8] What to do in the Last Ten Days of Ramadan?

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings beupon
His Messenger.
We can provide some useful advice on how one could spend the last ten
days of Ramadan, especially as these days are very special in the life
of every Muslim. In fact, every day is special for Muslim, as long as
he is always mindful of Allah in all what he does; every day Muslim
gets increased in piety and draws closer to Almighty Allah. But
thesedays of Ramadan are highly special in the sense of their falling
in one of the most blessed months of the year; the month of Ramadan,
the month of the Qur'anic revelation. May Allah Almighty help us get
closer to Himin this month and may strengthen our faith in Him in a
way that Satan will not be able to drive us away from His Path, Ameen.
Laylatul Qadr (the Night of Power)is described in the Qur'an as,
{better than a thousand months}. [Surah Al-Qadr: 3] Any action done on
this night such as reciting the Qur'an, rememberingAllah, etc. is
better than acting forone thousand months which do not contain the
night of Qadr.
Allah's Messenger (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) used to exert himself in
devotion during the last ten nights to a greater extentthan at any
other time.
The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said: "Whoever prays during the
night of Qadr with faith and hoping for its reward will have all of
his previous sins forgiven."
[Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Abu Hurairah].
Here are some tips of things we can do on the Night of Power and the
time before and after it:
1. Take a Vacation for Allah
We take a break from our jobs for almost everything in life. Why not
this time to focus on worshipping and thanking our Creator.
If this is not possible at least take a few days off if you can. This
canmake it easier to stay awake at night to do extra acts of
worship,not having to worry about getting to work the following day.
This will also make I`tikaf easy.
2. I`tikaf
It was a practice of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, to
spend the last ten days and nights of Ramadan in the mosque for
I`tikaf.
In I`tikaf one makes a spiritual retreat in the mosque all the
time,performing various forms of dhikr (the remembrance of Allah),like
doing extra Salat, recitation and study of the Qur'an. One does not go
outside the mosque except in case of emergencies. I`tikaf of a shorter
period of time,like one night, a day or a couple of days is encouraged
as well.
3. Make This Special Du'a
Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: I asked the Messenger of
Allah: 'O Messenger of Allah, if Iknow what night is the night of
Qadr, what should I say during it?' He said:
اَللَّهُمَّ اِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ ، تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي
Allahumma innaka 'affuwwun tuhibbul 'afwa fa'fu 'anni' "
'Say: O Allah, You are Oft-Pardoning and You love to pardon, so pardon me.'"
[Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and at-Tirmidhi].
4. Recite the Qur'an
Perhaps one can choose Surahs or passages from the Quran which one has
heard in Taraweeh this past Ramadan to recite.
On attending a class for Qur'anic recitation, this is a great time to
put one's knowledge into practice.
5. Get Your Sins Wiped Out
Abu Hurairah quoted Allah's Messenger as saying: "Whoever stands (in
prayer) in Laylatul Qadrwhile nourishing his faith with
self-evaluation, expecting reward from Allah, will have all of his
previous sins forgiven."
[Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim].
6. Evaluate Yourself
Ask yourself those questions that need to be asked. Do an evaluation
of where you are and where you are going. Let this evaluation lead you
to feel happiness for the good you have done and remorse for the bad
you have done. This latter feeling should make it easier to seek
Allah's sincere forgiveness when invoking Allah and supplicating toHim
in these blessed nights.
7. Make Long, Sincere and Deep Du'as
One of the best times to do this isduring the last part of the night.
Abu Hurairah (radiAllahu anhu) quoted the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi
wasalam) as saying: "Whenthe last one-third of the night remains, our
Lord, the Glorious One descends towards the lower heaven and
proclaims: Is there anyone supplicating to Me, so that I grant his
supplication? Is there anyone begging of Me for anything so that and I
grant him his wish? Is there anyone who seeks My forgiveness, so that
I forgive him?"
[Sahih al-Bukhari, Muslim]. This means for instance, waking up one
hour before Suhoor (pre-dawn meal) time to invoke Allah for anything
and everything is something recommendable. This can be done using the
Du`as (supplications) recorded in the Sunnah, but one is also allowed
to say Du`a in one's own language, :->

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 :->