Ramadan 2025 | Asbāb al-Nuzūl: The Context Beyond the Text | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 03/20

Opening Supplications

In the name of Allah, the most Merciful, the most Compassionate. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our Master Muhammad and upon the family of our Master Muhammad and bless and send peace upon them. O Allah, ease my heart, ease my affairs, and release my tongue from my bondage, so that they may understand my speech.

Glory be to You, there is no knowledge for us except what You have taught us. O Allah, teach us what benefits us, and benefit us with what You have taught us, and increase us in knowledge and action. O Allah, enlighten our hearts with Your knowledge, and use our bodies for Your obedience.

And grant us what You love and are pleased with — my speech, my action, my intention, and my guidance. Indeed, You are Able to do all things. O Allah, O Wahhab, O Fattah.

Introduction: The Context of Tonight

Today, everyone came from work. For those who are doing I'tikaf, this is your first night — you've been all day at work. I plan to not make this an extended session.

We're just going to go over some of the virtues of Laylatul Qadr, and then conclude with a du'a, and then allow you brothers to rest or engage in individual ibadah. And then we'll have our daily 1am session. For those who want to join, you can join that online or on-site, inshallah.

Usually this session is conducted by Mufti ibn Hajj. He does tafsir, and his session is focused on the stories behind, the context behind the text — the causes of revelation, the story behind a verse or two of the Qur'an. He is attending another Khatmul Qur'an elsewhere tonight, so I'll be covering for him, inshallah. And we'll be speaking about the virtues of this night, so that we can not only make the most of tonight, but also all the remaining nights that we have in front of us.

The Grace of Allah: Virtue Given to Chosen Things

Alhamdulillah, this is the grace of Allah that He chooses certain people, certain places, certain times, certain days — and He gives them virtue over others.

Allah says that even amongst the prophets, there are those whom Allah has given virtue over the others. So the prophets also have virtue because of Allah giving them that virtue. The day of Jum'ah has virtue because Allah chose to give it. Ramadan has that virtue because Allah chose to give it. Arafat has that virtue because Allah chose to give it. And Laylatul Qadr has that virtue because Allah chose to give it.

There is one obviously very big secret in it — and that is the fact that Allah chose the Prophet ﷺ to be the most virtuous of men and women and angels and jinn — the most virtuous of all of His creation. And Allah chose to give His ummah, His nation, virtue over all other nations. Jannah is forbidden for all prophets until the Prophet ﷺ enters. And Jannah is forbidden upon all the nations until you and I — the nation of Rasulullah ﷺ — enter Jannah.

The ulama have gathered all the way up to 70 different virtues for this nation over all other nations — so many various rewards that are specific for the nation of Rasulullah ﷺ. And what have you and I done to be born in this nation? Nothing. It's just like — what have you and I done to be born on this side of the world where we have such amazing amounts of comfort and luxury, while our brothers and sisters who have similar names are on the other side of the world going through immense suffering?

Allah gives whoever He wishes. He gives and He takes. And some He gives in this world and some He gives in the hereafter. And we hope Allah makes us amongst those who get it over here and get it over there — double dip, inshallah.

How This Ummah Competes with Previous Nations

So the virtue of this ummah is established. Now the issue — the sahaba came and said, "Ya Rasulullah, how are we going to compete with the people of the previous nations?" Because they were given extremely long lives. It is clearly mentioned in the Qur'an that Allah granted Nuh عليه السلام a thousand years, except minus fifty.

Allah gave Nabi Nuh عليه السلام — and obviously with that his nation as well — almost a thousand year long life. In those thousand years, just think about it: how much ibadah, how much tasbih, how much dhikr, how much fasting, how much sadaqah can you not do? Now we're supposed to be the most virtuous — how are you going to compete with that? We're sixty, seventy years up against nine hundred years. The math says it all that there's no way we can compete.

So Allah gave us this superpower, this extremely strong strength and ability. Allah, He's the one who sets the formulas. He does whatever He wants. Who's going to ask Him why He did this, how He did that? No one can ask Him. He controls A to Z — vertical integration to the highest degree. Every single thing is under His control.

So Allah went and changed the formula. And that formula is:

Anyone who does any good deed will get minimum ten times the reward.

The reward of spending in the path of Allah — all of you who are giving tonight, who will give later on. Allah says: the example of those who give in Allah's path is like a small seed. You put that seed in the ground, and it gives you seven stalks. In every stalk, there is a hundred more seeds. So you put in one seed, and now you're getting a plant that's got seven stalks, and each one of those has got a hundred seeds — meaning every seed gave you minimum seven hundred seeds.

Honestly, if you and I truly understood the power of sadaqah — the infinite power it has — we'd have to be told to stop giving, because we've got to take care of our own spouse and kids. The return on that investment is so high that anyone who truly believes in these verses of the Qur'an will have a hard time holding himself back.

And then, as though seven hundred times return isn't enough — which investment out there, even in the craziest crypto and stock market, gives you seven hundred percent? Allah says He doesn't stop at seven hundred percent:

Allah increases even beyond this for whoever He wants. There's no stop, no ceiling. No one can say, "Ya Allah, you can't give this much, this is too much profit, too much return." There's no such thing.

And then Allah says:

Those who give in Allah's path, and then do not follow up their expenditure and investment by afterward claiming favors — "I did this for you, I did that for you, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have gone through college, if it wasn't for me you wouldn't have this house." They don't say anything. And they don't harm anyone verbally just because they gave the money — because some people give money and then you have to lead a life like a slave to them. These people give and they forget, acting as though they never gave.

That's why the ulama have said: if you loan money to someone, you need to be so cognizant and aware of not benefiting from that person because you gave a loan. Why? Because:

(Recorded in various fiqh compilations as a principle of Islamic jurisprudence; attributed to Ibn Mas'ud and others among the Companions)

Every single loan that brings about with it some special benefit is riba. So if they lent someone money, they would make sure they did not even stand in the shade of that person's house. They're passing by, it's a hot sun, and they think, "Let's take some shelter — oh subhanAllah, this house? I gave this guy a hundred dollars. Nope. I don't want to stand under his roof. I don't want to stand under his gutter. I don't want to stand under his tree. Because now I'm benefiting." Look at how careful they were — that instead of actually gaining, they might end up losing. Because sadaqah is supposed to give you benefit. Giving a loan to someone is supposed to give you benefit. But here, instead of giving a loan and getting reward in the akhirah, if we are caught in the court of Allah as though we have benefited from our loan, then we are actually going to get punishment. So I'd rather be super careful, because I don't want to, instead of getting reward, end up getting punishment.

