Staying up on Laylat al-Qadr and the ruling on celebrating it

How should we spend the night of Laylat al-Qadr? Is it by praying,
reading Qur'aan and the Seerah (Prophet's biography), listening to
sermons and lessons and celebrating that in the mosque?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
used to strive hard in worship during the last ten nights of Ramadaan
as he did notdo at other times, praying and reading Qur'aan.
Al-Bukhaari and Muslim narrated from 'Aa'ishah (may Allaah be pleased
with her) that when the last ten days of Ramadaan began, the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would stay up at night,
wake his family and tie his lower garment tight. According to Ahmad
and Muslim: he would strive hard in worship during the last ten nights
of Ramadaan as he did notdo at other times.
Secondly:
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) urged us to
spend the night of Laylat al-Qadr in prayer out of faith and in the
hope of reward. It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be
pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: "Whoever spends the night of Laylat al-Qadr in prayer
out of faith and in the hope of reward, will beforgiven his previous
sins."
This was narrated by the group apart from Ibn Maajah. This hadeeth
indicates that it is prescribed to stay up and spend this night in
prayer.
Thirdly:
One of the best du'aa's that can be recited on Laylat al-Qadr is that
which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught
'Aa'ishah(may Allaah be pleased with her). It was narrated by
al-Tirmidhi, who classed it as saheeh, that 'Aa'ishah said: I said: "O
Messenger of Allaah, If I know which night is Laylatal-Qadr, what
should I say?" He said: "Say: Allaahumma innaka 'afuwwun tuhibb
al-'afwa fa'fu 'anni (O Allaah, You are All-Forgiving and You love
forgiveness so forgiveme)."
Fourthly:
With regard to singling out one night of Ramadaan and regarding that
as Laylat al-Qadr, this requires evidence. But the odd-numbered nights
during the last ten nights are more likely than others, and the night
of the twenty-seventh is more likely to be Laylat al-Qadr, because of
the ahaadeeth which indicate that.
Fifthly:
With regard to bid'ah (innovation), it is not permissible either in
Ramadaan or at other times. It was proven that the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whoever innovates
anything in this matter of ours [Islam] that is not part of it will
have it rejected." And he said: "Whoever does any action that is not
part of this matter of ours will have it rejected."
With regard to the celebrations that are held on some nights of
Ramadaan, we know of nobasis for that. The best guidance is the
guidance of Muhammad and the worst of matters are thosewhich are
innovated.
And Allaah is the Source of strength. May Allaah send blessings and
peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.

Should children be stopped from coming tothe mosque?

Should children be stopped from coming to the mosque with their mothers for Taraaweeh, because they cause too much trouble and disruption?
I asked Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) this question, and hereplied:
They should be allowed to come as it says in the ahaadeeth: “What is goodfor the earlier generation is good for the later generation.” And Allaah knows best

Following the imaam until he finishes Taraaweeh

The most correct opinion isthat the number of rak’ahsfor Taraaweeh is eleven, but I pray in a mosque where they do twenty onerak’ahs. Can I leave the mosque after the tenth rak’ah, or is it better to complete the twenty one rak’ahs with them?
Praise be to Allaah.
It is better to stay with theimaam until he finishes, even if he is doing more than eleven rak’ahs, because it is permissible todo the extra rak’ahs, as theProphet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever prays qiyaam with the imaam until he finishes, Allaah will record it as if heprayed the whole night” (reported by al-Nisaa'i and others. Sunan al-Nisaa'i, Baab Qiyaam Shahr Ramadaan), and because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Prayer at night should be two by two (rak’ahs), and when dawn approaches, pray one for witr.” (Reported bythe seven; this version reported by al-Nisaa'i).
There is no doubt that adhering to the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is better and brings more reward, so long as it is done properly and without haste, but if itis the matter of a choice between leaving the imaam because of the number of rak’ahs or going along with the extrathat he does, it is better to go along with him, because of the ahaadeeth referred to above. At the same time, you should advise the imaam to follow the Sunnah.

