Ramadan KareemBlessed Ramadan: The night worth a thousand years of worship [Archives:2005/890/Culture]
By Mohammed al-Hakimi
[email protected]
For the Yemen Times
As I was performing prayers at the mosque, two people were arguing about the Night of Power (Lailat al-Qadr). Here are some excerpts of the controversy:
Ali: It was 2:00 a.m. when the Night of Power visited me.
Fahd: What were you doing?
Ali: I was talking to my wife about what descend from Heavens during the holy month of Ramadan.
Fahd: What was it like?
Ali: We were about to sleep when a pleasant light sparkled all around my house. I asked my wife not to be scared. The whole incident took just two minutes. I pray to Allah to bless me and all our Ummah.
Fahd: That must have been the lights of car coming back from Taiz (He teases his friend).
Relevant superstitions:
Some Muslims believe that they get blessed by Allah so much that they actually watch the Night of Power. They believe that it comes in the form of a green light or holy signs descending from Heavens. They also believe that when some Muslim witnesses such an apparition, he will ever be blessed, rich, happy, high-brow and lucky.
Many tales are narrated in our environment especially in remote Yemeni villages.
Fasting was prescribed to Muslims in the first year of Hejra in the month of Ramadan in which the Holy Quraan was revealed. It was sent down on the Night of Power and this indicated that The Night of Power occurs in Ramadan.
What is it like?
The Night of Power is a blessed night on which worshipping equals a thousand months – that is approximately 83 years.
Al-Qadr is Arabic for honor and of great importance and status. Some say it was called so because the earth becomes full of angels and at every span of it, there is an angel praising Allah. Its value is great: one's all sins would be forgiven because Allah's mercy prevails on that night. Some people hold the notion that it is the 27th night of Ramadan. Suggested evidence is that the word hia (Arabic for it, referring to the night) mentioned in Surat al-Qadr in the Quraan is ordered 27th among the thirty (one-month days) words of the same Surah.
Although it is one of Ramadan's nights, nobody knows for sure which one it is exactly. It is a matter of speculation.
Since Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) used to seclude himself in the mosque during the last ten days of Ramadan, Muslims do the same. Such seclusion consists in a stay in the mosque and never going out of it during the ten days or so except for very urgent matters. One must not go home until the seclusion period he specified for himself is over so that he may come across the holy Night of Power.
What else?
If it is the holy night, some religious men believe the sun in the morning of the day is warm and the evening is cold; dogs don't bark and the sky is clear and bright, etc.
Is that true?
Most religious scholars say that all the abovementioned signs of the Night of Power are not true. Whatever the case may be, people should not care about the signs . they should care more about how to worship Allah to the utmost during the nights and invoke His help and providence.
May Allah bless all of us and many happy returns to all of our readers. Thanks for pursuing my serial articles highlighting Ramadan in our country and bye for now.
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