The Formula of Intentions and Deeds

So sadaqah is an example of 700 plus. Allah made this specific formula for the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ. For example, another hadith mentions:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6491; Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 233)

Whoever intends to do a good deed, Allah immediately — just on the intention — gives him a reward. And then whoever fulfills that intention and does the good deed, Allah gives him ten rewards. And then whoever intends to commit a sin, Allah does not write anything in His book. And then whoever ends up backing away from the sin out of the fear of Allah, Allah gives him reward. And if someone ends up committing the sin, then he only gets one sin in his record.

Again: intention of a good deed — just on the spot you get a hasana. Following through the good deed — ten rewards. Intention to do sin — no sin. Repenting from the intention of committing sin — a good deed. And then eventually someone actually ends up committing the sin — one sin. These are again some of the virtues — ways to help us equal the nations of the past — that Allah is making every single good deed of ours so heavy.

The Abundance of Opportunities for Forgiveness and Reward

And then to top it all, there are just so many other beautiful examples. Sins being forgiven on Mondays and Thursdays — whoever is fasting on these days, our book of deeds is being presented to Allah, and there is a high chance of our deeds being forgiven. Every single night, 365 days of the year, Allah descends to the lowest heaven, sama' al-dunya. Every morning before Salatul Fajr, He says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1145; Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 1656)

"Is there anyone seeking forgiveness? Anyone? Anyone? So that I may forgive him? Is there anyone who is asking, so I may fulfill his needs?" This is a call that goes out every night.

Then you have your wudu. Between every single salah, the wudu we're doing — whatever sins have been committed are forgiven. As we wash our hands and our feet, our eyes and our ears, our face — every sin committed by these limbs is being cleansed through the power of wudu. Every salah is not only wiping out sin from the previous salah to this salah, but after salah, whatever du'a you make, that du'a is going to get accepted.

Then we have Jum'ah to Jum'ah. Walking to the masjid for Salatul Jum'ah is going to be counted as jihad fi sabilillah. Whatever dust falls on your shoes and your feet — even the smoke of Jahannam cannot come close to that portion of your body. But what did you do? You just went for Jum'ah. Yet that dust and mud that came onto your clothing, your shoes, your feet — Allah will protect your body not only from the fire, but also from the smoke of Jahannam.

Then a person who recites Surah al-Kahf — we should all be reciting Surah al-Kahf every Friday. That Surah al-Kahf will serve as a nur from one Jum'ah to the next Jum'ah. And of course along with that, it is a means of protection from the fitna of Dajjal.

SubhanAllah — when the Nabi ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 2, Hadith 432)

Just saying سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ is so weighty it fills up the scale. Saying subhanAllah, alhamdulillah — it gives you a tree in Jannah. If you're going to get a tree in Jannah, that means you have to have real estate in Jannah. And if you have real estate in Jannah, you can't be sitting in Jahannam. In order to have real estate in Jannah, that means you've got to be in Jannah.

The tree is not going to be a random tree in a desert. You're going to have a house, you're going to have all sorts of things. So each tasbih is giving us a beautiful tree — not like the tree of this world that, after a few months, the leaves fall away and you have a barren tree without fruit. Instead you have the trees of Jannah, which once they are there, there's no such thing as them ever becoming barren, ever losing their luster, ever losing fruit:

They're always going to be giving fruits, all the time.

And then — as was shared during the no-tech retreat — the one who performs two rak'ah sunnah after Isha, followed by two rak'ah nafil, will get the reward of performing salah on Laylatul Qadr. So you can get — throughout the entire year — just by praying two rak'ah of salah after Isha, the reward of making ibadah on Laylatul Qadr.

If someone has a consistent habit of performing a certain amount of recitation or salah every night, and then one night forgets, then another hadith mentions: whoever has a habit every single night and forgets it — as long as they fulfilled that habit before the Dhuhr salah the next day, it will be as though they did it the night before. SubhanAllah. How much leeway Allah is creating for us. How much accommodation. Just do it. If this doesn't work, try that. Whatever you can — do something.

Salatul Ishraq and the Rewards of Remembrance

Then you have Salatul Ishraq. Those who are in I'tikaf for sure — do not ever sleep before Ishraq while you're here in the masjid. Definitely get an hour or two of sleep in the night — these are long nights — but after Fajr, stay awake. Attend the dars, do your dhikr, recite your Yaseen, do your Qur'an, and then pray Ishraq and go to sleep.

The reward mentioned for Ishraq: ideally for the one who remembers Allah after Salatul Fajr all the way till sunrise, and then 10–15 minutes after that, he will get the reward of an accepted Hajj and Umrah. Not just Hajj and Umrah — tammatan tammatan tammatan — complete, complete, complete. And an accepted Hajj and Umrah — he said it three times. Just for performing a few two rak'ah of Salatul Ishraq, because you remembered Allah after Fajr.

And then whoever performs Awwaabeen — four or six rak'ah after the sunnah of Maghrib — he is written from amongst the awwaabeen. Awwaab is the one who turns to Allah intensely — the one who does inabah, who turns his direction towards Allah. So you're performing four or six rak'ah after the sunnah of Maghrib salah and you're getting this honor — your name is being listed amongst those who are constantly turning to Allah.

The Help of Allah: Miracles of the Ummah

When a person goes out in the path of Allah, when a person is sacrificing in the path of Allah, then he is not alone. Allah is going to help him the way He helped the prophets. Because there are no more prophets coming after the Prophet ﷺ. The sahaba were not prophets. But the sahaba had nature serve them — whether it was fire that served them, air, wind, water, the earth, or the animals. There are stories for each one of these — the forces of nature were subjugated for the sahaba.

So whatever happened with the sahaba can happen with us and anyone else, on the condition that we have the qualities that the sahaba had. Every sahabi and every wali who has a karama — a miracle — the reason they're getting that miracle is because they are of the ummah of the Prophet ﷺ. Remember that. Every miracle of the ummati in reality is a miracle of the Prophet ﷺ. Every karama of a sahabi and every karama of a wali is a mu'jiza of Rasulullah ﷺ. There is no way a wali or so-called wali can ever have a miracle if he is not following Rasulullah ﷺ.

