It is well known that no one knows for certain when Laylat Al-Qadr (the night of power) falls. The prophet ﷺ had once come to inform us about its precise timing, but when he saw two Muslims quarrelling, the knowledge was withheld from us.
عَنْ عُبَادَةَ بْنِ الصَّامِتِ، قَالَ خَرَجَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم لِيُخْبِرَنَا بِلَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ، فَتَلاَحَى رَجُلاَنِ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ، فَقَالَ “ خَرَجْتُ لأُخْبِرَكُمْ بِلَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ، فَتَلاَحَى فُلاَنٌ وَفُلاَنٌ، فَرُفِعَتْ، وَعَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ خَيْرًا لَكُمْ، فَالْتَمِسُوهَا فِي التَّاسِعَةِ وَالسَّابِعَةِ وَالْخَامِسَةِ ”.
Narrated by Obadah bin As-Samit: The Prophet (ﷺ) came out to inform us about the Night of Qadr but two Muslims were quarrelling with each other. So, the Prophet (ﷺ) said, “I came out to inform you about the Night of Qadr but such-and-such persons were quarrelling, so the news about it had been taken away; yet that might be for your own good, so search for it on the 29th, 27th and 25th (of Ramadan).
Since then, scholars have discussed at length their thoughts on when the Laylat Al-Qadr could be with no consensus ever being reached – perhaps in recognition of the initial reason it was withheld! However, a great number of scholars were motivated to say that the 27th night is the most likely of the nights, citing numerous hadith and arguments to support their claim.
Practical Advice
Before going into the discussion, I wanted to share some practical advice with direct benefit! This blessed night has so many merits. Some of the benefits include:
- Forgiveness for everything
- Guaruntee of Paradise
- Answering of Duas
- Multiplication of rewards by ~30,000!
To make the most of these, here are some practical things to do to make the most of this blessed night!
- Worship: Make the intention to do as much worship as you can on these nights – even if its just 1 extra voluntary prayer which you wouldnt normal do
- Forgive: Allah will not be outdone in his kindness. If you forgive others, Allah will forgive you!
- Beg: This night is a night prayers are answers. Make a list of everything you would like and ask for it – just like you ask a king to give you from his bounty
- Charity: With the potential 30,000x multiplication, your donation will not only be heavy in your scales, but it’ll be full of blessing to the charities you give it to. I encourage you to give to one of the charities I support and work for, The Centre for Islam and Medicine (CIM). you can do so at http://www.thecim.org.uk/donate or by texting CIMX01 £10 to 70070
The Discussion
With the 27th night approaching tonight, I wanted to share an interesting argument proposed by the great explainer of the Quran Abdullah ibn Al-Abbas, cousin of the Prophet ﷺ. What’s beautiful is that he analysed the Quran in a way few of us do, digging beneath the surface to search for hidden meanings. This commentary can be found in Imam Al-Razi’s commentary of Surah Al-Qadr where he discusses the evidences for each day, noting that these are “weak” (but interesting!).
Observation 1: Placement of the word هي
There are 30 words in the surah (representing the 30 days of ramadan). The word هي (meaning “it”) comes as the 27th word in the surah.
Observation 2: The beloved 7
Allah loves the odd numbers, and the most beloved odd number is 7 as so much of creation contains that numbers. Some of the ones he lists are: 7 heavens, 7 earths (a limited translation of the word أرض), the 7 days in the week, the 7 levels of hell fire, the 7 tawaafs and sa’ee in Mecca, the 7 body parts.
Observation 3: The word لَيْلَةِ ٱلْقَدْرِ
The word لَيْلَةِ ٱلْقَدْرِ contains 9 words and appears 3 times in the surah. 9 x 3 = 27
BONUS: Observation 4: ٱلْقَدْرِ
(I couldn’t find this myself in the tafsir so cannot associate it with the Ibn Abbas, but it does seem to hold true)
The word القدر is found in the 5th, 12th and 10th place in the surah. 5 + 10 + 12 = 27
As stated earlier, there is no certainty about when laylat al-qadar falls, but this discussion provides an insight into how scholars analyse texts in search for meaning.
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Sources:
Altafsir.com – an excellent online library set up by the brother of the Jordanian King bring together all of the quranic tafsirs in Arabic. The English site is unfortunately lacking in the same richness. http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=4&tSoraNo=97&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&Page=4&Size=1&LanguageId=1. The Arabic has also been pasted below
وأما ليلة السابع والعشرين فقد مال الشافعي إليه لحديث الماء والطين، والذي عليه المعظم أنها ليلة السابع والعشرين، وذكروا فيه أمارات ضعيفة
أحدها: حديث ابن عباس أن السورة ثلاثون كلمة، وقوله: { هِىَ } هي السابعة والعشرون منها
وثانيها: روي أن عمر سأل الصحابة ثم قال لابن عباس: غص يا غواص فقال زيد بن ثابت: أحضرت أولاد المهاجرين وماأحضرت أولادنا. فقال عمر: لعلك تقول: إن هذا غلام، ولكن عنده ما ليس عندكم. فقال ابن عباس: أحب الأعداد إلى الله تعالى الوتر أحب الوتر إليه السبعة، فذكر السموات السبع والأرضين السبع والأسبوع ودركات النار وعدد الطواف والأعضاء السبعة، فدل على أنها السابعة والعشرون
وثالثها: نقل أيضاً عن ابن عباس، أنه قال: { لَيْلَةِ ٱلْقَدْرِ } تسعة أحرف، وهو مذكور ثلاث مرات فتكون السابعة والعشرين
ورابعها: أنه كان لعثمان بن أبي العاص غلام، فقال: يا مولاي إن البحر يعذب ماؤه ليلة من الشهر، قال: إذا كانت تلك الليلة، فأعلمني فإذا هي السابعة والعشرون من رمضان.
وأما من قال: إنها الليلة الأخيرة قال: لأنها هي الليلة التي تتم فيها طاعات هذا الشهر، بل أول رمضان كآدم وآخره كمحمد، ولذلك روي في الحديث ” يعتق في آخر رمضان بعدد ما أعتق من أول الشهر ” بل الليلة الأولى كمن ولد له ذكر، فهي ليلة شكر، والأخيرة ليلة الفراق، كمن مات له ولد، فهي ليلة صبر، وقد علمت فرق ما بين الصبر والشكر.
[تفسير مفاتيح الغيب ، التفسير الكبير/ الرازي (ت 606 هـ) مصنف و مدقق ]
For academic honesty, the photo was taken from khalifatullahmehdi.info/Articles/English/Still-searching-Laylatul-Qadr.pdf, but I cannot comment nor associate with the blog as I know nothing about it!
On the Path of Knowledge 