Benefiting from the Last 10 Nights of Ramadan - Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem

Benefiting from the Last 10 Nights of Ramadan

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

Amma ba'd: Indeed the best of speech is the Book of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ﷺ, and the worst of matters are those newly invented, and every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.

My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, as we all know, we are fast approaching the last ten nights of this blessed month, the month of Ramadan. We are only less than two days away from those blessed nights. We ask Allah first and foremost that He, Dhul Jalali wal Ikram, enables us to witness these blessed nights.

The Sunnah of the Prophet in the Last Ten Nights

We know from the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ as our mother Aisha رضي الله عنها has reported:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1175)

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would strive and he would exert himself in worship during the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan to a greater extent than at any other time of the year. Rasulullah ﷺ would increase his acts of worship during the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan.

Sayyida Aisha رضي الله عنها also says that whenever the last ten days and nights of the month of Ramadan would begin, he ﷺ would increase his worship by staying awake the whole night.

First Lesson: Staying Awake Throughout the Night

This is the first Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ that we need to try to act upon — Rasulullah ﷺ used to stay awake every single night of the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan. And we should follow the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ whenever it is possible for us. Many of us are working during the days, but if possible, if you can book your holidays, it is better, so that you can concentrate and focus on the worship of Allah, Dhul Jalali wal Ikram, particularly at night. Because this is the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ.

Second Lesson: Waking Your Family for Worship

It is not only that he ﷺ himself would stay awake — he ﷺ would also make his family and the members of his household stay awake. This was probably the only time during the year when the Prophet ﷺ would put more emphasis on his family to stay awake. And this is the second lesson that we learn from the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ: that we ourselves need to stay awake during the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan, as well as encourage our families and our children to also stay awake.

What to Do During Those Nights

What to do during those nights — again, following the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ used to spend those nights in worship, in Qiyam — the night prayer — not by increasing the number of rak'aat necessarily, but rather by increasing the amount of recitation of the Quran in those rak'aat, as well as prolonging the ruku' and the sujood. This was the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ.

The Prophet ﷺ used to worship during the month of Ramadan on his own, not in congregation. This was the normal Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. It was only on one occasion when he ﷺ led Salatul Isha, and after Salatul Isha, instead of performing his night prayer at home, he ﷺ asked our mother Aisha رضي الله عنها to set his prayer mat in the masjid. So he ﷺ began his night prayer, and the companions رضوان الله عليهم أجمعين who had prayed Salatul Isha with the Prophet ﷺ, when they saw him during the night prayer, they joined him. And Rasulullah ﷺ prolonged that Qiyam and ruku' and sujood and the whole night prayer up to the middle of the night. And the companions رضوان الله عليهم أجمعين really enjoyed praying with the Prophet ﷺ.

The next night, Rasulullah ﷺ, after leading Salatul Isha, went back home and did not perform the prayer in the masjid. Then the night after, he ﷺ led Salatul Isha and went back home, and the companions رضوان الله عليهم أجمعين kept waiting for him in the masjid. A short while after, he ﷺ came out and then began his night prayer, and this time he ﷺ prolonged the night prayer even longer than the Qiyam he had prayed two nights ago. He prolonged his recitation and also prolonged his ruku' and sujood in that night prayer.

Then the following night he ﷺ again did not come out. Then the third night, the companions رضوان الله عليهم أجمعين were again waiting for the Prophet ﷺ to lead them in the night prayer. He ﷺ this time began the night prayer after Salatul Isha and he spent the whole night performing the night prayer and Qiyamul Layl. And the companions رضوان الله عليهم أجمعين also prayed with him. They spent almost the whole night to the extent that the companions رضوان الله عليهم أجمعين said they had the fear that they may miss the opportunity to have Suhoor — to that extent, it was very close to Fajr time.

After that he ﷺ discontinued, and he said: "I am not going to continue, because of the fear that Allah may make this particular prayer an obligation upon you, and I do not want to place any additional burden on my Ummah." So this was the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ — that he ﷺ used to spend the whole night offering the night prayer, particularly during the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan.

Third Lesson: Praying with the Imam for the Reward of a Full Night

In another hadith, when the companions رضوان الله عليهم أجمعين requested him ﷺ to lead them for the rest of the month of Ramadan, Rasulullah ﷺ said: "You do not need to worry about it. If you were to pray with the Imam, and you begin with the Imam, and complete your Witr with the Imam, it will be as if you have prayed for the whole night."

