The Night of Laylatul Qadr - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

Khutbah Opening

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَتَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا

أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى، وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

The Virtue of Laylatul Qadr

These last ten nights of Ramadan that we're currently in are from the most virtuous and superior nights of the year. And all of that is to seek out one particular night from these ten, and that is the night of Laylatul Qadr. This night, the night of Laylatul Qadr, is so virtuous — it has so much virtue and reward attached to it — that Allah dedicated a whole chapter, a whole surah of the Qur'an, to this very night.

We revealed this Qur'an on Laylatul Qadr. And that in itself is a virtue for this night — that the greatest of Allah's revelations, the last of His revelations to mankind, Allah chose the best night of the year in order for its revelation to begin upon our Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ.

And what will allow you to know the virtue of this night, the special status of this night — the reason for which all of us spend our nights awake in worship of Allah in prayer, in du'a, in dhikr, in recitation of the Qur'an — to seek this one night? It is called a night of great virtue because Allah says: Laylatul Qadr is better than a thousand months.

A night that is better than a thousand months. Some of the scholars of the Salaf used to say that if we didn't know what night it was — if Allah didn't tell us that it's the last ten nights of Ramadan, and He just said that there is one night in the year that is better in worship than a thousand months — in terms of its reward, we would spend every night of the year awake seeking out that one night, because that's how virtuous that night is.

Allah is telling you that you have, on a single opportunity of one night, the opportunity to earn the reward of a thousand months. If you didn't know what night of the year it was, it would be worthwhile — it would be worth your time and effort — to sacrifice your sleep and to spend that night awake in worship. But from Allah's mercy, He told us and gave us a general time frame of when that night occurs.

The Night of Decree — The Angels Descend

It is the night of decree. As Allah says:

This is the night that the angels of Allah, including Jibreel alayhis salam — the greatest of them — they descend by the command of Allah with the decree of the year. The decree for me and you that is in the Lawh al-Mahfuz — the preserved tablet with Allah — on a yearly basis, it descends onto the earth on the night of Laylatul Qadr.

To the extent that Ibn Abbas radiyallahu anhuma said in the tafsir of this verse that there is no major thing nor any minor thing except that it is revealed to the earth on this night. To the extent that Allah will decree on this night who from amongst us will make Hajj, and who will do what on this year.

And that is why the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, from the general practice of his, was that when there was a night like this — nights in which the decree of Allah is going to descend upon the earth — he would spend that night in worship. Because you want Allah to favor you in terms of what He decrees for you. You want Allah to preserve you from the hardships of this life and its calamities and trials. And you want Allah to open up His blessings, His favors, His grace and bounty upon you. So it is a worthwhile night to spend in worship.

The Prophet's I'tikaf — Seeking Laylatul Qadr

And that is why the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, as we know, used to make I'tikaf. I'tikaf is when you cut off every type of connection with the outside world. You seclude yourself in the house of Allah to worship Allah — to seek the night of Laylatul Qadr.

We today, brothers and sisters, we make I'tikaf in the last ten nights of Ramadan. But before we knew that Laylatul Qadr was going to be in the last ten nights of Ramadan, the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — as is in the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri in Sahih al-Bukhari — made I'tikaf for the first ten nights of Ramadan.

The first ten nights of Ramadan he made I'tikaf. I'tikaf means you can't go home. I'tikaf means that you can't go and see your family. I'tikaf means that you sleep and live in the masjid. All you do is worship Allah. The first ten nights.

After the first ten nights were ending, Jibreel alayhis salam came to him and said:

That which you are seeking, O Messenger of Allah, it is ahead of you. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2016)

Meaning it wasn't in the first ten nights. So he made I'tikaf for the middle ten of Ramadan. Twenty days he's making I'tikaf — twenty nights pass and he's making I'tikaf.

We have in this masjid, alhamdulillah, a number of brothers and sisters who are making I'tikaf — they're in their third or fourth day of I'tikaf now. Go and ask one of them the amount of time and discipline and effort and patience it takes to make I'tikaf for three, four, five, ten nights. Twenty nights he's making I'tikaf.

