So it was not yet clear to them that Laylat-al-Qadr was in the
last 10 nights.
They were in the middle 10 days of Ramadan,
and they were with the Prophet (pbuh) is doing itikaf in Ramadan.
Rasulullah (pbuh), I saw this dream where I was doing sujood in water and mud.
What night was this ,By the way?
When we look at the prophet (pbuh)
and his relationship with Allah and our blessing and good
fortune of being from the ummah of Rasulullah (pbuh)
There are two things that Rasulullah (pbuh) always does on our behalf.
He always advocates for Allah (swt) to lessen our burden,
and he always advocates for Allah (swt) to increase our blessing.
This is our Messenger (pbuh).
While he was alive in this world, he constantly petitions
his Lord to make things easier for the ummah, yet more rewardable,
and on the Day of Judgment, Rasulullah (pbuh) will
be walking next to the members of his ummah looking at their
..., looking at their scales, petitioning on their behalf.
And Allah will keep on giving you; oh Mohammad (pbuh) until you are pleased.
Every nabi, every prophet has an accepted dua.
Rasulullah (pbuh) said, I have left mine until the day of Judgment,
when he would fall in prostration and advocate for us.
when the Prophet (pbuh) went on the journey of Al Isra wal Miraj,
And we know the conversation that took place between him and Musa (as),
When Musa (as) told the Prophet (pbuh),
go back and ask Allah (swt) for less takleef / affliction, for the for less..
Let me ask you a question.
And this is very serious to just think about.
Do you think Rasulullah (pbuh) when he received the order for 50 prayers,
do you think that the Prophet (pbuh) thought to himself,
that's too much?
I mean, we know his (pbuh) acts of worship,
50 prayers would have basically meant that we spend our entire
day in Salah, that we live our lives in prayer and that everything
else figures itself out.
But Musa (as) said your Ummah would not be able to handle it,
And the Prophet (pbuh) went back to Allah (swt) on behalf of us,
on behalf of the ummah,
Ya Allah make it less.
ya Allah make it less
Until when Musa (as) told Rasulullah (pbuh) that five is even too much.
The prophet (pbuh) said, Now I feel shyness,
He (pbuh) felt too shy to go back to Allah
and say, Yeah, Allah less than five,
and Subhanallah, Allah does not burden a soul beyond its scope.
We're blessed, Alhamdulliah.
Five prayers is not too much Alhamdulillah, it is not too much.
But on top of that what did Allah (swt) say to the prophet (pbuh)?
That the reward of their five will be 50, the reward of their five will be 50.
How does Laylat-al-Qadr come about?
Imam Hasan al-Basri (rah) tells us about our Messenger (pbuh) anytime
Allah gives him, the prophet (pbuh) thinks
how does that translate into giving to the ummmah?
You said that Allah azzawajal gave the Prophet (pbuh), Al-Kawthar.
Allah gave the Prophet (pbuh) Al-Kawthar/ abundance, the particular River and
the prophet (Pbuh) wanted something for his Ummah.
So Allah gave him Laylat-al-Qadr; that's one thing:
abundance for the Ummah as well.
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam........
On top of that, we know some specific details about how the
prophet (pbuh) particularly ask Allah (swt)
for a gift that we are all looking for for the last 10 nights.
And that is, Anas (ra) said
that Rasulallah (pbuh) saw some of the previous Nations.
He was given some of the news of the Nations that came before.
And the Prophet (pbuh) understood...
The average lifespan of this nation is shorter than the average
lifespan of those Nations that came before.
The prophet (pbuh) said,
the average lifespan of my ummah is what, between 60 and seven years old.
That's the average life spent of my ummah.
So when the Prophet (pbuh) saw that, what did he think of right away?
And Anas (ra) said that he was distressed
that they would not have the opportunity to do the
same deeds, that the other ummah, the other Nations had the ability to do.
So Allah (swt) gave him Laylat-al-Qadr as a gift to the Prophet (pbu)'s ummah.
The Night of Glory is better than a thousand months.
And we know that though this is not a Hadith, they are narrations
from Mujaddid and others within the books of tasfseer that the
Prophet (pbuh) saw a particular man who lived a whole life
of doing good deeds,
And the Prophet (pbuh) wanted his ummah to have the
opportunity to reach that, so Allah (swt) gave him
Laylat-al-Qadr, a lifetime 83 years.