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1375; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 806)

So Rasulullah ﷺ again made it very easy for us. This is another lesson that we learn and should act upon: that during the last ten nights particularly, we should try our best to begin our night prayer with the Imam and to complete it with the Imam. In this case, even if you did not spend the whole night in the night prayer, you will be rewarded for offering the night prayer for the whole night. This is the mercy of Rasulullah ﷺ for his Ummah.

Laylatul Qadr — The Night of Power

Along with this, we also know that within these nights, one of them is called Laylatul Qadr. Laylatul Qadr is the best night of the year. Allah says:

Laylatul Qadr is better than one thousand months — not equal, even better. Better than one thousand months, which amounts to the worship of more than eighty years. Just imagine — if Allah gives you an opportunity to witness this blessed night, Laylatul Qadr, you will be rewarded for worshipping Allah for more than eighty years. May Allah give us tawfiq and ability.

And because of the great virtue of this night, Allah revealed a particular surah with this name in the Quran, that is going to be recited until the Day of Judgment. One of the reasons for the great virtue of this night is that Allah revealed His last word, Al-Quranul Hakeem, in this particular night. Allah says:

We revealed the Quran in this night, in Laylatul Qadr. From this we can understand the importance of reciting the Quran during Laylatul Qadr as well. Say you have completed your night prayer with the Imam and now you have more time — rather than wasting that time in the restaurants, in the markets, and here and there, we should take the opportunity to read the Quran, connect ourselves with the Book of Allah, and enhance our relationship with the Quran. So along with the night prayer, we should also spend a portion of the night during the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan in reading and reciting the Book of Allah.

Seeking Laylatul Qadr on All Ten Nights

We ask Allah that He gives us tawfiq and ability to increase our acts of worship, so that Allah is pleased with us. We ask Allah that He gives us tawfiq and ability to increase our recitation of the Quran and to increase our night prayer, to try our best to find and witness Laylatul Qadr within the last ten nights.

Although some hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ mention that Laylatul Qadr is one of the odd nights during the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan, other hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ indicate that it can be any of the last ten nights. And also, if we look at the practice of Rasulullah ﷺ, the Prophet ﷺ did not increase his night prayer only on the odd nights. Rather, he ﷺ used to worship Allah and stay awake for every single night amongst the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan. So it is probably not a good idea for us to pick only the odd nights and miss the opportunity of the other nights. Rather, we should try our best to spend all those nine or ten nights of Ramadan in worshipping Allah.

The Greatest Du'a for Laylatul Qadr

Lastly, one of the greatest things we can do in this particular night is to ask Allah for His forgiveness. Our mother Aisha رضي الله عنها asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: "O Messenger of Allah, if Allah blesses me with witnessing this particular night, Laylatul Qadr, what should I say?" He ﷺ said: "O Aisha, you should say:"

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3513; declared Sahih by al-Albani)

"O Allah, You are the most forgiving. تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ — O Allah, You love pardoning, You love forgiveness. فَاعْفُ عَنِّي — So O Allah, forgive me." This is the du'a that Rasulullah ﷺ has taught to be recited during these last ten nights of the month of Ramadan.

And along with this du'a, we can also recite other du'as, like:

The focus should be on seeking the forgiveness of Allah. There is no harm in asking Allah for anything that you need in this dunya, but the advice of the Prophet ﷺ is that whenever we make du'a during these last ten nights of the month of Ramadan, we should focus on seeking the forgiveness of Allah. Because there are many, many benefits of seeking the forgiveness of Allah — that is called istighfar — asking Allah to forgive our sins.

Closing Du'a

We ask Allah that He gives us tawfiq and ability to increase our acts of worship during the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan. We ask Allah that He gives us energy and power to spend the whole night in worshipping Allah. We ask Allah that He gives us tawfiq and ability to enhance our relationship with the Book of Allah by reciting it at night and during the days as well. And we also ask Allah that He first and foremost gives us tawfiq and ability to make du'a to Him, to seek His forgiveness, and to beg His pardon. And then we ask Allah, Dhul Jalali wal Ikram, that He enables us to complete the month of Ramadan, and that upon its completion, He, Dhul Jalali wal Ikram, frees us all from the Fire of Hell.