So when you have people who claim to do miracles but don't pray, who pray without wudu, who don't fast because they claim to be special people who've been given special instructions — you know this is all bogus. And if someone says, "But I saw a miracle happening" — that's called irhas. Irhas is when you have supernatural things happening at the hands of people who don't follow deen. You have these magicians online who do shows — some of them are just tricks, some of them are hypnosis, some of them could be magic, some of them could be the use of shayateen. Whatever it is — it's not something to be impressed with. It's called irhas, not a mu'jiza. This is not a miracle, not a karama of a wali. This is istidraj — it's going to take him down and deceive other people.

The help of Allah that came with the sahaba is nothing short of the help that came with the prophets. And anyone of us can get the help of Allah as well — if we follow Rasulullah ﷺ's sunnah to the T.

The Last Ones, But the First to Enter

My beloved brothers — from the beginning till now, what have I spoken about? All of these are gifts that Allah has given this ummah, so that on the Day of Judgment, we are al-akhiruna fi al-dunya, al-sabiqun fi al-akhira — the last ones who came in this world, but we're going to be in the front.

If you go on a flight — those of you who travel — you see different lines: economy, business, first class. And then there's the boarding process, and what happens? You see people who have come late, but they have boarding group one. They came late, there's a long line of a hundred people — but the group one area is empty, so they go straight, right in front of everyone.

That's what we are. The ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ is group one. But we're not just group one who showed up on time to the gate — we're the group one that shows up, enjoys the business lounge, eats here and there, prays our salah, takes our time — and then goes to the gate and still enters first. We are the last ones to come, but the first ones to enter.

For all of this to happen, Allah chose to change the formula of our deeds. And so to top it all off — everything I've shared — the final thing is Laylatul Qadr. That Allah gave us Laylatul Qadr — He didn't give it to others. And that is: if a person is able to make ibadah on Laylatul Qadr, then Allah is giving him the reward not of one night or twelve hours, not of one month or one year, but of a thousand months. And is that a thousand months? No — exactly. Better than a thousand months.

Like وَاللَّهُ يُضَاعِفُ لِمَن يَشَاءُ — Allah increases for everyone. What does that mean? We have no idea. Depending on the sincerity, depending on perhaps the difficulty. The people of Gaza have Laylatul Qadr right now too. Their Jum'ah as well. How can we compare ourselves to them? So their Laylatul Qadr and their ibadah is of a whole different degree. Ibadah on this night is better than a thousand months. So if a person even gets one Laylatul Qadr, he's already got minimum 83 years.

Making the Most of Laylatul Qadr

Laylatul Qadr could have been any random night. But we're so weak. Allah says, okay, let's make it easy. The hadith talks about it being within Ramadan. Could have been all 29 nights. But no — it's now narrowed down to the last ten. Here we are in the last ten. So every one of these ten should be treated as though it is Laylatul Qadr.

But then there are other virtues, other hadith that talk about it being in the odd nights. So now that gives you just five nights: the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th, and 29th. There are some narrations that speak about it being on the 27th specifically. Some speak about it rotating — and that is the stronger opinion, that it rotates. And then there is an opinion that if it coincides with the night of Jum'ah, then because the night of Jum'ah is already a special night, there is a high likelihood of that being Laylatul Qadr — which means tonight.

So if a person — just every year from now — all of us who are listening, if we just say: "I don't know how many years I've got left, but at least I make this commitment that five nights a year, I'm going to make sure I change my work schedule, I'm going to change my school schedule — five nights a year, I'm going to really go all out." Try your best — for the brothers to be in the masjid, for the sisters and brothers wherever they are, whether home or in the masjid — the key thing is to utilize it.

If you're in the masjid and on your phone and talking to your friends, you might as well go home. Because you're thinking you're doing something, you're not. That's a very important thing. Sometimes shaitan deceives us. He lets us come to the masjid, and then we're just sitting there drinking chai, talking, chit-chatting, laughing — all that stuff — while it's Laylatul Qadr. And then in the back of our mind, we say, "Alhamdulillah, I had a great night." Honestly — what did you do? What have you got to show for the night that you spent here?

If at least you went to sleep, then you're fresh tomorrow, you go to work, and you come early for Jum'ah and make the best of it. But if a person stays awake all night at a coffee shop, or drinking chai in a masjid — same thing. And that's not the purpose. The purpose of chai is to actually get you to do ibadah. Chai itself is not matloob or maqsood — it's not the desired end. It's to give you the strength to be able to stand up for another two hours of tahajjud and qiyamul layl. That's the purpose of it.

A Culture of Sacred Space in the Masjid

So I encourage all of our beloved youth who are here, and our adults — very softly, very nicely — let's please, for these nine nights, make this place sacred. Let's treat this like a sacred place. Let's not allow this to be a coffee shop. Let's not allow this to be an environment of just chit-chat. And who's going to help? All of us have to help. And who will benefit? All of us will benefit — if we just create a culture of silence.

Alhamdulillah, for those of you who are not in Sunnah I'tikaf — we have a big, massive parking lot. You can go outside, walk around, speak to whoever you need to speak to, sit in the car if it's cold and have your conversation — that's fine. But as much as we can, let's say: I don't want to be sitting here on my phone. Many times I'm walking up to the masjid and my eyes follow everyone's screens — phones and tablets. What ajeeb things people are doing honestly. Yes, there are those who are reading Qur'an, but there are other people doing all kinds of random things. You're waiting for salah — what are you doing? Many times going through your feed — and that feed, whether you like it or not, unfortunately 99% of the time it's got a lot of haram on it. And that's in the house of Allah, in the nights of Ramadan, with people next to you.

That's why I encourage all of us — while you're here, absolutely no social media. You need to call your home? You've got that, fine. But there is no reason for us to be on social media. There's no reason for us to be checking the news while we're here. Whatever questions you have, alhamdulillah, there are many ulema here, many scholars, many students of knowledge — ask. But try our best to create an environment in which we're not on our phones. And if you see someone, remind them: "Brother, this is a cell phone free zone, smoke free zone, social media free zone."

We need to do i'tikaf from the phone more than anything else — that's the key thing. I'm going to say this tomorrow morning too, I'm going to say this regularly. Those of you youth who are here in the Sunnah I'tikaf, and adults especially — I want these nine to ten nights, for me and for all of us, to be transformative. And it will not be transformative if we're hanging around with our phones.

So either: one, you use it responsibly — keep it locked, shut it off, turn it on when you need to. Or if you feel like "man, I'm an addict, I won't be able to do that" — there's our office in the back in the lobby. Just go turn it in, we'll give you a ticket, keep that ticket with you. And whenever you need it, go get it — once a day, once every two days, whatever it is. But if you know yourself, that I'm going to be on it — please, I want you to benefit. You've taken off from work, you've taken off from school, and you're here in the masjid. There's no reason for us to walk away saying, "Ah, I tried i'tikaf, it wasn't all that." We've burned it for ourselves, we've ruined it for ourselves, because we didn't use our time properly.

