Lailatul Qadr (Night of Power)

There is night in the month of Ramadhan which is better than a
thousand months (83 years, 4 months). This night is called Laitatul
Qadr.
According to Hadith, this night occurs during the last ten days of
Ramadhanon one of the odd numbered nights. Usually it is celebrated on
the 27thnight of this holy month. Itis a night of great importance and
enormousblessings for Muslims.
A night such as Lailatul Qadr was not granted to any religious
community (Ummah) before Muslims. Only the Ummah of the Prophet
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) were favoured with
a night of huge reward. Once reason,it was granted, was to enable
Muslims to equal the worship of any people who lived before us. In
thedistant past it is said that people lived very long lives of
hundreds of years. We, today, live much shorter lives. And so Allah
gave us Laitatul Qadr to enable us to do as much worship as a man who
lived even hundreds of years longer. If in a lifetime, you only
worshipped on Lailatul Qadr ten times, you wouldhave equaled in those
ten nights 833 years of worship.
Signs of Laitul Qadr
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There are some signs that reveal which night is Laitatul Qadr.
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The night will be peaceful, neither hot nor cold, with a clear moon
shinning but with no rays.
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There will be no shooting stars in the night
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At sunrise the sun will rise as just a disc withoutand radiant beams of light.
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One companion of the Prophet reported that onLaitatul Qadr he tasted
sea water and it was sweet.
Nawafil (Optional Prayers) for Laitatul Qadr
1. Two Rakaat - In each Rakaat
Surah Al-Fatiha (Alhamdu) - Once
Surah Al-Qadr (Inna Anzalna) - Once
Surah Al-Ikhlas (Qul Huwal Lahu) - Once
One who observes this Nafl prayer will be grantedthe enormous rewards
of Laitatul Qadr.
2. Two Rakaat - In each Rakaat
Surah Al-Fatiha (Alhamdu) - Once
Surah Al-Ikhlas (Qul Huwal Lahu) - Seven times
After Completing this nafl prayer recite 70 times :
"Astaghfirullah hallazi la-ila-ha illa huwal Hayyul Qayyumo wa atu-bu ilaihe"
"I seek forgiveness from Allah, the almighty, there is no god but He.
He is the self-existent, the Eternal and I turn to Him"
Once who observes this prayer, Allah the Merciful will forgive sins of
that person and their parents' sins.
3. Four Rakaat - In each Rakaat
Surah Al-Fatiha (Alhamdu) - Once
Surah Takathur (Alhakumat Takasur) - Once
Surah Al-Ikhlas (Qul Huwal Lahu) - Three times
A person observing this prayer will be protected from pain and
hardship at the time of death and will be saved from the punishment
of the grave.
4. Four Rakaat - In each Rakaat
Surah Al-Fatiha (Alhamdu) - Once
Surah Al-Qadr (Inna Anzalna) - Three times
Surah Al-Ikhlas (Qul Huwal Lahu) - Fifty times
After completing this prayer recite once :
"All glory and All Praise arefor Allah, and there is no God but Allah
and Allah is the Greatest".
The dua of the person observing this prayer will be accepted by Allah Almighty.
5. Four Rakaat - In each Rakaat
Surah Al-Fatiha (Alhamdu) - Once
Surah Al-Qadr (Inna Anzalna) - Once
Surah Al-Ikhlas (Qul Huwal Lahu) - Twenty Seven times
For one who observes this prayer all their sins are forgiven by Allah
Almightyand they will enter into Heaven.
Dua of Lailatul Qadr
The Prophet (Peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) taught this dua
to Hazrat Ayesha for Lailatul Qadr.
"O Allah, you are the One who grants pardon for sins. You love to
pardon sopardon me".

Al-’Afuww: Who Forgives In the Last 10 Nights?

Aisha asked the Prophet (saw) "What should I say on Laylat-al-qadr?"�
He replied,
Say, "O Allah, You are Al-'Afuww and You love to 'afw , so fa'fu me" (Tirmidhi).
What do all these italicizedwords mean? The common translation of
thesupplication above is,
O Allah indeed you are a Pardoner, and you love pardon, so pardon me.
That's it? The supplication for the last 10 nights, THE supplication
we are supposed to focus on, is just to be 'pardoned' by "The
Pardoner"? Isn't theremore to it?
Seems a bit strange, let's look at it in more detail.
The linguistic meaning of 'afuww is to leave, neglect (pardon), to
wipe away, and to increase. ' Aafiyah is Allah's defense of His
servant from things like disease and tribulation. 'Afu is the one who
possesses great 'afw.
The Name of Allah, Al-'Afuww, occurs in the Quran only five times
(4:43, 4:99, 4:149, 22:20, 58:2). Four of these times, it is linked
with Al-Ghafoor,and once with Al-Qadeer (4:149).
This Name implies that He ignores the sins of the servant. He knows
the sins (you must know them before you can make 'afw of them) but He
does not call the servant to account for it. The servant is deserving
of punishment, and Allah has full ability topunish His servants, but
Allah does 'afw for them. Itis more than just pardoning or covering it
up, it is wiping it away completely.
When the Name is paired with Al-Ghafoor, we see anextra level of
forgiveness. Al-Ghafoor is the One who forgives no matter how large
the sin.
When we look back at the original supplication, we see a more profound
meaning. Allah is Al-Qadeer, with full power to do with us as He
wants,
And if Allah were to seize mankind for their wrong-doing, He would not
leave on it (the earth) a single moving (living) creature, but He
postpones them foran appointed term and when their term comes, neither
can they delay nor can they advance it an hour (or a moment). (16:61)
In spite of that warning, He wipes our sins away forus, no matter how
major they are. Not only does He wipe them away, but He loves to wipe
them away. SubhanAllah.
This is why we should make this supplication fervently, seeking for it
to be answered in the night, in the most special of nights, seeking
the forgiveness and mercy of Allah, humbling ourselves knowing the
sins we have committed, and asking for Him to pardon us for our
transgressions./

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

8a]
8. Have Iftar with the Family
If you've spent Iftar time on weekdays in your cubicle at workalone
with a couple of dates, nowis the last few days you'll have this
Ramadan to spend with yourfamily. Use it wisely.
9. Take the Family to Taraweeh
Have your spouse and kids missed Taraweeh most of Ramadan because you
weren't there to drive them to the mosque, which is too far away
towalk to? If so, do all of yourselvesa favor and bring everyone for
Taraweeh in these last ten nights.
10. Attend the Du'a After the Completion of the Qur'anic Recitation
Almost all the mosques where theImam aims to finish an entire reading
of the Qur'an in Taraweeh prayers in Ramadan will now be approaching
the end of the task in these last ten nights. They may try to end on
one of the odd nights and read the Du`a' at the end of reading the
Qur'an. Attend this particular night's Taraweeh prayer with your
family. See if you can attend different mosques' Taraweeh prayers the
night they finish reading the Qur'an.
11. Finish Reading a Book on the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam):
Read about the Prophet's life, which can increase your love for him
and Islam by seeing how much he struggled for Allah's sake. It may
inspire you to push yourself even harder during these last ten nights.
This community is built on sacrifice.
All these are just some hints on what is recommended for a Muslim to
do in during the last ten nights of Ramadan. May Allah Almighty accept
our worship and devotions.
Ameen.

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, :->