Maximizing The Blessings Of Ramadan's Last Ten Nights

Maximizing the Last Ten Nights of Ramadan

عَلَىٰ رَسُولِهِ الْكَرِيمِ وَعَلَىٰ آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ

Amma ba'd, my dear respected brothers and sisters, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has blessed us with the month of Ramadan. And at every turn there are opportunities to be forgiven and to earn the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Du'a for Reaching Ramadan

Anas ibn Malik radiyallahu anhu reports that the Prophet ﷺ, when the month of Rajab would commence, he would recite the following du'a:

"O Allah, bless us in the month of Rajab and Sha'ban, and allow us to reach the month of Ramadan." The Prophet ﷺ did not make this du'a for any other month except for the month of Ramadan.

The Virtues of Ramadan

As for the virtues of the month of Ramadan, we have been constantly hearing about them for the past few weeks. From them, the Prophet ﷺ said that the rebellious devils are locked up — the Shayateen — and the doors of Jahannam are closed such that not a single door remains open, and the doors of Jannah are opened such that not a single one remains closed. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala frees people from the fire every single night.

And alongside of this, we have the hadith of Abu Huraira radiyallahu anhu that the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 38; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 760)

Whoever fasts in the month of Ramadan, then his past sins will be forgiven. But there are two conditions: إِيمَانًا وَاحْتِسَابًا — he must do it out of conviction, believing in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and secondly, he is expecting reward from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Fasting is Obligatory

As we are all aware, fasting in the month of Ramadan is obligatory. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in the Qur'an:

"O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you — it has been made obligatory upon you — as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may attain taqwa." And although it is obligatory, the Prophet ﷺ is still mentioning that even for carrying out this obligatory commandment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, we are going to be rewarded and our sins are going to be forgiven.

And not only for fasting, but even by simply doing suhoor, the Prophet ﷺ mentioned that the individual who partakes in suhoor, the special mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala descends upon this person and the angels pray for him. So we see and we understand that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is giving us so many opportunities to earn reward and to earn His pleasure.

The Prophet ﷺ mentions:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 37; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 759)

Whoever stands in prayer in Ramadan — again with two conditions: with conviction and believing in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and anticipating reward — his past sins will be forgiven.

The Last Ten Nights of Ramadan

My dear respected brothers and sisters, we are now in the last ten days of Ramadan. What lies ahead of us are the best nights of Ramadan. So it is not the time to become complacent, it is not the time to become lazy. Rather, it is the time to push ourselves even more. And we learn this from the Prophet ﷺ himself.

Aisha radiyallahu anha mentions that when the last ten nights would begin, the Prophet ﷺ would tighten his waist belt — this is an expression that he would become more serious, as we say "to roll up our sleeves." The Prophet ﷺ would become even more serious in these last ten nights. And in addition to this, he would stay awake all night and he would wake up his family.

So we understand that yes, we have been fasting, we have been praying, we have been making du'a, we have been giving sadaqah, and whatever else we may be involved in. However, this is the time to get more serious. This is the time to increase our du'a, this is the time to increase our recitation of the Qur'an, this is the time to increase the time we are spending in du'a and remembering Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Practice of I'tikaf

And it was the habit of the Prophet ﷺ that he would perform i'tikaf in the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan. Aisha radiyallahu anha mentions that the Prophet ﷺ would perform i'tikaf in the last ten nights and days of the month of Ramadan until Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala took his life.

And one of the beauties of i'tikaf — we learn from the hadith of Ibn Abbas radiyallahu anhu that he reported that the Prophet ﷺ said the person who performs i'tikaf is protected from sins, and not only is he protected from sins, his good deeds are still recorded for him as though he himself performed them. So maybe when an individual does i'tikaf, he is confined to the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, but maybe there were certain good deeds that he did when he was outside that he can no longer do because of this confinement — and even for that he will be rewarded from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

And the reason why the Prophet ﷺ did i'tikaf was that he was in search of Laylatul Qadr. Initially the Prophet ﷺ performed i'tikaf in the first ten days, and then in the middle, and then it was said to him: search for Laylatul Qadr in the last ten.

Laylatul Qadr — The Night of Decree

My dear respected brothers and sisters, the Night of Qadr is the most virtuous of nights. It is the most virtuous time frame. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has revealed an entire surah in the Qur'an concerning this night, and He talks about Laylatul Qadr in two different places in the Qur'an.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions:

That Laylatul Qadr is a Laylatul Mubarakah — it is a blessed night. Why is it a blessed night? Because whatever ibadah we do, we are rewarded for it significantly more.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in Surah al-Qadr:

That from the virtues of Laylatul Qadr is that the Qur'an was revealed on the Night of Qadr. And in this expression — وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ — it is to show us that we cannot perceive and comprehend the virtue of Laylatul Qadr. What can I say to you? What can I share with you for you to understand how significant a night this is? The fact that the Prophet ﷺ would be in search of this night — what does it say about us?

لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ — the Night of Qadr is better than 1,000 months — more than 83 years. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala did not say "equivalent." Rather, He said "better." We don't know how much better, but we know that it is better than 1,000 months.

If we were to dedicate our entire life, it would be impossible for us to perform ibadah equivalent to 83 years. Most of us do not even live to that age, let alone if we were to calculate how much time we actually spend in worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — because naturally we have family matters, we have work, and we have other responsibilities. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has blessed the Ummah of the Prophet ﷺ with this Night of Qadr. So we have to take it very seriously, and we have to ensure that we maximize on this opportunity.