It will be the best — wallahi, it will be the best — if we simply do not waste our time. Shaykh Zakariyya rahmatullahi alayhi, in his i'tikaf, had a rule: you want to sleep? No problem. You want to eat? Eat — of course, after iftar. But the rule was: no talking. So now the issue is not just talking — it's texting and surfing. That should be our rule: only talk when needed, only talk when necessary.

Ask yourself: I'm talking to him — what am I doing? I'm taking his valuable time. It's Laylatul Qadr. This person only has five hours. Wallahi — is it worth it for me? I'm talking to four people — now I've taken four people's time. If I spoke for ten minutes, that's forty minutes of four ummat's of Rasulullah ﷺ wasted. So you're not just harming yourself, you're harming everyone you're speaking to. So let's create an environment — downstairs, upstairs, in the side halls, wherever you go — as much as possible: silence.

The Virtues of Laylatul Qadr

So, the culmination of all the beautiful virtue of this ummah is Allah giving us Laylatul Qadr. And I'm going to go over some of the hadith on this, rather the virtues of it.

First: Ibadah in the night of Laylatul Qadr for a few hours is equivalent to more than an average lifespan — more than 83 years. So Allah is giving us, for a few hours, ibadah worth an entire life.

Second: This is the night in which Allah revealed the entire Qur'an — from the Lawh al-Mahfuz, the preserved tablet, to the first heaven.

Third: Many ulama say that Laylatul Qadr is the night in which rizq is distributed, and the announcement is made to the angels of who is going to die that year. Those people who passed away today, yesterday — that announcement was done last Laylatul Qadr. Malak al-Mawt received the full report of whose soul he has to take for the entire year.

Fourth: Ibadah and du'a in this night gives you the reward more than worshipping Allah for a thousand months.

Fifth: In this night the angels descend from Fajr all the way — bringing from Allah mercy, blessings, and goodness.

Sixth:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2014; Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 1778)

Whoever stands this night in prayer with iman and ihtisab — with faith and expectation of reward — all his sins are forgiven. So definitely there's a portion of that night that needs to be done standing. That's why I've been emphasizing the Tarawih — even if you don't usually pray the entire Tarawih, please pray every single night for these nights, all of it. And then don't stop there — you can pray your qada salah. If you have salah to make up, try your best every single night to make up a day or two days' worth. Five Salah: Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, Isha. And for Isha, make sure to include the Witr as well.

Surah al-Qadr: A Brief Commentary

Allah says in Surah al-Dukhan:

Indeed, We revealed the Qur'an in the blessed night. The ulama have said that this ayah in Surah al-Dukhan is referring — according to many of them — to Laylatul Qadr. That Allah calls it Laylatul Mubarakah — it's a very blessed night.

Let's go quickly over Surah al-Qadr:

"Indeed, We revealed the Qur'an in Laylatul Qadr."

"O Rasulullah, what do you know about Laylatul Qadr?" — The reason this question is asked like this is to emphasize the magnitude. Do you know? Do you know how great a night this is?

"Laylatul Qadr is better than a thousand months." Meaning the ibadah of it is better than a thousand months of ibadah.

"The angels, and specifically the Ruh" — and Ruh here refers to Jibreel عليه السلام — "descend in this night with the permission of their Lord, with every single decision that Allah has decided until the next year."

"Salamun hiya hatta matla'il fajr" — there is so much سَلَام — so much peace. We don't even hear it. What's happening? Millions — no, billions of angels are all around the world descending on Laylatul Qadr, giving salam to all those who are making ibadah. SubhanAllah. And what is salam? It's a du'a. So the angels are giving du'a to all of us sitting here, and to all those across the globe. And until when? Until the break of dawn. Until the break of dawn this is going to happen.

Signs of Laylatul Qadr and the Value of the Night

Alhamdulillah, these are some of the beautiful virtues of this blessed night. Some of the signs of it: one of them is that it is not a very hot night, not a very cold night. And when the sun rises, the rays of the sun are not super strong but rather very light in their redness. And then of course the aspect of some light rain — because the Prophet ﷺ when he made sajdah, the sahaba saw soil and mud on their foreheads, because there were no carpets, only ground — and the ground gets wet when it rains.

There's a beautiful saying: whichever night you truly value is your Laylatul Qadr. The word qadr in Urdu means value, and in Arabic also means value:

"You all did not value Allah." SubhanAllah — Allah says that: "You don't value Me." They say: whichever night you value is your Laylatul Qadr. For a person who is sinning all night, it is not Laylatul Qadr for him. Anyone who makes tawbah — that's his Laylatul Qadr.

The Purpose of the Nightly Programs

Now the question: why do we have programs in the nights? Brother, this is the night for ibadah. My beloved friends — ibadah is contingent on tawbah, repentance. And tawbah is contingent on a person acknowledging and recognizing his flaws. If a person does not even recognize and realize his flaws in his actions and his beliefs, then unfortunately the ibadah may not be very fruitful at all.

The purpose we have programs at night — especially geared towards our young adults — is so that a lot of the fundamentals of the deen that need to be addressed, we try our best to address them through these programs. So that people can recognize their strengths, their weaknesses, and make amends with Allah. The purpose of these talks is not for the sake of talking or the sake of listening — but rather to make our Laylatul Qadr truly accepted. If anyone can walk away saying, "SubhanAllah, I've changed my life after that talk" — that's it.

And if a person stands up all night, imagine a person standing all night without even knowing how to make proper wudu, because no one taught him. Is that accepted? That's why before you do ibadah, you have to learn the basics — from tahara to wudu, to aqeedah, belief, and your approach in life. So that's what — alhamdulillah — every night we do have these programs.

After Fajr with Mufti ibn Hajj till Ishraq. After Dhuhr, about 45 minutes to an hour with different ulema — Mufti Hassan Sheikh and Marwan Uthman Akhtar — doing different workshops. After Asr till Maghrib: daily du'as of Rasulullah ﷺ, followed by dhikr and du'a till Maghrib. And then after Isha, Mufti ibn Hajj's tafsir. And lastly at 1am, myself and one co-host, every single night on a different topic — with an opportunity to ask lots of questions. The goal is not for me to just talk, but for us to actually have a conversation and address serious contemporary issues that all of us are faced with in the Muslim community.

