By Abdullahi Jamaa
In the words of Ibn Taymiyah what really counts are good endings and not flawed beginnings. As we approach the final ten days of the month of Ramadan it’s time to pull out all the stops and hit a home run to Ramadan’s finishing line .
These last few days act as a boot camp for the soul. It’s a spiritual retreat to minimize external stimulation and distractions and focus the heart on its relationship with Allah. The legacy of Ramadan is emboldened and the race is demanding.
Finding the night of power must be such a great feeling. Certainly you are keeping your chin up for the occasion of the great night that comes once in a year . Here the search for the night begins as we keep our fingers crossed to be part of the precious few.
If one misses this year’s Laylatul Qadr, he misses the ibadah of one thousand months! And who knows this could be one’s last Ramadan. By far there is no day or night that has been emphasized more than Laylatul Qadr as explained in 97th chapter of the magnificent Quran.
“We revealed [the Qur’an] during the Night of Decree. And what can make you know what is the Night of Decree? The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months. The angels and the Spirit descend therein by permission of their Lord for every matter. Peace it is until the emergence of dawn” (Quran 97:1-5)
The precise night has not been mentioned, a day has not been given and a date has not been set. It is all known to Allah alone .Islamic scholars say there is a great wisdom on why further details about the night has not been revealed .
Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi said “God has concealed this night from the ummah so that they may strive in seeking it and performing worship throughout the month in the hopes of catching it”
Ibn Qayyim says “If the night of qadr was some night during the entire year, I would stand in the night prayer the entire year to get it. So what do you suppose should be done for merely ten nights?”
Here is a special khutbah by Sheikh Yasir Qadhi on the importance of the last ten nights of Ramadan.