And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيهَا — that on this night the angels descend. And not only the angels — the most significant angel, Jibreel alayhis salam, the leader of the angels, who would come down to bring revelation to the Prophets, who brought the Qur'an to the Prophet ﷺ — now the only time that he comes down is on the Night of Qadr. So imagine how much blessings must be coming down from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions as-Salam — there is peace. Why is there peace? Because there are so many angels everywhere. So imagine what effect our ibadah, our worship is going to have. Imagine the type of power there is going to be in our du'a.

Abu Huraira radiyallahu anhu mentioned that the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 35; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 760)

Whoever stands in prayer on Laylatul Qadr — again إِيمَانًا وَاحْتِسَابًا — then his past sins will be forgiven. So we understand from this that truly Laylatul Qadr is a blessed night.

And what is the meaning of blessing? بَرَكَة — it is when something has increased, when something has an increased effect. So although we may be worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and reciting Qur'an and making du'a for one hour, two hours, six hours, one night — how much reward are we getting for all of this? Significantly more.

How to Maximize the Final Ten Nights

So my dear respected brothers and sisters, we are now in the final ten, and it is time that we get more serious. It is time that we use this time to spend as much of it in the remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And we should spend as much time as possible in the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — as we learned from the practice of the Prophet ﷺ that he would spend all ten nights in i'tikaf. However, if we are unable to, then we should try to spend as much time as possible in the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Protect Yourself from Sin

And alongside of this, we have to protect ourselves from sin. We have to protect ourselves from haram. We have to be even more cautious. I mentioned the hadith of Ibn Abbas radiyallahu anhu — he said that from the benefits of doing i'tikaf is that a person is protected from sin. However, in the times that we are living in, even being in the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — unfortunately we have access to so much sin because of our cellphones. So we have to really make an effort to safeguard ourselves from looking at anything impermissible, and thinking about anything impermissible, or listening to anything that is impermissible. We have to take this first step — we have to proactively make an effort to guard ourselves, to shield ourselves from the displeasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by protecting ourselves from what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has made haram upon us.

Pray Salatul Jama'ah — Especially 'Isha and Fajr

And we should make it a point to pray Salatul Jama'ah, especially Salatul 'Isha and Salatul Fajr. The Prophet ﷺ mentions that the person who performs 'Isha in congregation, then it is as if he will get the reward of standing in prayer for half of the night. And the person who performs Salatul 'Isha and Salatul Fajr in congregation — it is as if he has prayed the entire night. So we cannot take this hadith for granted.

Increase in Sadaqah

And alongside of this, we should increase in sadaqah. The Prophet ﷺ mentions that when we give sadaqah, this averts calamity. As we know that on the Night of Qadr, the decree comes down. The statement of the companion — he would say that perhaps someone is preparing for his future, but the announcement of his death has been proclaimed. So we want to be in the best of states. And when we give sadaqah, difficulty is alleviated. So we should give more sadaqah than usual — we should make it a point that in the last ten days, whatever amount it may be, we give at least some amount of sadaqah in these last ten nights.

Pray Tahajjud

And we should pray Tahajjud. Maybe we don't have this habit of praying Tahajjud outside of the month of Ramadan, or maybe we've been praying but now we start to feel tired and it's becoming more difficult. However, this is the time to exert ourselves even more. The hadith of the Prophet ﷺ — whoever stands in prayer on Laylatul Qadr, just one night, his past sins will be forgiven.

Make Du'a and Seek Allah's Forgiveness

And of course, my dear respected brothers and sisters, we have to make du'a to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is the night that we should spend in the remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, asking Him, begging Him. He has the answers to all of the difficulties that we are facing. Whatever difficulty we may find ourselves in, the answer is with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And it doesn't matter what it is — maybe we can't fathom a solution for it, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is there to answer our duas.

And of course most importantly, we have to ask Him to free us from the fire of Jahannam, and to make us from those who will die on Iman and who are destined to go to Jannah. As mentioned, the Prophet ﷺ said that from the virtues of Ramadan is that every single night Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala frees people from the fire of Jahannam.

And amongst the meanings of Laylatul Qadr is restriction, tightness — why? Because the amount of angels that are present in the world, it becomes so constricted that there is no space left. So imagine how blessed it must be when the Night of Qadr is happening — because of the amount of angels that are here, the amount of blessing. And of course there is no Shaytan — Shaytan is locked up. And not only that, because of the blessings of the angels and Jibreel alayhis salam himself. So we have to truly make extensive du'a to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and we truly have to maximize on this opportunity.

The Du'a of Laylatul Qadr

And lastly, I end with this. Aisha radiyallahu anha — may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless her — because of the question that she asked the Prophet ﷺ. She said: if I was to find Laylatul Qadr — and again, we don't know when this is. And sometimes what happens is, because we don't know when it is, we become more lazy and we make excuses, because we don't know exactly what day it is, so we're just going to choose one day. But that is not the spirit. Rather, the Prophet ﷺ initially performed i'tikaf in the entire Ramadan — the first ten days, the middle ten days — and then he was told to search for it in the last ten. That is why we don't know when it is, but we do know it's in the last ten. So every single night, we should spend some time in ibadah.

And the hadith of Aisha radiyallahu anha — she said: if I know when Laylatul Qadr is, then what should I do? So the Prophet ﷺ said: recite the following du'a:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3513 — graded Sahih)

So we learn from this that on the Night of Qadr, one of the duas that we should be constantly making — as a dhikr — is this du'a: "O Allah, indeed You are Pardoning and Generous; You love to pardon, so pardon me."

Closing Du'a

I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He allows us to understand the blessing that He has given us — the month of Ramadan and especially Laylatul Qadr. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He allows us to be in a state of worship and ibadah on the Night of Qadr. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He accepts all the good deeds that we have done. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He protects us from sin on Laylatul Qadr. Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alameen.