Closing Du'a

We ask Allah to make every one of these programs transformative — for the speakers, for the listeners, for those who are in I'tikaf. We ask Allah that all those people sitting in I'tikaf across the entire globe — from Haramayn Sharifayn to Masjid al-Aqsa and here — may Allah make everyone's I'tikaf a means of 100% transformation. May Allah accept everyone's du'a. May Allah grant forgiveness to everyone. May Allah allow everyone to repent.

All those mothers and sisters and women who are making I'tikaf in their homes — may Allah accept theirs as well. May Allah inspire them to continue to work hard in their du'a and ibadah. And all those brothers who are doing khidmah, serving all the brothers in I'tikaf for the next ten days and nights — may Allah give them the reward of everyone who is doing ibadah.

And may Allah make this journey of these ten nights — here and in all masajid — a beautiful journey in which there is no argumentation, no fighting, no nafs coming in between, no shaitan coming in between, but everyone of us with great harmony making ibadah collectively. Ameen, ya Rabbal 'Alamin.

Now we can do a few minutes of dhikr, and then we'll make du'a collectively. Alhamdulillah, this is a beautiful night for us to do du'a and ibadah. I ask all of you to please come close together, away from the walls. If you need a chair, you can sit on a chair — no problem. Be comfortable. But please sit as close as possible.

Turn your direction towards Allah. The heart needs to speak to Allah. I want all of you to make du'a — I am just the person who happens to be in the front. The du'a is accepted, inshallah, on behalf of your sincerity. So the more sincere everyone of us here is, the higher the chance of our du'as being accepted.

One of the du'as we should make is: "Ya Allah, allow me to be inspired with the du'a that is most needed for me" — not a du'a that I want to make, but that I need to make. Because a lot of times we're asking for things we want, not the things we need.

Allah says:

Remember your Lord in your heart. Focus on your heart, saying Allah, Allah, Allah. Do not move your lips, do not move your tongue. Just focus on your heart beating with Allah's name.

The Collective Du'a

As we are doing the du'a, let everyone participate by saying Ameen.

Oh Allah, Oh Most Merciful Allah, Oh Most Gracious Allah, Oh Most Loving Allah, Oh Our Nourisher, Oh Our Provider, Oh Our Protector, Oh Our Creator, Oh the One Whom We must return to, Oh the One Who will take us — Whom we will face on the Day of Judgment, Oh the Creator of Jannah, Oh the Creator of Jahannam, Oh the Creator of everything that we see, Oh the Creator of everything that we don't see, Oh the One Who has provided us every single blessing that we enjoy today —

Oh Allah, Oh Most Merciful Allah, Oh the One Who granted us Iman, Oh the One Who granted us parents, the One Who granted us spouses and children, Oh the One Who granted us the beautiful gift of Islam, Oh the One Who gave us the honor to be born into the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ, Oh the One Who granted us enough health to be here today, Oh the One Who gave us the tawfiq to be here in this masjid at this hour, Oh the One Who has enabled us to fast, enabled us to do qiyam, Oh the One Who has given us tongues to be able to take His Name, Oh the One Who has given us fingers to move the tasbih, Oh the One Who has given us the ability to give sadaqah in His Name, Oh the One Who has given us the tawfiq to be able to pick up a mushaf and read, Oh the One Who has given us the ability to take care of our parents, our spouses and our children, Oh the One Who has given us the ability to smile, Oh the One Who has given us the ability to eat and drink, to relieve ourselves, to breathe, to inhale and to exhale —

Oh the One Who allows our systems to work so seamlessly without us even realizing what's happening, Oh the Provider of all that which we need and that which we don't even realize that we need —

Ya Allah, Ya Allah, Ya Arham al-Rahimin, Ya Akram al-Akramin — Oh Allah, there is no greater need that we have than Your forgiveness, there is no greater need that we have than Your pleasure, there is no greater need that we have than You guiding us to the right path. Ya Allah, on this blessed night of Jum'ah, on this 21st night, the odd night of Ramadan, as we are surrounded by hundreds of men and women — Oh Allah, we ask You to grant all of us that which we need most.

Oh Allah, grant us Your forgiveness. Oh Allah, please forgive all of us. Oh Allah, please do not allow these words to be empty words. Ya Allah, allow us to seek forgiveness from the bottom of our heart. Allow us to feel remorse in our hearts. Oh Allah, we have lost the energy to even speak about our own sins. Our hands are so dirty they should not even be allowed to be raised in front of You. Our tongues are so dirty they should not even be allowed to say Your Name. Our bodies are so dirty they should not even be allowed to be present here.

Oh Allah, but You have overlooked all of our faults. You have hidden our faults from each other. Oh Allah, the way You have allowed us to come here tonight — do not allow us to stand up from this gathering except in a state where You have chosen to forgive all of us.

Oh Allah, please forgive all of us. Those sins that we are thinking of right now, and those that we have completely forgotten about. Those that we have done once and those that we have repeatedly done for decades. Those that we repented from in previous Ramadans, and those that we unfortunately never got a chance to repent from before tonight. Those that we have done many, many times in public, and those that we have only chosen to do in private. Those that we have done individually and those that we have done collectively. Those that we have done shamelessly, and those that we have done bashfully and ashamed of ourselves — Ya Allah, we ask You to forgive all of those sins.

Oh Allah, forgive us for not regarding ourselves as the absolute worst of sinners. Oh Allah, forgive us for not actually thinking of ourselves as zero. Oh Allah, forgive us for not debasing ourselves the way we should debase ourselves in front of You. Oh Allah, forgive us for thinking ourselves to be something. Oh Allah, forgive us for thinking ourselves to be superior to even an animal, for thinking ourselves superior over even a disbeliever — for indeed we don't know in what state we shall die in, and what state a disbeliever may die in. Oh Allah, forgive us for every time we have thought ourselves to be superior over anyone else.

Oh Allah, forgive us for every single time that we have foolishly thought that no matter what sin we do, Jannah is only for us. Oh Allah, forgive us for every single time we have used the blessings You have given us and used those blessings right against You. Oh Allah, forgive us every single time we have used the limbs, the wealth, the health, and the time that You have given us not to obey You, but rather to disobey You.

Oh Allah, forgive us when we thought that when we were hiding from the world that we could actually hide from You. Oh Allah, forgive us when we thought the darkness of the night would hide our sins — not realizing that You are the Creator of darkness. Oh Allah, forgive us for thinking that if we forgot our sins that You had also forgotten our sins. Oh Allah, forgive us for thinking that just because no one was speaking about us, that in reality You also were not aware of our sins.

