Hadiths on Laylatul Qadr.

*. Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, related that the
Prophet (S) said: "When the last one-third of the night remains, our
Lord, the Glorious One descends towards the heaven of the earth and
proclaims: Who is that who supplicates for Me, and I grant his
supplication? Who is that who begs Mefor anything and I grant it to
him? And who is that who seeks My forgiveness, and I forgivehim?"
(Bukhari, Muslim).
*. -This Hadith means on Laylatul Qadr, if someonehumbly asks Allah
for something, it will be granted. If someone begsfor something, it
will be granted. And if someone seeks forgiveness, they will be
forgiven.
*. Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: I asked the Messenger
of Allah: 'O Messenger of Allah, if I know what night is the night of
Qadr, what should I say during it?' He said: 'Say: O Allah, You are
pardoning and You love to pardon, so pardon me.'
*. -This Hadith is of a duah we can say on Laylatul Qadr.
*. Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, related that the Prophet
said: Look for Laylatul Qadr onan odd-numbered night during the last
ten nightsof Ramadan (Bukhari).
*. -This Hadith is just explaining when LaylatulQadr is.
*. The Prophet (S) said:"Whoever prays during the night of Qadr with
faith and hoping for its reward will have all of his previous sins
forgiven." (Bukhari and Muslim recorded from Abu Huraira).
*. -This Hadith means that on Laylatul Qadr, we pray with faith, Allah
(swt) will forigve our previous sins.

1b] How to Reap the Rewards of Lailatul Qadr

1b]
our mothers like Dr. 'Afiyyah would not have their modesty abused, our
young brothers and sisters in places like Palestine would not be
gunned down or abused in the manner that they are - this is the result
of our sins collectively. And itwas narrated regarding one of the
great scholars of the early generations that he used to say whenever
any strong storm would come, "O' people, when I die then you will be
removed of these trials."
7. Make this a night that you repent of your sins, a night that you
change your life forever. Remember that the sign that our fasting has
been accepted is that we are better afterwards. Ibnul Qayyim states in
his excellent book, Madaarij as-Salikeen: "among the signs of a
repentance thathas not been accepted are:
A lack of tears
2. No new good deeds in your life that were not being practiced before
And indeed Allah has commanded us to repent in many places, for example:
O you who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance! It may be
that your Lord will remit from you your sins, and admit you into
Gardens under which rivers flow. [66: 8]
إن الله يحب التوابين ويحب المتطهرين
Truly, Allah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves
those who purify themselves. [2: 222]
May Allah help us to reachthe night of Qadr and bless us to reap its
rewards in full, forgiving us our sins and releasing us from the
Hellfire - ameen.

