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Laylatul Qadr (The Night of Decree)
Author : His Grace Shiekh Abdulkareem Al-Khasawneh
Date Added : 17-04-2023

Laylatul Qadr (The Night of Decree)

 

 

It is the blessed night at which the angels and the spirit come down. It is the night at which the Quran was sent down to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) from God through angel Gabriel.

The earth has never witnessed such a blessed night in terms of greatness, status and indications. The whole universe rejoices at it and whosoever performs acts of worship at this night, with Faith and in the hope of receiving Allah's reward, will have his/her past sins forgiven. In addition, worshipping Allah in that night is better than worshipping Him a thousand months.

During that night, Allah`s mercies and blessings come down on His believing servants who are offering different acts of worship to come closer to Him.

Al-Khalil Bin Ahmad said: "Laylatul Qadr: It is the night of restriction based on the verse, which reads: (and the man whose resources are restricted). It was called as such because the earth becomes so restricted/narrow by the huge numbers of angels coming down to it. However, their coming down brings goodness and blessings to the people of the earth. Allah Says {What means}: "Therein come down the angels and the Spirit by God’s permission, on every errand:" {Al-Qadr, 4}.

Abu Dawoud reported from Abu Hurayrah who said that the Prophet (PBUH) said: "And verily, the angels who are on the earth during that night are more numerous than the number of pebbles."

Ibn Abbas (May Allah be pleased with them) said  concerning the words “Therein (that night) is decreed every matter of ordainments”: There is written down from the Mother of the Book on Laylat al-Qadr what is to happen during the coming year of provision, death, life, or rain. Allah Says {What means}: "We sent it down during a Blessed Night: for We (ever) wish to warn (against Evil)."

Many Quran commentators said: "For its noble status and honor, the night of decree encompasses all these meanings."

The real preference for this night, is the descent of the Holy Quran, because Allah, The Most Exalted, Says {What means}: "We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power:" In an authentic narration by Ibn Abbas (May Allah be pleased with them) as related by Ibn Hajar from Sahrih Al-Bukhari that it is either: "The whole Quran was sent down during the Laylatul Qadr from 'Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz (the Preserved Tablet) to Baitul Izzah in the lower heaven, the night in which the Quran started coming down on the heart of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), Or, it is the night in which Allah ordered the angelic scribes to write the Quran on 'Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz.

There is no iota of doubt that the Quran is the source of all goodness, guidance and light, and it guides to that, which is most right. This is why Allah Said about this blessed night (What means): "And what will explain to thee what the night of power is?"  This means that none can explain what Laylatul Qard is except Allah, The Knower of the unseen.

Is Laylatul Qadr fixed or does it change?

Ibn Hajar Al-Haithami (May Allah have mercy on him) said: "A group of scholars said that Laylatul Qadr doesn`t necessarily occur in a certain night of the last ten nights of Ramadan. Rather, it changes since in a year or in years, it is an odd night (i.e. 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th or 29th) while in a year or in years, it is an even night (i.e. 22nd, 24th and so on). It was reported that Ibn Qulaba said: "Lailatul Qadr changes in the last ten nights of Ramadan and many of the Salaf (righteous predecessors), such as Imam Malik, Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, Abu Thawr, Muzni and others, have opted for this view."

However, Al-Shafie`I said that Lailatul Qadr is a fixed night that doesn`t change. He based this view on the following Hadith: Narrated 'Ubada bin As-Samit: "Allah's Messenger (PBUH) went out to inform the people about the (date of the) night of decree (Al-Qadr) but there happened a quarrel between two Muslim men. The Prophet (PBUH) said: "I came out to inform you about (the date of) the night of Al-Qadr, but as so and so and so and so quarreled, its knowledge was taken away (I forgot it) and maybe it was better for you. Now look for it in the 7th, the 9th and the 5th (of the last 10 nights of the month of Ramadan)."

The sign of Laylat al-Qadr: 

Ahmad, Al-Baihaqhi and others reported from 'Ubada bin As-Samit that the Messenger of Allah said: "The sign of the night of Al-Qadr is that it is bright and shining, as if there is in it a bright still moon without any cold or wind. The weather during this night is neither hot nor cold. In addition, there is no shooting of the stars until the morning. Its sign is that the sun in the morning after this night, rises up without beams exactly like the full moon and Satan does not come out with the sun on this morning."

May Allah make us witness Lailatul Qadr to offer acts of worship and may He accept our fast, night prayers and righteous good deeds.

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

Does the intention (niyyah) of the principal (muwakkil) suffice for the sacrifice (dhabḥ) of the udhiyyah?

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
If a person appoints an agent (wakīl) to perform the slaughter (dhabḥ) on their behalf, the intention (niyyah) of the principal (the one appointing the agent) suffices, and there is no need for the agent to have this intention himself. In fact, even if the agent is unaware that he is performing the sacrifice on someone's behalf as an udhiyyah (sacrificial offering), this does not affect its validity. And Allah, the Most High, knows best.

Who is the one required to slaughter the 'aqīqah?

All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
It is Sunnah for the 'aqīqah to be slaughtered by the guardian of the newborn — the one upon whom the child's financial maintenance is obligatory — provided he is financially capable of doing so. 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah be pleased with him, reported: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed the 'aqīqah for al-Ḥasan with one sheep." — Narrated by al-Tirmidhī. And Allah Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling on performing the night prayer (*qiyām al-layl*) between the first and second adhān of Fajr? And which is better: delaying the prayer until shortly before the Fajr adhān, or performing it earlier than that?