Oh Allah, forgive us for thinking that without seeking forgiveness, without acknowledging each and every major and minor sin we have done, we will automatically be forgiven just like that. Oh Allah, forgive us for having the audacity to think that we can lead our life in any manner we want, and that we can show up randomly one night expecting to get forgiven.

Ya Allah, forgive us for all types of foolishness, for the foolish way we have led our life. Ya Allah, forgive us for not truly recognizing Your greatness, for not truly recognizing Your might and Your power, for not truly understanding Your absolute qudra over all of us. Oh Allah — like a child who plays with electricity and a knife, who plays with a gun, not knowing what he is playing with — oh Allah, we have messed around with Your anger, with Your jalal, not realizing what we were doing. Ya Allah, we truly have not even understood the smallest portion of Your might and Your power — and that is the reason we are such sinners.

Ya Allah, forgive us for not recognizing Your grandeur and Your greatness. Oh Allah, forgive us for not valuing You the way You should be valued. Ya Allah, forgive us for not loving You the way You ought to be loved. Oh Allah, forgive us for not even using the word love — passionate love, ishq, madly in love with You. Oh Allah, forgive us for thinking that love is something to do with the creation and that it has nothing to do with the Creator. Oh Allah, forgive us for never thinking that You are the Being that ought to be loved the most — and that You are the Being Who loves us the most.

Oh Allah, forgive us for not spending even an hour in the past year speaking with You. Oh Allah, forgive us for having spent hours — countless hours — surfing the net, talking to people who don't want to talk to us, and watching people who don't care whether we care about them or not. Ya Allah, but we have not spent quality time with You. Ya Allah, forgive us for not even knowing how to speak with You. Oh Allah, forgive us for not even wanting to sit down with You in seclusion. Oh Allah, forgive us for enjoying the company of everyone except for You.

Oh Allah, forgive us for finding ourselves alone when no one is around us, not realizing that we are never alone:

That You are with us all the time.

Oh Allah, Oh Allah, we ask You to forgive us for the thousands of missed opportunities on every Friday, and every single night before Fajr, and every single day after our Fard salah when we quickly ran out without actually raising our hands and making du'a. Forgive us for every night that we didn't wake up for tahajjud and cry in front of You. Oh Allah, forgive us for the thousands of missed opportunities in our life when we could have gotten amazing things but we were simply too lazy to do so.

Ya Allah, today You have brought us to Your house. Today You have inspired us to raise our hands in front of You. Today You have inspired us to speak to You. Ya Allah, we ask You to grant us that which does not harm You. Oh Allah, forgiveness does not harm You in the least. Ya Allah, making all of our sins into zero will not take away from Your grandeur and Your might. Oh Allah, choosing to delete all of our sins will not take away anything from Your greatness. And replacing all of our sins with good deeds will not diminish from Your treasures in the least. Oh Allah, we ask You today to grant us that which will not diminish You, which will not diminish anything from You. Your treasures are vast, Your treasures have no limits.

Oh Allah, we are fuqara — we are beggars at Your door. We are knocking at Your door. Oh Allah, we know there is no other door to knock at besides Yours. Oh Allah, forgive us if we have ever knocked at any other door besides Yours. Oh Allah, forgive us if we have ever extended a hand in front of anyone besides You. But today, Ya Allah, we know it, we acknowledge it — there is no one we can extend our hand in front of besides You. There is no door we can knock at beside Yours.

Oh Allah, we ask You to accept us as sinners who acknowledge their sin, as criminals who acknowledge their crime, as a runaway slave who has chosen to come back to his master. Ya Allah, please accept us back in. Oh Allah, please accept us back in. Oh Allah — a mother whose son runs away angry at her, angry at the home, and after running around for days, nights, or sometimes months, chooses to come back one night — Oh Allah, even the mother of today, even the father of today, when he sees his son standing at the door, will have mercy. His heart will soften, even though that son has hurt his feelings so much. But the mom and dad do not have the heart to lock the door and slam it in that boy's face. They will open the door and welcome that son and daughter. They won't even ask where he was — they will be so happy that that boy came back, that that girl came back.

Oh Allah, You definitely love us more than any mother loves her child. Oh Allah, You love us more than any father loves his son or daughter. Oh Allah, we ask You to let us back in. Oh Allah, as we knock at Your door, please do not slam the door in our face. Oh Allah, let us in — although we were here last year too, we were here maybe last Friday. Oh Allah, we were here many times asking forgiveness. Oh Allah, we may have shed crocodile tears in the past. Oh Allah, we may have faked it. Ya Allah, but today we are not faking it. Ya Allah, today we are actually sincere.

Oh Allah, we see the suffering happening around us. We see thousands of people dying. Hundreds of people from our community have died from last year to this year. Oh Allah, we don't know if we are ever going to get another Ramadan again. We don't know if we are ever going to get an odd night on Jum'ah again in our entire life. Oh Allah, none of us are getting younger — we're getting older, and our aches and pains and our white hair are reminding us of how close we are to death.

Oh Allah, we beg You tonight — please, Ya Allah, change the direction of our heart away from running after the material things of this world to running towards the akhira. Oh Allah, turn the direction of our heart away from the creation to the Creator. Away from wealth towards good deeds.

Oh Allah, I beg You on behalf of everyone — please, Ya Allah, we don't enjoy committing sins. We do not enjoy turning our back towards You. We do not enjoy sleeping away from our obligations. We do not enjoy wasting our time. We do not enjoy having bad character with one another. We do not enjoy missing our prayers. We do not enjoy being stingy. We do not enjoy not guarding our gaze. We do not enjoy not guarding our ears. We do not enjoy making huge blunders with our tongues.

Oh Allah, but unfortunately we have addictions. We are slaves to our lower self. We have the shackles of shaitan around us and we have the shackles of our nafs around us. Oh Allah, honestly, all of us want to change. We've tried to change for decades, for years. Oh Allah, but we do not always have the best of friends, the best of environments, the best of colleagues, the best of environments at home. Oh Allah, and yet even though we want to change, we find ourselves back to where we were last year. Oh Allah, we take one step and we go back ten steps. It seems like every step we take towards You ends up eventually leading to ten steps away from You. Ya Allah, no one can change our trajectory besides You.

Oh Allah, You know where our name is written. Tonight might be the night when the sentence of our death is being given. Oh Allah, tonight announcements are being made that so and so is going to die within the next 365 days. Oh Allah, who is going to get how much rizq is being decided today. Ya Allah, we ask You to have mercy on us. Allow our destiny to be beautiful. Allow the end result of our destiny to be in our best interest.