However, the minimum, the minimum is 1,000 months.
How do we interpret a Hadith , ayat about the reward of Allah (swt)?
We get as specific as possible in regards to the
deeds that we are to do in order to observe.
But then when we interpret the reward, we interpret it in
the most expensive manner possible,
And that is our Husn Al-Dhan Billah or good expectation of Allah.
So let me be very clear here, when there is ayah or
any Hadith that mentions a reward from Allah (swt),
the calculations that are done by the scholars are to see,
how can we fulfill the action that is being called to in
that particular ayah or Hadith.
So what does it mean to observe laylatul qadr?
what does it mean to observe this?
What does it mean to observe that?
And so you'll find the scholars go through the painful time
and process of trying to derive the most specific recommendations
possible for these types of deeds.
But then when they interpret the reward, you interpret it...
the most expensive manner possible, because that's how
we look to our Lord (swt),
and the prophet (pbuh) said that
when Allah rewards a good deed, the minimum is by 10,
and then Allah (swt) rewards It up to 700, up to whatever, Allah (swt) wants.
So for some people, laylatul qadr is not even a thousand months.
It's thousands of months.
For some people, the Tasbeeh of Ramadan is not even times a thousand.
It's times thousands up toward Allah (swt) decides
to reward his servants with and that comes back to each and
every single one of us calling out to Allah and Subhanallah
you connect that
...... better than a thousand months.
Oh Allah! you're generous.
You mix the generosity or you pair the generosity with His forgiveness.
What does that mean?
You are generous in Your forgiveness.
So not only do you overlook in pardon, but you increase what
comes after the pardon.
So You are generous on top of being forgiving.
And so when you're calling upon your Lord, I know there are
some very cool like statistics
about a thousand months equals this
many years, equals this many nights, equals this many minutes.
And then if you take the night and divide it, then that means
each second is worth this.
Each minute is worth that.
That's great.
But Allah's mercy is even more than that.
No infographic can encapsulate Allah's mercy.
So we just do our part
and when we do our part, we say ya Allah,
Now we leave it to You and oh Allah! surprise us, surprise us with
the increase, because we know on the Day of Judgment that
the believer is blown away.
SubhanAllah, as afraid as the believer is on the Day of Judgment,
the believer is blown away by the mercy of Allah (swt),
Once Allah (swt) starts to reveal the mercy that
He stored only for the Day of Judgment.
How many mercies does Allah (swt) have in total?
Allah is limitless in mercy.
But Allah (swt) has only given us one out of 100 of
the mercy that is between us that we benefit from in this life,
and when you start to see what those other mercies
look like, it's sort of like when they talk about dimensions in this life, right?
That we don't know what a five dimensions,
6 dimensions, 7 dimension, eight dimension....
They talk about these galaxies in these universes that have
multiple dimensions that we've never heard of.
We cannot even begin to comprehend the layers of Allah's mercy
that start to come out on the Day of Judgment for the one that sought it,
Blows us away.
This is truly one of my favorite narrations and especially
fits the theme of speaking about knowing the Prophet (pbuh)
and meeting the Prophet (pbuh), visualizing the Prophet (pbuh)
and seeing yourself as a companion of the Messenger (pbuh).
So the narration is in sahih bukari, and it's narrated in several
different authentic Hadiths about the same incident.
But this one is my favorite because the way that it starts
off it's narrated by Abu Salamah bin Abdur Rahman (ra) says that I asked
Abu saeed al khudri (ra), can you come and walk with us so that we can
speak to you and ask you some questions about the Prophet (pbuh)?
Now why is this so beautiful?
One of the 10 promised Paradise;
Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf (ra), Abu salamah, his son was one of the
seven Faqh of Medina / one of the seven Jurists of Medina
from the Tabiun, a great scholar from the Tabiun,
Abu salamah narrated from many of the Sahaba of
the prophet (pbuh) not just his father.
So we often find that some of the Sahaba had children and
those children, of course Tabiun would narrate from their
parents and then a limited circle.
