The Night of Decree - Laylat al-Qadr
Almighty God has honoured the month of Ramadan with the Night of Laylat al-Qadr, the night of power and predestination.
In the Noble Koran there is a whole sura, al-Qadr, dedicated to this night. It says (meaning), “I sent down the Koran on the night of power and predestination.” And then, addressing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the Almighty asks, “Do you know what the Night of Laylat al-Qadr is?” Then He explains, “The night of power, or Laylat al-Qadr is better than a thousand months.” This means ordinary months other than the Night of Decree. And at the end of this sura it is said that this night lasts until dawn: that is to say, any time of this night, from dusk to dawn, is highly valued.
In order to understand the meaning of what has been said, it is necessary to narrate the antecedents of sending down this sura. Once the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his companions heard the story of the angel Jabreel (peace be upon him). He spoke of one of the heroes of the Bani Israil named Sham’un Gazi, who all night long served the Almighty and for eighty years during the day time fought the non-believers without them ever being able to overcome him.
Whenever he wanted to drink, fresh water appeared in his mouth, and when he wanted to eat, meat appeared.
When the enemies could not defeat him in battle, they planned a ruse with Sham’un’s wife, promising to give her much wealth if she would aid in her husband's murder. She refused to kill him herself but agreed to help. The villains gave her a rope so that she could tie his hands and feet when he fell asleep.
When Sham’un awoke, he asked, “Who tied me up?” His wife replied that she had tied him up to check his strength. Sham’un stretched out his arms and legs tearing the rope to pieces. So his enemies brought a chain to bind him. The same thing happened to the chain. After that, Sham’un told his wife, “I am a favorite of Allah and no earthly power can defeat me except with the help of my hair.”
When he fell asleep, the wife cut eight hairs from his beard with four of which she tied his hands and with the other four tied his legs. When he woke up, he could not free his hands or feet. And his wife, seeing that he could not liberate himself, called his enemies.
They took him to the palace, where they cut off his hands, feet, tongue, ears and gouged out his eyes. All these villains were in the room when the angel Jabreel descended to Sham’un and asked, “What would you want?” He replied, “I would like to have the strength to shatter this building and crush everyone under its wreckage.” The Almighty fulfilled his desire and all the enemies, together with his wife, perished except for Sham’un, the beloved of the Almighty. God also restored to him all the organs which his enemies had removed. After that he served the Almighty all 24 hours long each day over the course of 1000 months: he fasted during the day and stood for the night prayers.
When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) finished telling the story of Jabreel, his companions burst into tears and wished to be granted the same reward that Sham’un had received by the mercy of his Lord. They asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), “How can we too deserve this?” Then God granted us this night of Laylat al-Qadr and sent down a whole sura explaining the greatness of this blessed night.
In the Noble Koran it is said (meaning), “The angels descend to the earth together with Jabreel on this night with the permission of the Almighty with all prescriptions,” that is, with all that is prescribed by the Almighty concerning what is to happen during the year: good and bad. On this night, such an enormous number of angels descend to earth that if a needle were tossed up it would definitely fall on their heads. All of them ask God for forgiveness of the sins of those who are engaged in charitable deeds: prayers, reading the Koran, giving alms, performing dua, etc.
Many people contemplate as to when the night of Laylat al-Qadr occurs in Ramadan. Imam al-Ghazali and other scholars suggest its determination based on knowledge they received. They ascertain that it is possible to establish the time based on the beginning of the Ramadan month. If the first day of Ramadan falls on Sunday or Wednesday, Laylat al-Qadr falls on the 29th night of the month. If Ramadan starts on Monday - then Laylat al-Qadr falls on the 21st night, if on Tuesday or Friday - on the 27th night. If the first day of Ramadan is a Thursday, the night of Laylat al-Qadr falls on the 25th night of the month. And, finally, if the first day of Ramadan is a Saturday – Laylat al-Qadr falls on the 23rd night of the month.
There is also a hadith narrated by al-Bukhari in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Search for the night of al-Qadr in the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadan.”