Oh Allah, the Lawh al-Mahfuz, the preserved tablet — none of us have seen. Oh Allah, it's already written. The names are clearly written — who is amongst the wretched ones and who is amongst the lucky ones. Oh Allah, our name is written whether we are headed to Paradise or somewhere else. Ya Allah, no one knows that besides You.

Ya Allah, we beg You — we beg You as anyone could beg — that if our name is written amongst the wretched ones, we beg You, Ya Allah, on this blessed night, to remove our name from that list. Oh Allah, there is no power in the world put together — no jinn and no insan, no superpower in the world — that can remove that name from that list besides You. Ya Allah, that is only Your domain:

You can erase whatever You want, and You can keep whatever You want — and You have the mother of all books, the Lawh al-Mahfuz. Oh Allah, we do not know our future. I beg You, Ya Allah, to make the future for all of us beautiful. I ask You, Ya Allah, to make the remainder of our lives far better than our past lives. Oh Allah, allow every remaining night and day that exists in our life to be spent in a manner that You want to see us — in accordance with the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

Oh Allah, the heart is where the battle is taking place. Oh Allah, the heart is where the genocide is happening. Oh Allah, we ask You to please save our hearts. Save our hearts, Ya Allah. Oh Allah, end the genocide of our hearts. Oh Allah, allow us to become men and women focused on our journey towards You. Ya Allah, we are suffering from countless spiritual diseases. Allow us, Ya Allah, to be forgiven for those diseases that we understand and those that we don't even recognize yet. And oh Allah, do not just forgive us, but cure us from those diseases. Cure us from those diseases.

Ya Allah — whether it's arrogance, whether it's jealousy, whether it's rancor and hatred that we harbor, whether it's looking down upon others, whether it's thinking of ourselves as superior to others, whether it is harboring lust. Oh Allah, whether it is desire and greed for money, whether it's stinginess. Oh Allah, whether it is disdain for people of deen, disdain for the sunnah. Oh Allah, whether it's hypocrisy, whether it's ostentation and show. Oh Allah, whether it's any level of shirk and kufr. Ya Allah, we ask You to cleanse our hearts fully.

Oh Allah, wash our hearts, Ya Allah, with zamzam. Oh Allah, wash our hearts, Ya Allah, with the waters of Hawd al-Kawthar. Oh Allah, wash our hearts, Ya Allah, with the rivers of Jannah. Oh Allah, wash our hearts with Your glance. Oh Allah, we ask You for one glance of mercy. Oh Allah, please — one glance of mercy takes nothing away from You. And oh Allah, it will literally change our entire life. Oh Allah, we beg You to glance at us with the eyes of mercy now. Oh Allah, we ask You, Ya Allah, through the barakah of the little ones, the innocent ones, the elderly, the sick amongst us — that You look at all of us with the glance of mercy.

Oh Allah, we are not hypocrites. Oh Allah, we are not evil people. Oh Allah, we are sinners, but we are not evil. Oh Allah, we always wanted to become a better person. But oh Allah, our circumstances at times do not support us. Oh Allah, You know what's in our heart. You know whether we are actually sincere or not. I ask You in the name of the sincere ones amongst us to grant forgiveness to all of us.

Oh Allah, grant all of us the ibadah of Laylatul Qadr. Oh Allah, whether it's tonight or the remaining nights — grant us all guaranteed ibadah and du'a of Laylatul Qadr. Not only this year, but every single year that we ever live. Grant us every single year the ibadah of Laylatul Qadr.

Oh Allah, on this blessed night, I ask You Allah — all of those who are having marital problems, end their issues. Ya Allah, miraculously bring the husbands and wives back together. Oh Allah, allow the husbands and wives to throw away their nafs and fight against the shaitan that is breaking the homes. Oh Allah, allow the husbands and wives to not lose their minds, and to work together to push back against the shaitan. Allow them to squash their nafs. Oh Allah, allow the children to become a source of happiness for the parents. Allow the parents to be able to raise each and every one of their children appropriately and properly. Ya Allah, put immense love and mawadda between every parent and their child. Oh Allah, between every brother and sister, between every uncle and aunt and their nephews and nieces. Oh Allah, extinguish the fires from our homes. Allow our homes to echo with dhikr, du'a, and tilawat of the Qur'an. Allow our homes to be places of soft speech, of respect, of generosity, of kind good manners. Oh Allah, save our homes from harshness, hardness, and infighting — from cursing and harsh language, from insolence and hatred. Oh Allah, remove all that filth from our homes.

Oh Allah, we ask You — all those who are not married, or who are previously married, or looking to get married for the first time — Oh Allah, grant all of them the best of spouses. Oh Allah, allow everyone to remain chaste until they get married. Allow the doors of haram to close upon them until the door of nikah opens up for them. And oh Allah, once that door of nikah opens, allow them to find the one and only for them. Oh Allah, allow every single person to find a spouse that will help make this world a jannah for them, and that will help prepare for the akhira. Oh Allah, allow husbands and wives to become spiritual buddies for one another, supportive of one another, pushing one another towards goodness.

Ya Allah, we ask You to grant amazing levels of reward to our parents, to our teachers. Oh Allah, those of our parents who are alive — allow us to keep serving them, Ya Allah, until they are pleased with us, and You are pleased with us, and Jannah is written for us. Oh Allah, all those parents and children who are not on speaking terms for whatever reason — allow everyone to repent on this night and make it up to each other. Oh Allah, every single son and daughter who is not speaking with his parents — allow them to get connected again. Oh Allah, allow whatever shaitan has come between the parents and the children to be removed. Whatever nafs has come between parents and children — let it be removed.

Oh Allah, accept the du'a of every parent making du'a on behalf of their children. Oh Allah, every mom and dad, every grandparent who is making du'a on behalf of their kids — accept them. Oh Allah, we ask You to allow all of us who have lost our elders, our parents and grandparents and our teachers — allow all of our good deeds that we have done so far to be a sadaqah jariah for them. Oh Allah, all the good that we have done so far — allow it to be a sadaqah jariah on behalf of every ummati of Rasulullah ﷺ, starting from Rasulullah ﷺ till the last person who has passed away. Allow them to receive the rewards in the grave.