1a] How to Reap the Rewards of Lailatul Qadr

1a]
5. To be sincere for the sake of Allah and to be onthe lookout for the
destroyers of sincerity to Allah - and they are showing off
(al-riyaa') andarrogance (kibr), amongst others. Allah has said in
regards to sincerity:
وَأَقِيمُواْ وُجُوهَكُمْ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍ وَادْعُوهُ مُخْلِصِينَ
لَهُ الدِّينَ
� And that you should faceHim only, in every Masjid, and invoke Him
only making your religion sincere to Him �. [7: 29]
And in the Hadith Qudsi:
أَنَا أَغْنَى الشُّرَكَاءِ عَنْ الشِّرْكِ مَنْ عَمِلَ عَمَلًا أَشْرَكَ
فِيهِ مَعِي غَيْرِي تَرَكْتُهُ وَشِرْكَهُ
Abu Hurairah narrates that the Prophet (saas) said: "Allah, may He be
blessed and exalted, says: 'I am so self-sufficient thatI am in no
need of having an associate. Thus he whodoes an action for someone
else's sake as well as Mine will have that action renounced by Me to
him whom he associated with Me.'" (Muslim)
Thus, we have to make sure that our efforts on this night, especially
if there are others around us, that they are solely forthe pleasure of
Allah. This can be greatly alleviated ifyou have a certain plan in
mind before you go to theMasjid regarding what you will do. We also
take lessons from the lives of the early generations whoused to be
very cautious in this regards particularlyin regards to weeping from
the fear of Allah. They controlled it so well that a man could stand
next to another and wet his beard with tears without his companion
being aware that he was crying. This was all so thatthey would not
draw attention to themselves.
And the great scholar Sufyaan ath-Thawri once said, "It has reached me
that a servant does a good deed secretly causing Shaytaan to comeat
him until he overcomeshim, upon which the servant makes his good deeds
public (but still maintaining a measure of sincerity). Shaytaan then
continues with him further until the servant wishes that his good
deeds be praised by others, upon which his name is removed from those
who deeds in publicand he is listed among those who show-off (commit
the grievous sin of riyaa')."
That is why the Prophet said we must spend this night in hope for His
reward - in other words, not in hopes of others praising us and so
forth.
Furthermore, some people commit another sin in arrogance by looking
down upon the deeds of others. Maybe Allah gave you the strength to
pray ten voluntary rak'aahs but another only had the strength to do
four. Although you may have bested the other in terms of quantity,
only Allah knows the quality and so his one rakah might be better and
more virtuous than all of what you have done. So let us be wary of
falling into this pit of destruction - may Allah protect us!
6. To push yourself in calling upon Allah and notbe lazy in this
matter. Allah states in the Quran:
وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْإِنَّ الَّذِينَ
يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ
And your Lord has said:"Call upon Me, I will answer you. Verily, those
who scorn My worship they will surely enter Hell in humiliation."
[40:60]
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِنَّ
الدُّعَاءَ هُوَ الْعِبَادَةُ ثُمَّ قَرَأَ
And an-Nu'maan ibn Bashir (ra) relates from the Messenger of Allah
(saas) that he said,"Indeed the supplication is the worship; and then
he recited the ayah �." (Sahih - IM)
And it is recorded that Sufyaan ath-Thawri said,"Indeed to call upon
Allah in this night (al-Qadr) is more beloved to me than praying in
it." And our example always is RasulAllah and let us remember that
when he recited the Quran in the night prayer that he used to do so
slowly - whenever a verse called for seeking forgiveness hedid so,
whenever it called for seeking Allah's protection from His punishment
he did so, whenever it called for asking Allah for His bounty and for
Jannah, hedid so �. Thus the Prophet (saas) gathered four acts of
worship in one: prayer, recitation of Quran, supplication and
pondering over the wordsof Allah!
And 'A'ishah said: "I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, if I know which
night is Laylat al-Qadr, what should I say on that night?' He said,
'Say: Allahumma innaka 'afuwwun tuhibb al-'afwa fa'affu 'anni (O
Allah, You are forgiving and You love forgiveness, so forgive me)."
So what then is the difference between callingupon Allah by his name
ofal-'Afuww instead of al-Ghafur? They both indicate forgiveness, but
maghfirah means to be protected from the consequences of the sin
whereas al-'afw means that it is wiped away completely.
And how can we pour more sincerity into our supplication and asking
Allah for His forgiveness? As you stand there in these blessed nights
then remember the condition of our Ummah today and that if you were
better, if your sins were not so much then we would not be in this
condition: our mothers like Dr. 'Afiyyah would not have their :->

