4a] Laylat al-Qadr: The Night of Power

4a]
:-> preordained or, in other words, has full knowledge of all that
the human being will do with his free will. A man's decision to act
freely in good conscience or bad conscience is all known to Allah
(SWT), past, present and future.
Qadr also implies measurement, that is all the events of the year will
occur in accordance to the exact measurement of what is in the
knowledge of Allah, Who states:"Verily, all things have We created in
proportion and measure." (Al-Qur`an, 54:49)
Why the name, the Night of Power?
As mentioned above, it is the night of Taqdeer, meaning the one in
which Allah (SWT) announces to the angels His already decreed
commands, rules, events, etc., for the comingcalendar year, from the
present Night of Power to the next Night of Power. Allah (SWT) states:
"We sent it down during a blessed night; We forever wish to warn
(against evil).In that (night) is made distinct every affair of
wisdom." (Al-Qur`an, 44:3-4)
It should be known that most scholars believe Allah's commands and
rules are not made on thatnight. It has already been decreed in the
eternity what is known to Allah, but that knowledge is not known to
anyone, including the angels, until He announces it to the angels on
that night so that they will record it on the protective slate.
This is also the night of honor and prestige which may be awarded to
the servant who devotes himself to special deeds, orto the deeds
themselves for the higher value they contain on that night.
The Night Is Concealed
Allah (SWT) in His mercy, has concealed the Night of Power from us for
the following reasons: The problems pertaining to an exact night on
which the honors are attained are not unique with this Night.It seems
that Allah conceals many things. He conceals his pleasure from us in
all our good deeds sothat we will strive in all of them. He conceals
His wrath from us in all of the sins we commit so that wewill avoid
them. He conceals His most beloved servants (' awliya ) so that we
will respect all the believers. He has concealedthe time of His
acceptance of our supplications so that we will strive in all our
supplications. He concealed his greatest name, so that we mention all
His names. He has concealed the time of death so that we will be
conscious of Him and our deeds all the time.
He has concealed the exactdate of the Night of Powerso that we would
double our the efforts in the whole month of Ramadan,or at least the
last ten days. He has concealed it also to test the serious andthe
non-serious. The seriously interested personwill search for the night
late and in the early hours until he or she attains it, regardless of
the hardship.
Where Is The Night?
The majority of the scholars who agreed that the night occurs in the
month of Ramadan, disagreed on the exact night. Some said it comes on
the first day of Ramadan. Others said it is on the seventh; while
others say its on the 19th night. All these opinions are not built on
sound proof. There is evidence that the night comes on the last ten
days of Ramadan, specifically on the odd numbered nights. In a report
by Bukhari, the Messenger of Allah (saas) said: "Seek it on the odd
nights of the last ten days of Ramadan."
In a hadith by Ibn Umar (raa), some men among the companions saw the
night in a dream occurring in the last seven nights. Responding to
this, the Messenger of Allah (saas) told them, "I see your dreams
coincide on the last seven, whoever wants to seek it should do so in
the last seven." (Agreed upon)
In Muslim's report, the Prophet (saas) said, "Seek the night in the
last ten days, and if any of you is weak, or can't observe it, he
should not miss the remaining seven days." In Hadith by Ubayy bin
Ka'ab (raa), he said: "By Allah, I know which night it is. It isthe
night the Messenger commanded us to observe,the night of the 27th."
(Ahmed/Tirmidhi)
Analyzing all these citations indicates still no one knows for sure
which night is the Night of Power, at least in a given year. It seems
that the night shifts and rotates to different nights from one year to
another. It may occur on the 27th in one year, while the next year
itwill be on the 25th, while on the following year it will be
occurring on the 29th, etc. There is an indication to this in hadith
by Bukhari, when the Messenger of Allah (saas) states: "Seek it on the
twenty-ninth; it may be onthe twenty-seventh, or on the twenty-fifth."
Imam Ibn Hajr, in his book, "Fathul Bari" , in the commentary of the
Book of Bukhari, said: ``I accept the ruling that the night occurs on
the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadan, namely the
twenty-first, twenty-third, twenty-fifth, twenty-seventh and or
twenty-ninth.'':->