Suhaib Webb – Finding The Night of Power
AI: Summary ©
The concept of qadr is seen as a way to experience the night's blessings, where everyone has experienced the night's blessings. The speaker discusses the importance of "has" in Arabic, meaning something difficult to experience, and emphasizes the need to put in work to achieve desired results. The importance of praying for the night and making intentions for worship is emphasized, along with the need to stay clean and avoid being rude.
AI: Summary ©
Confusion and passion unite, chaos ensues,
I put together a very small article, it's
linked here,
that covers kind of the authentic
information about the night, what it is, what
we should be doing, how to recognize it,
so inshallah that we can all experience it.
But before I do that, I just wanna
share something with you that I heard from
a teacher which really impacted me. And that
is that many of us come to the
month of Ramadan worn, tired, and haggard, beaten
by sin, struggling with disobedience, and doing our
best to do better, and sometimes Ramadan actually
is a trigger for guilt. That guilt is
good as long as that guilt leads to
repentance and inspiration, but when guilt begins to,
you know, cause us to destabilize
and questions our ability to function,
that's when it's bad. That's when it's bad,
that's when it's counter productive. Imam Al Qazadi
said fear is good as long as it
only leads to responsibility,
but subhanAllah Allah knows and Allah loves the
Muslims and Allah is merciful to the Muslims,
and because of that he has assigned certain
times to be more advantageous,
so that the good we do will be
multiplied in a way to make up for
the sins and the evil that we've done.
And one of the most important ones is
Laylatul Qadr.
You know the Quran says Laylatul Qadr,
that this night is better than a 1000
months.
Doesn't literally mean a 1000 months, you think
about it if you're Arab and someone gets
married, what do you say? You say alf
mobarak, don't say mabruk that's the wrong thing
mabruk are camels. You wanna say alf mobarak,
a 1000 mabaroks.
You don't literally mean that, what you mean
is infinite. The word alf, a 1000 in
Arabic is used to show something has infinite
blessings.
So later
better than the 1,000 months that's why Imam
Al Qurtubi said that it is said
that what it means is that the night's
blessings are infinite, so this is an opportunity
to make up for the mistakes
we've made if we catch that night. Let's
quickly talk about the meaning of qadr, there
are actually three interpretations
of what qadr means. The first is honor
and dignity.
Like he has a high status.
And the reason for that is very beautiful,
you think about it, the entire Muslim community
we've been bashed, beaten, traumatized,
our lands have been taken over by some
of the worst leaders ever seen in history.
Criminals and crooks and mafia bosses, where are
being military pounded from all different directions. To
be a Muslim even in your own home
sometimes means that you face direct opposition and
disrespect. If you're a convert and you're hiding
your Islam as many of you are, may
Allah bless you. We all send a special
dua for you all.
You know what it's like,
so isn't it a great blessing that there's
a night that we're honored?
Isn't it an opportunity that we're honored in
a way which is unique, honored by the
heavens? You know, Islami'raj
happens because everyone in the face of the
earth had rejected the prophet
except a small group of people.
So Islam Mi'raj is saying to Muhammad, O
Muhammad
if the entire earth has rejected you, we
in the heavens we have accepted you. Oh
Muslims,
if you're not experiencing dignity or honor anywhere
on the face of the earth, this is
a night where Allah and
the
and the salihin
and the MBA
and all of your fraternal brothers and sisters
through across history
are honoring you.
Allahu Akbar.
So we should feel Izzah,
we should feel pride.
I mean, Allah mentions that the reason they
don't like it is because we hold on
to the truth,
we can't be bought.
Allah has purchased our lives
for the price of Jannah.
The second meaning is something that's difficult.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says in Surat Fajr,
you know we
constricted
his provisions.
And the reason that this night is given
that that name according to some scholars, the
night of difficulty
is you gotta work to experience it. I
gotta work to find it.
I gotta seek it. So that means those
who work hard, we show them our ways.
So I gotta put forth some effort. I
can't just be chilling playing Call of Duty
all night, like, yo, man. How come I
ain't got denied a power? I can't be
watching makeup up tutorials until 4 o'clock in
the morning, and then be like yo, I
didn't feel anything, man.
So the point is,
you gotta put in work.
We gotta put in work.
The 3rd meaning is judgment and decision, and
we know that there's a difference opinion about
this, but the majority of scholars say that
all of the decisions for the year are
being made in this night for us, while
the minority says in the middle of Sha'aban,
listen,
don't fight about this, don't argue about this,
do both.
Do both and have the intention.
Do both and have the intention to experience
both. Muslims, I don't understand why we always
have to argue about 2 possibilities.
Allah is what? Wasiah. Allah is Kareem. Have
the intention to experience both and ask Allah,
you Allah. I don't know.
There's 2 opinions out there, it's confusing, but
I'm gonna do both. I'm gonna rock it,
Insha'Allah, and I hope that you will accept
it from me. But what should we take
from this, instead of arguing and fighting
is dua,
oh Allah, bless the provisions I have coming,
oh Allah protect me from this COVID virus,
protect my family, protect the Muslims,
raise the status of the Muslim that's what
I should be thinking about, my dependence on
Allah should increase
when I know everything is being decreed.
