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Recommended
Acts of Worship in Laylat Al-Qadr
Shaykh
Muhammad Nasir-ud-Deen Al-Albani
Laylat
Al-Qadr is the most blessed night. A person who misses it has indeed
missed a great amount of good. If a believing person is keen to obey
his Lord and increase the good deeds in his record, he should strive
to encounter this night and to pass it in worship and obedience. If
this is facilitated for him, all of his previous sins will be
forgiven.
Praying
Qiyam
It
is recommended to make a long Qiyam prayer during the nights on
which Laylat Al-Qadr could fall. This is indicated in many Hadiths,
such as the following:
Abu
Dhar, may Allah be pleased with him, relates: "We fasted with
Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, in Ramadan. He
did not lead us in Qiyam (Night Vigil Prayer) at all until there
were seven nights of Ramadan left. Then he stood with us (that
night, in prayer) until one third of the night had passed. He did
not pray with us on the sixth. On the fifth night, he prayed with us
until half of the night had passed. So we said, 'Allah's Messenger!
Wouldn't you pray with us the whole night?' He replied: 'Whoever
stands in prayer with Imam until he (the Imam) concludes the prayer,
it will be recorded for him that he prayed the whole night…”
(Recorded by Ibn Abi Shaybah, Abu Dawood, At-Tirmidhi (who
authenticated it), An-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, At-Tahawi (in Sharhu Ma`an
il-Athar, Ibn Nasr, Al-Faryabi, and Al-Bayhaqi. The Hadith’s chain
of narrators is authentic.)
Point
of benefit: Abu Dawood mentioned: "I heard Ahmad being asked,
'Do you like for a man to pray with the people or by himself during
Ramadan?' He replied, 'Pray with the people' I also heard him say,
'I would prefer for one to pray Qiyam with Imam and to pray Witr
with him as well, for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,
said: "When a man prays with the Imam until he concludes,
he’ll earn the reward of praying the rest of that night."
Abu
Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet,
peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Whoever stands (in
Qiyam) in Laylat Al-Qadr (and it is facilitated for him) out of
faith and expectation of Allah's reward, will have all of his
previous sins forgiven." (Narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim).
The phrase "and it is facilitated for him", according to
the version narrated by Ahmad, on the authority of `Ubaadah Ibn
As-Samit, means that a person is permitted to be among the sincere
worshippers during that blessed night.
Making
Supplications:
It
is also recommended to make extensive supplication on this night.
`A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, reported that she asked the
Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, "O Messenger of
Allah! If I knew which night is Laylat Al-Qadr, what should I say
during it?" And he instructed her to say:
"Allahumma
innaka `afuwwun tuh.ibbul `afwa fa`fu `annee
O
Allah! You are Oft-Forgiving, and you love forgiveness. So forgive
me." (Recorded by Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and At-Tirmithi. Verified
to be authentic by Al-Albani)
Abandoning
Worldly Pleasures for the Sake of Worship:
It
is further recommended to spend more time in worship during the
nights on which Laylat Al-Qadr is likely to be. This calls for
abandoning many worldly pleasures in order to secure the time and
thoughts solely for worshipping Allah. This is based on the
following Hadith narrated by `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with
her: "Upon entering into the last ten (of Ramadan), the
Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would tighten his Izaar
(i.e. he stayed away from his wives in order to have more time for
worship), spend the whole night awake (in prayer), and wake up his
family." (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim) She also said:
"Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, used to
exert more efforts (in worship) on the last ten than on other
nights." (Reported by Muslim)
Excerpted
from www.islaam.com with slight
modifications.
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