The Night of Al-Qadr


The Night of `Al-Qadr (laylatul-qadr) is a very great night in the blessed month of Ramadaan and it means «The Night of Greatness». This night was named as such due its great honour. There is a whole Soorah in the Qur`aan about the Night of `Al-Qadr, namely Soorah `Al-Qadr (S97) which is composed of 5 verses.


The Night of `Al-Qadr (laylatul-qadr) is a very great night in the blessed month of Ramadaan and it means «The Night of Greatness». This night was named as such due its great honour. There is a whole Soorah in the Qur`aan about the Night of `Al-Qadr, namely Soorah `Al-Qadr (S97) which is composed of 5 verses.

The first verse of this Soorah:

إِنَّـآ أَنْزَلْنٰهُ فِيْ لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ

This means: «Indeed the (whole) Qur`aan was brought down during the Night of `Al-Qadr».

The Qur`aan was copied from the Guarded Tablet (Al-Lawhul-Mahfoodh) and the angel Jibreel ^alayhis-salaam brought it down as a complete book to a place called Baytul-^Izzah in the first sky. This occurred on the Night of `Al-Qadr in the month of Ramadaan in the year Jibreel ^alayhis-salaam first brought the revelation to the Prophet ﷺ. On the following day, Jibreel ^alayhis-salaam came with the first five verses of Soorah `Al-^Alaq (S96). The revelation of the Qur`aan then continued for about 23 years with verse 281 of Soorah `Al-Baqarah (S2) being the last verse to be revealed.

The Lawhul-Mahfoodh in English is often referred to as ‘the preserved tablet’ and it is a very large creation of `Allaah. Its length is a walking distance of 500 years. The Lawhul-Mahfoodh is above the seven Skies. It has been mentioned that is made from white pearls and along its two sides there are red gemstones. Everything that happens in the Skies and the Earth is written within it including the texts of all the revealed books. Hence, the four most famous books the Qur`aan, the Tawraah, the `Injeel and the Zaboor, are all written in the Lawhul-Mahfoodh. `Allaah ordered angel Jibreel ^alayhis-salaam to copy them from the tablet and then to take them to Prophets Moosaa, ^Eesaa, Daawood and Muhammad ^alayhim salaatu was-salaam.

Note: `Allaah did not recite the words of the Qur`aan (or any other revealed book), but rather angel Jibreel ^alayhis-salaam recited the Qur`aan to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ after copying it from the Lawhul-Mahfoodh at the command of `Allaah. Hence, neither angel Jibreel nor Prophet Muhammadﷺ authored the Qur`aan.

However, the phrase «Kalaam of `Allaah» (lit. ‘Speech of `Allaah’) can have two meanings:

  1. The attribute of `Allaah which is not a letter, a language or a sound.
  2. The revealed expressions which include the Qur`aan that was revealed in Arabic, the Injeel in Syriac and the Tawraah and the Zaboor in Hebrew.

The Kalaam of `Allaah as an attribute of `Allaah like all of His other attributes is one, i.e. one without parts, without a beginning and without an end. In his book Al-Fiqhul-Akbar, Imam Abu Haneefah said, «The Kalaam of `Allaah ta^ala is without the usage of organs (such as a tongue) and without letters (thus it is not a language)».

The Kalaam of `Allaah in the form of revealed books is an expression of the eternal Kalaam of `Allaah that was recited by Jibreel at the command of `Allaah after copying it from the preserved tablet. Hence, the revealed books were not authored by Jibreel based upon his hearing and understanding of the eternal Kalaam of `Allaah. The Kalaam of `Allaah in the form of books is composed of letters and was revealed in various languages, but it was not authored by a human or an angel and thus it is referred to as the Kalaam of `Allaah.


The second verse:

This literally means: «And what do you know of the Night of `Al-Qadr?» In other words before `Allaah informed you, you did not know what the merit of this night was. This `aayah is in the form of a question that emphasises the high status of this night and encourages the person to seek its goodness. The next verse answers this question.


The third verse:

لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ

This means: «It is a great night and the reward one receives for worshipping during this night is greater than the reward one receives for praying for one thousand months» (i.e. 83 years and 4 months which do not include the Night of Al-Qadr). Hence, the reward of a good deed done on this night is more than the reward earned for doing this good deed for 1,000 months.


The fourth verse:

تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَآئِكَةُ وَالرُّوْحُ فِيْهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ مِّنْ كُـلِّ أَمْرٍ

This means: «The angels, including Jibreel ^alayhis-salaam, descend (to the Earth) during that night (i.e. from sunset until dawn) and `Allaah gives them the knowledge of what is going to happen (during the coming year)». `Aboo Hurayrah radiyallaahu ^anhu mentioned that the number of angels who would descend to the Earth during that night would be more than the number of pebbles on the Earth. Jibreel ^alayhis-salaam, who is the most honourable of all the angels, is referred to as «Ar-Rooh» in this verse and he will be among the angels that descend on this night. Jibreel ^alayhis-salaam has 600 wings and the length of each wing is greater than the distance between the east and the west as was narrated by `Al-Bukhaariyy. `Al-Haakim narrated from the Prophet ﷺ that during the Night of Al-Qadr, Jibreel ^alayhis-salaam comes down to the Earth with a group of angels and they make supplications (du^aa`) for every slave standing up or sitting down mentioning `Allaah.

During the Night of Al-Qadr, `Allaah ta^ala gives the angels the knowledge of what is going to happen during the coming year in what pertains to the changes in the situation of the slaves, such as births, deaths, sustenance, calamities and enjoyments. Note: `Allaah eternally knew what would happen and He eternally willed to occur what He eternally knew would occur. Since the will of `Allaah does not change, it is not permissible to ask `Allaah to change His will. However, we can ask `Allaah to change our situations from bad to good or from good to better. The fifth verse:

This means: “The night is full of safety, (goodness and blessings for the obedient believer) until the appearance of the true dawn”. Since nightfall moves across the Earth, the angels move along with nightfall from one country to the next.

When is the Night of Al-Qadr?

`Allaah kept its exact time hidden so that people would endeavour with worship and obedience in all the nights of the holy month of Ramadaan. Some scholars mentioned that it is most likely to occur in the last 10 nights, and amongst them it is most likely the odd nights and amongst the odd ones it is most often on the 27th night of Ramadaan. However, despite this the Prophet ﷺ used to observe `i^tikaaf (i.e. remain in the masjid) during the last 10 nights, i.e. he did not end his i^tikaaf on the 27th night, but rather continued it until the end of the month. `At-Tirmidhiyy narrated from ^Aa`ishah radiyallaahu ^anhaa that she said: ‘O Prophet of `Allaah, if I encounter the Night of `Al-Qadr, then what should I say? (In other words what supplication should I make during it?).

The Prophet ﷺ answered: Say:

اَللّٰهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُـحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّـيْ

This means: «O `Allaah, You are the One Who forgives a great amount and forgiveness is approved by You, so forgive me».  And `Allaah, the Glorified, knows best.

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