Is the du’aa’ of Witr obligatory, and what should a person say if he cannot memorize it?

I have noticed that it takes me time to learn a certain dua or surah by heart .i know that dua -e -qunood is farz in 3 witr prayer of the isha prayer...i always used to read some other surah instead of this dua as i didnot know the dua by heart but i recently found out that it is farz so i triedto learn the dua but it is taking me time...so for several days i have been doing this that when i do 3 witr , in the third rakah iread from a book which i pick up from the side table during the prayer..i still face the qiblah when ipick it up, infact i do not have to move to pick it up....i want to know if thatis allowed that u read a surah or dua from a book during the prayer.
Praise be to Allaah.
1 – There is noting wrong with reading the du’aa’ of Qunoot from a piece of paper or a booklet in Witrprayer until one is able to memorize it, after which you can stop reading it and can recite it from memory. It is also permissible to recite Qur’aan from the Mus-haf during naafil prayers for those who have not memorized a lot of Qur’aan.
Shaykh Ibn Baaz was asked about the ruling on reading Qur’aan from the Mus-haf in Taraaweeh prayer, and what the evidence is for that from the Qur’aan and Sunnah.
He replied:
There is nothing wrong with reading from the Mus-haf when praying at night during Ramadaan because that will enable the believers to hear all ofthe Qur’aan. And because the evidence of sharee’ah from the Qur’aan and Sunnah indicates that it is prescribed to recite Qur’aan in prayer, which includes both reading it from the Mus-haf and reciting it by heart. It was narrated from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) that she told herfreed slave Dhakwaan to lead her in praying night prayers during Ramadaan,and he used to read from the Mus-haf. This was narrated by al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) in his Saheeh, in amu’allaq majzoom report.
Fataawa Islamiyyah, 2/155
2 – It is not obligatory for the du’aa’ of Qunoot to bein the words narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him); rather it is permissible for the worshipper to say other words or to add to them. Even if he were to recite verses from the Qur’aan that include words of supplication, that would be sufficient. Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Note that there is no specific du’aa’ for Qunoot according to the preferred point of view. Any du’aa’ that is said will serve as Qunoot, even if one recites a verse or verses from the Qur’aan that include words of supplication, thiswill count as Qunoot, but it is better to recite the words that were narrated in the Sunnah.
Al-Adhkaar al-Nawawiyyah, p. 50
3 – As for what the brother mentions about reciting Qur’aan instead ofthe du’aa’ of Qunoot, there is no doubt that he should not do this, because the purpose behind Qunoot is du’aa’ orsupplication. Hence if these verses include words of supplication, it ispermissible to recite themas Qunoot, for example, the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of themeaning):
“Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after You have guided us, and grant us mercy from You. Truly, You are the Bestower”
[Aal ‘Imraan 3:8]
4 – With regard to what the brother says about Qunoot being obligatory, this is not correct, becauseQunoot is Sunnah. Based on this, if a worshipper omits Qunoot, his prayer is still valid.
Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about theruling on reciting the du’aa’ of Qunoot in Witr during the nights of Ramadaan, and whether it is permissible to omit it.
He replied:
Qunoot is Sunnah in Witr and if a person omits it sometimes, there is nothing wrong with that.
And he was asked about aperson who always recites Qunoot in Witr every night – was that narrated from our forebears (the salaf)?
He replied:
There is nothing wrong with that, rather it is Sunnah, because when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him) to say Qunoot in Witr, he did not tell him to omit it sometimes or todo it all the time. This indicates that either is permissible. Hence it was narrated that when Ubayyibn Ka’b (may Allaah be pleased with him) led the Sahaabah in prayer in the Mosque of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), he used to omit Qunoot some nights;perhaps that was in order to teach the people that itis not obligatory. And Allaah is the Source of strength.