Abu Salamah went to multiple companions of the Prophet (pbuh) and
became actual students of the companions.
He goes to see abu saeed al khudri (ra), a Noble companion of the prophets (pbuh)
and they are all noble, but one of the most elevated companions,
And he said, Can we walk and talk?
So he and Abu saeed (ra) starts to walk in a garden and he asked
Abu saeed al khudri (ra) can you recall anything about laylatul qadr,
like, what can you share with us about laylatul qadr?
So Abu Saeed (ra) gives him this narration.
He says that it was Ramadan and we did itikaf with the Prophet (pbuh)
in the middle 10 days of the month.
So it was not yet clear to them that laylatul qadr was in the last 10 nights.
They were in the middle 10 days of Ramadan and they were
with the prophet (pbuh) is doing itikaf in Ramadan.
So anyway, by the time the 20th day came, he said, We went home,
we finished the middle 10 and then we went home, assuming
that either they caught it or they didn't catch it.
But because nothing had happened, they just didn't know.
And we know that the prophet (pbuh) said that
he was caused to forget laylatul qadr, why?
Because he came out and two companions were arguing with
each other and the prophet (pbuh) says,
I had it, but .... it was lifted.
But it's not like that was cruelty from Allah.
He said,..... that may be better for you.
So he said, Seek it out instead,
and of course we know seek it out in the last 10 nights.
So back to the story, you came to the measure of the Prophet (pbuh),
You did itikaf with the Prophet (pbuh)
His tent was pitched the middle 10 nights.
Then he went home and they all went home.
Then Abu saeed (ra) says the Prophet (pbuh) came
out to us one night in the last 10, and Rasulullah (pbuh) I saw this dream
where I was doing sujood in water and mud.
So it was a rainy night and it's a sign of laylatul qadr for the prophet (pbuh);
So I just saw a dream that I was doing sujood and
it was laylatul qadr and I was doing prostration in the mud.
So the Prophet (pbuh) said, so whoever amongst you was
doing itikaf come back to the masjid.
So Abu Saeed (ra) said, all of us that were with the Prophet (pbuh)
in the middle ten nights,
We quickly came back to the masjid to continue our itikaf.
And he said, We looked at this sky and there was not a cloud in the Sky.
So it was a clear night.
So the assumption is maybe this is a night to come ahead.
Then he said, we all gathered back in the masjid to do itikaf,
and he said, suddenly this cloud came right over, subhanAllah,
a completely clear Sky, calm night.
There was no rain whatsoever,
And this cloud came right over us.
And subhanAllah, I was recounting after hajj the last hajj we
had prior to covid, just how the cloud just formed right over
us in Arafah, subhanAllah,
I was thinking about it as I was reading this narration.
So he says, we're in the masjid and the cloud came right over
us and it started to rain.
So we started to pray and the Prophet (pbuh) was leading them in prayer.
And he said, And I remember the Prophet (pbuh),
and of course, the Salah of the the Prophet (pbuh) was long and beautiful,
and he said the Prophet (pbuh)'s face was covered in mud, subhanAllah,
So exactly as the dream that he (pbuh) had seen.
What night was this, by the way?
Narration comes in a few different narrations.
What night was this of the last 10 nights?
It was the 23rd night.
The 23rd night, in fact, Abu saeed (ra) says
it and some of the other companions recall it,
and they say, the 23rd night.
It's actually one of the strongest evidences for the scholars
that say that we don't know that's the 27 th night.
there are a group of ulema,
It's not a fringe opinion that take the evidences that suggests
this the 27th night,
and they say it is the 27th night.
Some of the Sahaba I thought it was the 27 th night, but
this is one of the strongest evidences
those companions that witnessed it with the Prophet (pbuh)
on that year, that it rotates amongst the last 10 nights.
And that was the 23rd night.
We ask Allah (swt) to allow us to catch laylatul qadr,
We ask Allah (Swt) that whatever night
it is in these Last 10 that we are not deprived of that night.
May Allah(swt) allow us to find it with open hearts, with longing hearts.
May Allah (swt) allow it to be a means by which He rewards us,
forgive us and enters us jannatul firdaus
in the companions of our beloved Prophet (pbuh).
Allahhuma Ameen.