And then the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ had Jibreel alayhis salam come to him one more time, and he says:

That which you are seeking is still ahead of you. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2016)

So the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ makes I'tikaf for the last ten nights of Ramadan. A month of I'tikaf — one month from the beginning of Ramadan until the end, seeking this night of Allah. That is Laylatul Qadr.

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ then told us: seek out Laylatul Qadr in the last ten nights of Ramadan. And that is why it was the practice of the wives of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ and his companions and the scholars who came after them, and every generation of Muslims from that time until today, that we spend these last ten nights of Ramadan in the worship of Allah.

How to Seek Laylatul Qadr — All Ten Nights

The best form of worship in these last ten nights is to spend all ten nights in worship — not to miss out any of them, not to pick or choose the odd nights over the even nights, but to do all of the last ten nights of Ramadan. And that is because that is the safest way to know that you have attained Laylatul Qadr. That is why the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ would make I'tikaf for all of the last ten.

It has become a common mistake today where people only focus on the odd nights and they neglect the even nights. And even though it is more likely to be on the odd nights, "more likely" doesn't mean that it will be. It just means that there's a greater chance, a greater probability — but that's not a guarantee. And so the people who want Allah's reward, the people who seek forgiveness through this month, they don't let any of those nights go past them without being in the worship of Allah.

And that is because in those narrations that specify the odd nights of Ramadan, some of them tell you to count from the beginning of the month — so 21, 23, 25, 27, 29. Those are the odd nights. But other narrations tell you to count in reverse from the end of the month, in which case, if the month is 30 nights, the "odd nights" become even nights — they're not odd anymore.

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ in the hadith said: seek out Laylatul Qadr three nights before the month ends, five nights before it ends, seven nights before it ends. If the month is 30 nights, what's three nights before that? 30, 29, 28. Five nights becomes 26. Seven nights becomes 24. And that's why some of the scholars of the Salaf were of the position that from the nights that is likely to be Laylatul Qadr is the 24th night of Ramadan.

Allah says in this surah:

We reveal the Qur'an to you on the night of Qadr. According to many of the scholars of Islam, that night — in the year that the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ first received revelation of the Qur'an — was the 24th night of Ramadan. Not an odd night — an even night.

A Practical Guide for Those with Limitations

And so that is why the scholars of Islam used to say: seek out all ten nights in the worship of Allah. But those people who can't — you have a genuine excuse: you have family commitments, you have jobs, you have certain things that prevent you from seeking out all ten nights — then for you we say, take those odd nights. You can't do all ten? Take the odd nights. Take 21, 23, 25, 27, 29.

And you can't do all five of those? Then take the last four of them: 23, 25, 27, 29. Because some narrations said seek out in the last seven nights of Ramadan. And you can't even do all of those? You can only do one night in the whole month of Ramadan? Then seek out the 27th. Because that was the position of many of the scholars of Islam. But that's for those people — the odd few from amongst us — who can't do more than that, whose circumstances don't allow it.

But for everyone else, it is seriously recommended and encouraged that you spend the whole night in the worship of Allah for all of those ten nights of Ramadan.

The Prophet's Worship in the Last Ten Nights

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ in these nights would do what he didn't do in the rest of the year. And he would go to a level of worship and a level of effort that you wouldn't see from him throughout the remainder of the year. He would wake up his family and ask them to stay awake — and that wasn't his norm. He would often pray the night prayer and his wives would be sleeping. But in these last ten nights, he would wake them up and he would spend the whole of the night awake.

His normal practice was that he would rest for part of the night and pray for part of the night. But in these last ten nights, he wouldn't sleep. He would spend them in the worship of Allah. And the worship that he would do is that he would pray salah, and he would recite Qur'an, and he would make du'a to Allah. Those are the three primary forms of worship that he did. And that's what the Salaf were upon.

And so the best things that you can engage in on these nights are those three acts of worship more than anything else. You don't have in the Sunnah that the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ used to specify these nights for charity, or that he was known to give excess charity, or feed the poor, or do anything else. He would spend these nights in these three acts of worship: salah, Qur'an, du'a. And the best of them is salah, because it includes the other two.