Oh Allah, anyone who has helped build Darussalam to where it is today and who is no longer alive — wherever in the world they may be — allow them to receive the reward of every single سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ that has been said here, every single verse of the Qur'an that has been recited, every single life that has changed here. Allow all those stakeholders — whether they are alive or dead — to be getting the full sadaqah jariah of every inch of khair that has happened here, is happening here, and that will happen in the future.

Ya Allah, we ask You to grant us a salah that is built of quality. Oh Allah, grant us the salah of the sahaba, the du'a of the sahaba, the dhikr of the sahaba. Oh Allah, grant us the qualities of the sahaba — the ikhlas of the sahaba, the generosity of the sahaba, the chivalry of the sahaba, the courage of the sahaba. Oh Allah, grant us the bashfulness and the haya of the sahaba. Oh Allah, every quality that the sahaba had — by virtue of which You used them for the spread of deen — grant us all those virtues and qualities.

Oh Allah, allow the ummah to awaken. Allow the Muslims who are sleeping today to awaken. Oh Allah, if we are sleeping, awaken us. If the leaders are sleeping, awaken them. If the ulama are sleeping, awaken them. If the kings and the queens and the prime ministers of the Muslim world are sleeping, awaken them. Oh Allah, if the public is sleeping, awaken them. Oh Allah, bring a revival of Islam across the globe. Bring a revival of Islam across the globe. Bring a revival of Islam across the globe.

Oh Allah, let the suffering across the Muslim world be a means of hidayah for the rest of us. Oh Allah, let every drop of blood that has been shed, and every boy and girl that has been killed, and every honor that has been violated, become a means of the ummah awakening. Ya Allah, unite the ummah. Allow the ummah to feel the pain of those who are suffering. Oh Allah, help our brothers and sisters in Sudan, in Bilad al-Sham, in Palestine, and especially in Gaza. Oh Allah, we ask You to grant them Your special assistance on this blessed night. Oh Allah, we have nothing to show besides earnest du'a — forgive us for not being able to do much more. Oh Allah, allow us to do whatever we possibly can. But allow our du'a to be a means of at least averting Your punishment from us.

Oh Allah, we ask You to forgive the ummah for all the sins that they have committed. Guide the ummah towards that which is good for them. Oh Allah, those thousands and millions of Muslims who have not visited a masjid yet in this Ramadan — allow them to come to Your masjid. Oh Allah, those thousands who have yet to fast this month — allow them to fast in these remaining days and nights. Those who have not yet stopped committing their major sins — allow these beautiful nights and days for them to repent. Open up the doors of the masjid for them to come. Oh Allah, even if they don't want to — drag them over here. Drag them to their masjid and allow them to repent.

Oh Allah, we ask You — those of us who have sons and daughters and relatives who are away from the deen, whether they are non-Muslims, or Muslims who left Islam, or Muslims involved in major sins — Oh Allah, guide them. Oh Allah, those who are suffering from depression, those who are suffering from mental illnesses, those who are in mental institutions, those who are suffering various emotional and psychological problems — Oh Allah, those who are suffering from physical problems, those who are suffering from heart disease and cancer and all sorts of other diseases, those who are suffering from critical illnesses, those who are suffering from short-term illnesses — Oh Allah, grant them all shifa. Grant them all shifa. Grant them all shifa.

نَسْأَلُ اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ رَبَّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ أَنْ يَشْفِيَهُمْ

Oh Allah, grant us a strong physical body, a sound emotional state, and a strong spiritual sense. Oh Allah, we ask You that those sons and daughters of the ummah who are suffering from various addictions — whether it's video games, whether it's watching haram, whether it's smoking haram, whether it's drinking haram — oh Allah, they are sitting in some basement, Ya Allah, stuck for days, weeks, and months. Oh Allah, on this blessed night, guide them as well. Guide them as well. Guide them as well. Allow them to come out of their addictions. Allow them to come out of their holes. Allow their parents' and siblings' du'as to be accepted on their behalf.

Ya Allah, in our neighborhoods, in our communities, there are so many boys and girls who are completely disconnected from their own family members, sitting on their screens all day and all night. Ya Allah, free them from the clutches of the screens. Free them from the clutches of the screens. Free them from the clutches of the screens.

Oh Allah, we ask You to grant us hifazah and protection from this pandemic of the misuse of technology. Oh Allah, protect us from the pandemic of the overuse of technology. Oh Allah, allow us to use technology only in a manner that is befitting and beneficial for us, Ya Allah. Save us from its harms, Ya Allah.

Oh Allah, we ask You to accept the I'tikaf of those who began tonight. Allow the I'tikaf to be extremely transformative for every single one of us. Oh Allah, those who have done I'tikaf in the past — allow this I'tikaf to supersede every previous I'tikaf. Those who are here for the first time — allow theirs to be a life-changing experience. Oh Allah, allow all of our du'as to be accepted. Oh Allah, allow everyone who comes to this masjid and all other masajid to utilize the time in the most productive manner. Oh Allah, please save us from the temptations of nafs and shaitan, especially while we're in the masjid. Oh Allah, keep our mu'takifin healthy. Oh Allah, please save our mu'takifin from falling ill. Ya Allah, those who have already fallen ill — grant them complete shifa.

Ya Allah, allow everyone of us to speak to You. Allow everyone of us to make even longer du'as in seclusion. Oh Allah, allow everyone of us to be able to open our heart and pour our heart in front of You. Oh Allah, I don't know what's in the hearts of everyone of us. Oh Allah, allow every one of us to just sit with You in seclusion and share everything we have to share. Oh Allah, we know You're listening to us. Oh Allah, we know You're the only one who can change our lives. Grant us the enjoyment of speaking with You. Grant us the enjoyment of du'a.

Ya Allah, we ask You to grant us all the khair and good that the Prophet ﷺ had asked You of. We seek refuge in You, Ya Allah, from the evil that the Prophet ﷺ sought refuge in You from. Oh Allah, all the du'as that we have asked of You tonight — may Allah accept all of them. We have asked for forgiveness, for the straight path, for good morals, for the ability to make du'a, for the upbringing of our children, for the preservation of our faith till our last breath, for sustenance, for the solution to all problems, for healing from all kinds of diseases — be it spiritual, physical or mental, for protection from all kinds of tensions and difficulties. Oh Allah, solve all of our problems. Oh Allah, get all the unmarried people married in the best of circumstances. Those who are already married and have differences — Oh Allah, end those differences. Oh Allah, create love between the spouses. Oh Allah, create love between the parents and the children. Oh Allah, make our children well-mannered. Grant us all a righteous life.

Ameen, ya Rabbal 'Alamin.