“The prevailing situation emerged due to the COVID-19 will impact its way of celebration but surely it never reduces its spiritual essence”
BY HAROON RASHID BHAT
Islam declared certain occasions and places the most sacred and significant. Laylatul-Qadr is one such occasion that has a deep religious significance in Muslim Umma. This particular night is also known as the night of power or the night of decree. It is one of the major blessings of Ramadan. During this night, Almighty Allah revealed the Quran to Prophet Mohammad SAW. There is a complete chapter (Surah al-Qadr) in the holy book of the Quran which says: “We revealed it (the Qur’an) on the night of power. Would that you knew what the night of power is like. Better is the night of power than a thousand months. On that night the angels and the spirit descend by their Lord’s permission, with all his decrees. That night is peace, till the break of dawn” This night has been described as a gift to Muslim Umma. In the Muwatta of Imam Malik, there is hadith that states: “When the beloved prophet peace is upon him was shown the lifespan of previous communities whose lived hundreds of years, and the age of his Umma that live mostly between sixty and seventy years. That put him in deep thought and instantly Almighty Allah gave him cheerful news and announced, “I have granted your Umma the special night- “Laylatul-Qadr” which is better than a thousand months.”
As far as determining the Night of Power (Lailatul-Qadr) is concerned, the majority of scholars believe that this sacred night may occur on any of the odd nights in the last ten nights of the Ramadan, thus they recommend the consistent amount of worship for all of these nights. As it has been emphasized that it is most likely to be the 27th night, therefore, majority of the people observe it on the same date with full devotion, reading the Quran, offering Nimazi Tarawee, observing Atikaf, and seeking forgiveness of their sins from Allah. As far as the signs of Lailatul-Qadr are concerned, a few saints and scholars of Islam attributed few signs which forecast its occurrence based on their intuition and previous experiences Like the sun rises early in the morning, rain may fall either during the night or during the day of that night, during the night the sky will be lightly foggy, the sky will be slightly lighted without reflections and rays.
This night proves the perfect opportunity to pray for the realization of the best dreams and the prevention of the worst nightmares. The prevailing situation that emerged due to the COVID-19 will impact its way of celebration but surely it never reduces its spiritual essence. It is certainly the most blessed night of the year, a person who misses it has certainly missed a tremendous amount of good. It is advisable to avoid unnecessary socializing with people, not to indulge in arguing, shopping on this particular night technically start at Maghrib (sunset), and be heedful of how time spends from that point onwards. If a believing person is keen to obey his Lord and increase the good deeds in his record, he/she should strive to spend this night in worship and obedience. If this is facilitated for him, all of his previous sins will be forgiven. One may spend these particular nights collectively or individually observing the following activities recitation of the Quran, Navafil Prayers- after Taraweeh, remembrance of Allah or Zikr, or Du’a for ourselves and others.
Let us wake up and do our best to please Allah in our daily life. Let us ask Almighty Allah forgiveness so that this mysterious situation that occurred due to COVID-19 will go away and we once again celebrate such occasion as we used to celebrate.
Haroon Rashid Bhat is a teacher by profession and can be reached at minamharoon123@gmail.com