 

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
The time for night prayer (qiyām al-layl) begins after the Maghrib prayer and lasts until the second adhān of Fajr. The best time for it is the last third of the night, and best of all are the fourth and fifth sixths of the night. If the night is divided into two halves, the latter half is better.
Whoever intends to pray at night is encouraged to delay the Witr until he has prayed the night prayer. If he knows that he will not wake up, it is better for him to pray and perform Witr before sleeping, so that he does not miss both the night prayer and the Witr.
It is stated in Mughnī al-Muḥtāj (Vpl.1/p.462): “I say: The voluntary prayer of the night, that is, the absolute voluntary prayer (al-nafl al-muṭlaq), is better than the absolute voluntary prayer of the day, because of the report in Muslim: ‘The best prayer after the obligatory prayer is the night prayer.’ In another narration of his: ‘In the night there is an hour that no Muslim man meets while asking Allah for any good of this world and the next except that He gives it to him, and that is every night.’ It is also because the night is a time of heedlessness. I restricted the voluntary prayer to the absolute kind following the commentator, although what the ḥadīth and the underlying meaning require is that the night rawātib be preferred over the day rawātib, since the jurists preferred the two rakʿahs of Fajr over everything except Witr. The middle of the night is better than its two ends if it is divided into thirds, because heedlessness is greatest then and worship is hardest. If he wishes to pray during some third, the best is the fourth and fifth sixths, based on the ḥadīth in the two Ṣaḥīḥs: ‘The most beloved prayer to Allah the Exalted is the prayer of Dāwūd: he would sleep half the night, stand for a third of it, and sleep for a sixth.’ Then the latter part is better than the first if he divides it into two halves, because of the saying of Allah the Exalted: ‘And in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness’ [al-Dhāriyāt: 18], and the report of the two Shaykhs: ‘Our Lord, Blessed and Exalted, descends,’ meaning His command descends, ‘to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains, and says: Who calls upon Me, that I may answer him? Who asks of Me, that I may give him? Who seeks My forgiveness, that I may forgive him?’”
It is also stated in ʿUmdat al-Sālik (p. 60): “It is better to perform it [the Witr] immediately after the sunnah of ʿIshāʾ, unless he has tahajjud, in which case it is better to delay it so that he performs Witr after it. If he performs Witr and then wishes to pray tahajjud, he prays two rakʿahs at a time and does not repeat the Witr, nor does he need to cancel it with a single rakʿah before the tahajjud. It is recommended that he not deliberately pray after it.”
Qiyām al-layl is a term applied to any prayer performed at night. Tahajjud, on the other hand, refers to the night prayer that follows sleep, whether it is prayed after Maghrib or after ʿIshāʾ, or the prayer performed after ʿIshāʾ without sleep. On this basis, the Witr is also called tahajjud, since it is only prayed after ʿIshāʾ.
It is stated in al-Majmūʿ (Vol.4/p.84): “The sound position, as stated in al-Umm and al-Mukhtaṣar, is that the Witr is called tahajjud.”
It is stated in Nihāyat al-Zayn (Vol.1/p.114): “Among the absolute voluntary prayers is qiyām al-layl. If it is performed after sleep, even during the time of Maghrib and after having prayed ʿIshāʾ early (taqdīman), it is called tahajjud.”
And it is stated in Ḥāshiyat al-Bujayrimī ʿalā al-Khaṭīb (Vol.1/p.418): “His statement: ‘(the night prayer)’: the genitive construction (iḍāfah) carries the sense of fī, meaning a prayer in the night. His statement: ‘(it would be more fitting)’: the reason it is more fitting is that the night prayer includes both tahajjud and other prayers.” And Allah Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling of Islamic Law on a menstruating woman (ḥā'iḍ) reciting the Islamic ruqyah (Qur'anic/spiritual healing)?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
It is permissible for a person in a state of janābah (major ritual impurity), or a menstruating woman (ḥā'iḍ), or a woman in postpartum bleeding (nufasā'), to recite for the purpose of ruqyah (spiritual/Qur'anic healing), even if this includes some verses of the Noble Qur'an — whether recited from memory or by looking at the Muṣ-ḥaf (the physical copy of the Qur'an) without touching or carrying it — provided that the intention behind the recitation is ruqyah, protection (taḥṣīn), and remembrance (dhikr), not the intention of tilāwah (Qur'anic recitation as an act of worship in itself). This remains permissible even if what is recited is an entire sūrah, such as Sūrat al-Mulk.
Imam al-Khaṭīb ash-Shirbīnī (raḥimahullāh) said: "It is lawful for a person in janābah to utter its [the Qur'an's] remembrances and other content — such as its admonitions, its narratives, and its rulings — so long as it is not with the intention of [reciting] Qur'an. [This is] like his saying upon mounting [a vehicle]: 'Glory be to Him Who has subjected this to us, and we could never have accomplished this [by ourselves]' [Sūrat az-Zukhruf: 13] — meaning, [could never have] been capable of it — or upon a calamity: 'Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we shall return'... In fact, my teacher, ash-Shihāb ar-Ramlī, issued a fatwā that even if he recited the entire Qur'an without the intention of [reciting] Qur'an, it would be permissible." [Summarized from Mughnī al-Muḥtāj, Vol. 1/P.217] And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

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