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ encouraged his Ummah to seek out these nights. None of us — with all of our sins and all of our mistakes and all of our shortcomings — none of us is in the position to allow these nights to pass us by without putting in that extra time and effort.

You need to rest for a certain part of the night because you have work, you have studies, you have school — then rest. But don't let the whole night pass you by. Pray as much of it as you can. Manage your situation. Move your commitments. Do what you need to do in order to be able to attain the reward of Allah.

We have a number of these nights still left. Tonight will be that 24th night that some of the scholars consider to be Laylatul Qadr. Whatever that night is — and it changes every year, as is the position of many of the scholars of Islam; it is not stable upon one date, but it switches every single year, because when you gather so many different narrations of the companions, that is the conclusion that you reach — every year it may be a different night.

Don't let any of those nights go by you without you showing to Allah that you are deserving of His forgiveness and of His mercy. Because these are nights in which Allah emancipates and frees people from the fire.

The Best Du'a for Laylatul Qadr

And that is why, when Aisha radiyallahu anha — the most beloved of the wives of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — asked the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: "O Messenger of Allah, if there was a du'a that I was going to make on Laylatul Qadr, what du'a should I make?" — for more of the things he could have advised her, for more of the things that he could have told her to focus on: her health, her wealth, her steadfastness, whatever it may be — so many things he could have chosen. The one aspect that he told her to focus on is to seek Allah's pardon and forgiveness. He said, O Aisha, say:

O Allah, You are the Pardoner, You love to pardon, so pardon me.

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

These are the nights in which you ask for Allah's pardon and for His forgiveness.

Zakatul Fitr — An Obligation Before Eid

And from the acts of worship that we have to be mindful of and be diligent regarding is Zakatul Fitr. Zakatul Fitr is coming up very close to us now. The last two or three days of Ramadan you start giving your Zakatul Fitr. In the hadith of Ibn Umar radiyallahu anhu, he said:

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ obligated Zakatul Fitr in food — the amount that he told us, of dates or of wheat — upon every single Muslim: male or female, adult or child. Whether you fasted or you didn't fast. Whether your child is three, two, one, or whether they're an adult. Whoever they are, every single Muslim must give Zakatul Fitr.

To the extent that some of the companions such as Uthman radiyallahu anhu were even of the position that the child in the womb of the mother that's yet to be born — you should give Zakatul Fitr upon that child as well. And so it is from the obligations that Allah has placed upon us.

Some people — not everyone has to give Zakat because of their circumstances — but Zakatul Fitr, unless you're very poor and you're unable to do so, it is something which every Muslim should do. Because it is from that which purifies the mistakes that you made in this Ramadan, and purifies the shortcomings that you had in this blessed month.

Closing Du'a

We ask Allah on this blessed day of Friday, in this blessed month of Ramadan, hoping and seeking out Laylatul Qadr, that Allah makes us from amongst those people who will be made haram upon the fire. That Allah saves us and our parents and our families and all those that we love and all of the Muslims from the punishment of the fire.

We ask Allah that He shows His mercy and forgiveness upon us. That He makes us from amongst those people who stood in this month and fasted in this month, prayed in this month in a way that is pleasing to Him, and that He forgives us for all of our past sins as we come towards the end of this month of Ramadan.

This opportunity that Allah gives is a limited number of days, and we are fast approaching the end of those days. This is the time to redouble your efforts — redouble your efforts in terms of worship, in terms of seeking Allah's forgiveness and repentance. From the greatest acts of worship that you can perform in these last ten nights — in your salah and in your du'a — is to ask Allah for His forgiveness, to repent to Him. And repentance is from the most beloved of deeds to Allah.

We ask Allah on this blessed day and in this blessed month that Allah eases our affairs for us, and that Allah accepts our worship from us, and that Allah allows us to witness many more months of Ramadan. That Allah does not deprive us of these opportunities of reward, these opportunities of worship, these opportunities of seeking forgiveness and repenting to Him. And that Allah looks upon us and showers His pleasure upon us, and with that pleasure His forgiveness and His mercy and the highest of His rewards.