1] How to Reap the Rewards of Lailatul Qadr

1]
The Reward for Lailatul Qadr
وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ . لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ
مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ
And what will make you know what the Night of Al-Qadr (Decree) is? The
Night of the Decree is better than a thousand months (i.e. worshipping
Allah in that night is better than worshipping Him a thousand months).
[97: 2-3]
This blessed night was given to our ummah as a special gift upon the
concern of the Prophet forthe short lives of his people in comparison
with those who lived before. Thus whatever is done on this blessed
nightwill be recorded for the sincere Muslim as if he had done the
same deeds without sinning for one thousand months, which is the
equivalent of 83 years and four months! This was among the reasons why
the Prophet (saas) said that whoever was deprived of the good of this
night was truly deprived:
Abu Hurairah (ra) who said: The Messenger of Allah (saas) said: "There
has come to you Ramadan, a blessed month which Allah has enjoined you
to fast ... In it there is a night which is better than a thousand
months, and whoever is deprived of its goodness is indeed deprived."
(Sahih - Nasaa'i, Ahmad)
فعن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال
من قام ليلة القدر إيماناً واحتساباً غفر له ما تقدم من ذنبه
It was narrated from Abu Hurairah (ra) that the Prophet (saas)
said:"Whoever spends the night of Lailatul Qadr in prayer out of faith
and in the hope of reward, will be forgiven his previous sins."
In this authentic hadith, special care must be paid to his statement
(saas)"out of faith and in hope of the reward". This shows us the
importance of purifying both the intention and our sincerity, praying
to Allah with full belief in Him andseeking His great reward.
What to Do on this Blessed Night
1. Remember to also workhard in the daylight hoursof these nights.
This helps to prepare the heart and the soul for the efforts of the
night, and this was the manner of Imam ash-Shaafi'ee.
2. Be cautious of over-eating in these days. Allah says in the Quran:
وكُلُواْ وَاشْرَبُواْ وَلاَ تُسْرِفُواْ إِنَّهُ لاَ يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ
And eat and drink: But waste not by excess, for Allah does not love
those who waste. [7:31]
ما ملأ آدمي وعاء شرا من بطنه
And the Prophet (saas) said on the authority of Miqdaam, "A person
will not fill a pot worse for himself than his stomach."(Sahih - Jami'
as-Sagheer)
And in one of the stories narrated from Bani Isra'eel, the Prophet
Yayha (as) once asked Iblees if he had ever succeeded in deceiving
him. Iblees stated that on only one occasion had he been able to
deceive this noble Prophet and that had been when he had encouraged
him to eat a lot of one of his favorite dishes to the extent that when
he slept that night he didn't awaken for the night prayer.
3. Putting on your best clothes for this night. Have you not
considered Allah's statement in the Quran:
يَا بَنِي آدَمَ خُذُواْ زِينَتَكُمْ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍ
O Children of Adam! Wear your beautiful apparel to every Masjid. [7:31]
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الْبَسُوا مِنْ
ثِيَابِكُمْ الْبَيَاضَ فَإِنَّهَا مِنْ خَيْرِ ثِيَابِكُم
Ibn 'Abbaas (ra) reports from the Messenger of Allah (saas) that he
said,"Wear your white garments for they are among the best of your
clothes." (Sahih - Abu Dawood)
And it has been narrated authentically that Anas ibn Maalik (ra) used
to have a garment that he would wear only once in the year and that
was the night that he expected lailatul Qadr.
And it has been reported from a number of the predecessors that they
used to take showers and perfume themselves especially for the last
ten nights.
What is the wisdom behind this? In order to best purify our souls and
hearts, it helps to start from the outside by wearing that which is
clean, pure and beautifies us, and Allah knows best.
Let us not forget though the words of Allah:
يَا بَنِي آدَمَ قَدْ أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكُمْ لِبَاسًا يُوَارِي
سَوْءَاتِكُمْ وَرِيشًا وَلِبَاسُ التَّقْوَىَ ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ
O' Children of Adam! We have bestowed libaas andreesh upon you to
cover your privates, as well as to be an adornment to you. But the
adornment of taqwa - that is the best.[7:26]
Regarding this noble ayah, 'Abdur-Rahman ibnu Zayd ibnu Aslam
commented, "When one fears Allah, Allah covers his errors".
4. To make i'tikaaf - even if it be for a limited number of hours. The
benefit of it is that one is recorded as being in prayer the whole
time so long as he makes this intention (of remaining until the next
obligatory prayer), and it was the confirmed Sunnah of our Prophet
(saas) and even that of his wives after his death (saas).
5. To be sincere for the sake of Allah and to be onthe lookout for the
destroyers of sincerity to Allah - and they are showing off
(al-riyaa') andarrogance (kibr), :->