Allahu Akbar,
potentially
on this night, on this night.
When does it occur?
Laylatul Qadr takes place in the last 10
nights of Ramadan,
the prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, and this
is very important because I'm gonna mention
an interpretive
axiom that will really amplify something beautifully about
this hadith, which is the Sahih hadith from
imam ibn Hayban. The Prophet SAW wasalam said
I witnessed the night of power, then I
forgot it, which night it was.
It happens in the last 10 nights. Some
people may say, how could the prophet have
forgotten?
Right?
Our scholars say that something whose
ruling is still highly recommended
and the prophet forgot specifically when it happens,
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala caused him to forget
so that his ummah would stay awake.
So his ummah would take on that responsibility.
So his ummah would not get lazy.
So the fact that he forgot which night
it is, shouldn't be like, oh man, no
it should be like, oh I gotta find
this, I gotta hold up my responsibility, I'm
a member of the Prophet's community,
Like that man who came running in Surat
Al YaSeen to help the prophets.
Now I'm here to make sure that this
night of power is experienced, so every single
night I'm going in. Every single night I'm
going in, because I understand that the responsibility
is on me as a Muslim. That's why
Imam Ibn Rushd, he said that his opinion
is that the night changes every year so
that the Muslims will not get lazy.
Oh Allah, I seek refuge in you from
being weak and forgetting something.
So I'm going in.
Remember this the next time you read that
the prophet forgot something which is rare, and
if the ruling there is something which is
mandub or mustahab,
understand that that is meant, so you will
be motivated to do it, and you'll be
motivated
to push for it, sallallahu alaihi wasallam, who
allowed us to share
in prophetic responsibility.
What are the signs? First of all, let's
talk about tonight. I'm gonna mention 3 of
them. All these hadith are authentic. Number 1,
the prophet said that the night of power
is a mild night, neither hot nor cold.
Number 2, the number of angels on that
night are infinite, too numerous to count, the
prophet said. The number of angels present that
night on earth cannot be counted.
What should you take from that? If you're
experiencing this COVID stuff by yourself, you're about
to get lit with
your infinite number of angels in your house.
Not lit in that way, divine light, alhamdulillah.
The nur which transcends physical nur because there
are gonna be so many angels,
Allahu Akbar, with you,
with you.
Number 3 is a clear night and the
stars are visible, the prophet said the night
of power is a clear night as though
it's a moon
as it reflects the light of the sun
uncovers the stars. The
morning after the sun rises,
after the night of power, the prophet said
it will be red and weak
by imam Ibn Khozema with the sound Isnad.
In another narration, he said, the sunrise about
it is that it's it's not going to
have any rays,
like it's not gonna be overly strong,
and that hadith is related by Imam Mussoom.
What are the things we should be doing
on the night? The scholar said first and
foremost the best thing you can do is
pray. This is the Sunnah of the Prophet
and here comes the question from our amazing
sisters. Look how dedicated they are to Allah,
but I can't pray.
I can't pray because I'm going through my
cycle.
You know what you do? You have the
intention.
Because the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said
in a sound hadith that I'm paraphrasing from
Imam Muslim, that anybody that is legitimately
kept from something that they would normally do,
if they make the intention for it, they
get rewarded for it. Make the intention.
Oh Allah, if I could pray all night
long,
I would do so.
Oh Allah, if I had the ability to
do all of those things, that I could
do when I'm not menstruating,
I would do it, and you get rewarded
for it. Allahu Akbar, how Kareem and Merciful
is Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Number 2 is to read the Quran, read
as much Quran as you can. Number 3
is to make dhikr,
to remember Allah
and both, reading the Quran and making dhikr,
a woman who is mistreated can do both
according to the strong opinion of Sayna Imam
Al Bukhari, Imam ibn Hazam al Andalusi and
others.
Engage in worship
in a strict sense,
right? So salah, dhikr or Quran or dua,
be kind to others.
If you're in a masjid, and most of
us are not gonna be in masjid, make
sure you stay clean, and make sure the
masjid stay clean.
Avoid being rude. This means online, if you're
on like Zoom PMs,
whatever,
there's no need to troll people and be
rude on this night. Be kind, man. Can't
you give a knife for kindness?
Things not to do, talk and waste one's
time, commit sins, sleep the night away,
making places untidy.
Some people ask like what if they have
commitments the next day they can't worship the
whole night? Number 1 is make contention that
if you didn't have those commitments you would
worship the whole night, Masha'Allah.
Get that reward.
Actions by intention
You know that scholars used to say that
the intention of a believer is better than
an action, because the believer, his intention, her
intentions are gonna bring the Tawwab, alhamdulillahi rabbalamin.
And then also note as the imam ibn
Hajar mentions that you don't have to worship
the whole night,
just worship a little bit, but do it
with great passion,
do it with great investment. Ask Allah Subhanahu
wa Ta'ala to bless all of you and
to help us all experience
this incredible
night.