being targeted, subhanAllah.

But I want you to understand that the true realizations that are to come out of Ramadan, and the true reward that is to be anticipated, is from you realizing the priorities of your existence — and then proportionally allocating your energy towards that — and having that conviction in your head and that conviction in your heart that Allah is the source of my sustenance, Allah is the source of my security, Allah is the source of my dignity. And if I'm put in a situation where I have to make that call, I'm not going to hesitate, because Allah will protect me and Allah will provide for me.

And the Hereafter is better and everlasting.

So while we praise our brothers and sisters, and we see suddenly, subhanAllah, some of these local manifestations coming out — I ask Allah to reward each and every single one of you that took that mission and went out there. SubhanAllah, some of these brothers went twice already, as if once wasn't enough. And I ask Allah to reward the brothers and sisters that watched the masjid. And I ask Allah to reward those that sacrificed that calm feeling of spirituality for that deeper realization of it. May Allah reward them all, and may Allah bring out something in us as well — so that if we are put in certain situations, we never hesitate to sacrifice for the sake of Allah.

Closing: Your Night with Allah

And so the answer to the question — is there a night better than Laylatul Qadr? For that person, yes. There's a night that's better than Laylatul Qadr.

And the last thing I'll end with, dear brothers and sisters: for you and I, the night that Allah looks towards you and sees your sincerity, the night that Allah looks towards you and sees you repenting, the night that Allah looks towards you and sees a change in you — that could be the greatest night in your life. Even if it's not a night in Ramadan. Even if it's an average night for everybody else around you. It's the day and the night that you turn your heart towards Allah in a certain way and you say: Ya Allah, nothing is worth losing Your pleasure. Ya Allah, everything is worth risking to gain Your pleasure.

May Allah make us of the courageous and the wise, the sincere and the steadfast. May Allah grant us the reward of Ramadan, the reward of Laylatul Qadr, and forgive us for our shortcomings. Allahumma ameen.

I say this and I ask Allah to forgive you and the Muslims, so seek His forgiveness. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

Second Khutbah — Announcements and Du'a

All praise is due to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be upon His Messenger, and upon his family and companions, and upon all those who follow him.

Dear brothers and sisters, I want to reiterate that this Monday, inshaAllah ta'ala, is a national strike for Gaza. I ask you to participate in any way that you can. At the bare minimum — no spending. Let's actually show the power in our numbers. Let's show the power of our conviction, our principles. Please do participate, inshaAllah ta'ala. Look for the information online — it's not hard to find. Strike for Gaza.

May Allah allow us to do in our capacity what is pleasing to Him and what actually benefits our brothers and sisters that are struggling right now in Gaza. May Allah allow our voices to amplify their voices. And may Allah count us in their ranks on the Day of Judgment.

O servants of Allah, Allah commands justice, kindness, and giving to one's kin, and He forbids immorality, evil, and transgression. He warns you so that you may remember. So remember Allah and He will remember you. And be grateful to Him for His blessings, that He may increase you. And the remembrance of Allah is greatest. And Allah knows what you do. And establish the prayer.