Lailat Ul Qadar
The last Ashra of Ramadan is to start and like every other Muslim, you must be waiting for the odd nights during those ten days. Among them, one of the nights will be Lailat ul Qadar –the night that is better than thousand nights. This night of decree is so divine that even a whole surah in Quran is dedicated to revealing its benefits.
Any prayer and good deed performed during this night will get the rewards of performing that act for a thousand nights. Muslims use to recite Quran, offer nawafil and do dhikr of Allah during Ramadan. However, on the odd nights of the last ten days, the frequency of extra prayers raised and on the 27th night of Ramadan, it’s on the peak. We all can’t go on Aitekaf due to ‘reasons’ however, this once in a year opportunity surely needs some planning so that we can avail the most out of the every second and attain the rewards in this life and hereafter.
So now you’d be thinking how can you make the most of this blessed night?Read on to get some useful tips on how you can avail the most on the Night of Qadr.
Be Prepared
In most of the parts of the World, Ramadan has become a gourmet cuisine festival where lavish sahoor and fine dining iftar tables have become a norm. These extra calories surely affect our prayers efficacy and instead of offering extra nawafils, salah, and dhikr, we end up with obligatory prayers only.
The Ramadan is here already, we can still make the most out of the night of Qadr. First of all, make intention for it. Then, you have to maintain the energy for performing extra prayers, so avoid all the fried and heavy stuff in iftar and sahoor from now and eat healthy, wholesome and light.
Also, instead of praying, most of the Muslims spend the last days and nights of Ramadan on a shopping spree for Eid. This is also not a good trail to follow. Try completing your Eid preps before Ramadan so that you get more time for praying and dhikr.
Give charity after every iftar during the all last ten days of Ramadan. This way, you’ll get the reward of giving charity for 83 years, regardless of what date this sacred night would fall on earth.
Take a break from your Worldly affairs
For every important event in our lives, we all take off from our jobs, businesses and normal routine, then why not for this significant night? It doesn’t matter how many days you can go to leave from work, even if you can get a few days off, it can surely help you focus on your prayers. The idea is to help you get enough rest during the day and stay awake for ibadah at night without any worries about the next day work issues.
The Nawafil Plan
We all know that during Ramadan, every good deed has 70 times the reward then in regular days. So praying extra 2 rakah of nafl prayer with every obligatory prayer can surely help us collecting those extra rewards, however, for last ten nights, there should be a proper plan for nawafil. Try this –take a 2 hours rest after Isha and set alarm for 3 hours before sahoor. This way, you’ll get enough energy to perform nawafil without getting dizzy and you can easily stay up till sahoor. You can alternate the nawafil with salat at Tasbeeh, Salat at Tauba, and salat al Hajaat, and reciting Quran for last nights of Ramadan to get Lailat Ul Qadar.
Completing the Quran
The best thing is to recite one Parah a day during Ramadan so that you can easily complete your Quran till the last day of this sacred month. If you haven’t started yet, you can still complete your Quran –Here’s how! Since the last ten nights are important, and reciting whole Quran in these nights is more rewarding, you can go for a 6 Parah regime.
Every alternate night, or better the odd nights of last ten Ramadan days, sleep after Isha and set alarm for 3 hours before sahoor just like you do for nawafil plan, then wakeup for tahajjud, and recite Quran as much as you can after that. If you can, then recite 6 Parah a night to complete the Quran within Ramadan. If this is too much for you, then stick to reciting surah with its meaning and try to understand the message of Quran. This is also rewarding and you’ll eventually find that it’s all about you! Yes, the Quran is a message for every human on this earth.
Increase in Dhikr
The easiestyet beneficial form of worship during the Night of Power is doing dhikr. As soon as we feel a bit sleepy, we can sit down for a while and glorify Allah, the Creator, and Master of both Worlds. The most common dhikr are:
- Alhamdullilah
- SubhanAllah
- Allah u Akbar
- La ilaha ilallah
- Astagfirullah
- Subhāna-llāhi, wa-l-hamdu li-llāhi, wa lā ilāha illā-llāhu, wa-llāhu akbar. Wa lā hawla wa lā quwwata illā bi-llāhi-l-aliyyi-l-azīm
Supplicate in Abundance
Dua is the only medium a believer can directly talk to Allah. When we are done with all our ibadah, then during the last part of the night we should sit and ask Allah for everything that is Halal. The Prophet (PBUH) is reported to have said.
“Every last third quarter of the night, Our Lord comes down to the nearest heaven of earth, and ask; “Is there anyone to invoke me? So that, I can respond to him; is there anyone to ask Me so that, I may grant him his request? Is there anyone seeking My forgiveness so that, I may forgive him?”
So, supplicate as much as you can. You can start with durood e Ibrahimi, then Surah Al Fatiha, Quranic supplications and those taught by Allah’s Apostle PBUH, and even in your own language, talk your heart out to the One who has created you.
One of the supplications to be recited abundantly during the night of Qadr is;
Allahumma innaka ‘afuwwun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa’fu ‘annee
May Allah grant all the Muslims of this world, the opportunity to attain the night of Lailat Ul Qadar this Ramadan, and help us get the most out of this blissful night, Ameen.
