Lailatul Qadr' (Shab-e-Qadr)

Lailatul Qadr' (Arabic: لیلة القدر‎) (also known as Shab-e-Qadr), the Night of Destiny, Night of Power, Night of Value, the Night of Decree or Night of Measures, is the anniversary of two very important dates in Islam that occurred in the month of Ramadan. It is the anniversary of the night Muslims believe the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.



Revelation to Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W)



Lailatul Qadr' is the anniversary of the night that the Qur'an was revealed. Muslims believe that revelation of the Qur'an occurred in two phases, with the first phase being the revelation in its entirety on Lailatul Qadr' to Gabriel in the lowest heaven, and then the subsequent verse-by-verse revelation to Prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel (Jibril in Arabic). The revelation started in 610 CE at the Hira cave on Mount Nur in Mecca.The first Surah that was revealed was Surah Al-Alaq. "Iqra" means "read" the prophet was told to read by the angel Gabriel. Muslims should do as much worship they can on this night.



Sunnah



Muslims often pray extra prayers on this day, particularly the night prayer. They awake, pray, and hope God will give them anything they may desire on this night. Mostly, they perform tilawat (reading the Qur'an).



Those who can afford to devote their time in the remembrance of God stay in the mosque for the final ten days of Ramadan. This worship is called Iʿtikāf (retreat). They observe fast during the day and occupy themselves with the remembrance of God, performing voluntary prayers and studying the Qur'an, day and night, apart from the obligatory prayers which they perform with the congregation. Food and other necessities of life are provided for them during their stay in the mosque. Devoting time to remember God, Muslims also hope to receive divine favors and blessings connected with the blessed night (lailatul qadr')



Date



Sunni Islam



Laylat al-Qadr is to be found in the last five odd nights of the 3rd decade of Ramadan. There is no history in the Qur'an as to when the specific date is. Therefore in the Sunni communities of all the Islamic countries, the Laylat al-Qadar is found to be on the last nights of Ramadan. Mostly it is on one of the odd nights, i.e., 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th or 29th night. And most probably[citation needed] it falls on the 27th night of Ramadan. It is the night when Quraan was revealed (as a whole on the 4th sky) and then was revealed piecemeal to Muhammad in 23 years, 13 years in Makkah and 10 years in Madina.



Shia Islam



Similarly Lailatul Qadr' is to be found in the last ten odd nights of Ramadan but mostly on the 19th or 21st or 23rd night of Ramadhan. The 19th, according to the Shia belief coincides with the night Ali was attacked in the Mihrab while worshipping in the Great Mosque of Kufa, and died on the 21s of Ramadhan. Shia muslims worship and regard these three nights of great reward and worship but to be the night the Quran was revealed to angel Gabriel is 23rd of Ramadan.



External links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laylat_al-Qadr