May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allow us to catch Laylat al Qadr.
Ameen.
Alhamdulillah, we're in the best 10 nights of the year.
May Allah allow us to be focused and sincere and idhnillah realize
the full reward of every single one of these blessed nights.
Allahumma Ameen. What does it mean to catch Laylat al Qadr?
I actually wanted us to think about this
question in a schematic way because nothing in the sharia,
nothing in our taskia, nothing in our spirituality is random.
Everything has a logic to it.
Everything has a coherence to it.
When someone asks the question, what does it mean to catch Laylat al Qadr?
I'm not talking about the idea of what does it look like outside in the sun
the day after and the peacefulness of the night.
I mean, for you as an individual,
what does it mean to have caught Laylat al Qadr?
May Allah Almighty allow us all to catch Laylat al Qadr.
Allah is the most Merciful.
There are two things I want you to think about, by the will of Allah.
As we talk about this particular subject.
There are two levels of catching Laylat al Qadr.
In general, when it comes to seasons
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala's mercy, when Allah gives us an opportunity,
a season or a place where His mercy is more present to us,
or there's a greater opportunity, there are two levels of observance.
Number one is to witness, to witness.
Number two is al amal, are the deeds that are present therein.
First and foremost, to witness something.
Secondly, to perform extra deeds, to perform blessed deeds during that time.
I want you to think about everything in our deen that's relegated to a time or
a place and think about how the scheme fits Inshaallah for a moment.
Observance means how do I know that I fasted a day of Ramadan?
Al Mushahada, I witnessed the day of Ramadan.
I did not eat or drink.
I witnessed that day of Ramadan.
Inshaallah, hopefully the reward of that fast is maintained.
It's preserved. So long as I didn't do anything to break
my fast in the physical sense, that would mean nullifying it by eating or drinking.
In the spiritual sense,
that would mean nullifying it by back biting or gossiping or lying or arguing or
doing something that would compromise it spiritually.
Otherwise, I caught that day of Ramadan.
I fasted that day of Ramadan.
When we talk about hajj,
when we talk about umrah, when we talk about being present
on the day of Arafah
Allah defines hajj and the acceptance of hajj first and foremost by what?
The lack of violating that hajj.
Al hajj Al Mabroor, when the Prophet (pbuh),
talks about an accepted hajj, you can read any book of hadith
and the word Mabroor here of accepted refers to not violating the hajj.
Meaning if you go there and you pass the miqat, you pass the station and your
ihram and you don't violate your ihram and you perform what needs to be
performed, you can consider yourself amongst those who witness that day.
You witness the day of Arafah, you witness the Umrah, you witness the hajj.
So this is the first level.
Ramadan is first and foremost defined
by that and the last 10 nights are first and foremost defined by that.
In Salat Al Isha' ... No one will reach Hellfire except for the one who is deprived,
Al Ashqa, the deprived one, is a person who even if they are placed
in the center of goodness, they're immersed in it,
they will still find a way to miss out on the mercy of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Omer Ibn Abdul Aziz (Rah) said, Indeed, a person has lost and failed
when they find themselves excluded from the mercy of Allah.
Those it encompasses all things.
How could you miss out on the mercy of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala?
Al Ashqa is the person who missed out
despite the fact that they were right in the middle of it.
They had the opportunity, but they were deprived of that good.
When the Prophet (pbuh) said, talked about a gathering of goodness,
he said, ... they are a group of people.
If someone is amongst them,
a person who is sitting amongst them will not be deprived.
I say this to first and foremost give you
some hope, but at the same time give you a warning.
That as Imam al-Hafidh Ibn Rajab (Rah) says..
You want Laylat Al Qadr to be accepted?
What counts as catching Laylat al Qadr?
As a believer, being awake at the time
of Laylat al Qadr, not doing anything to violate it,
even if you just prayed Salat Al Isha and you prayed Salat Al Fajr and you
attended some Halaqa and you made some dhikr, you didn't backbite, you didn't sin,
you didn't insult anybody, you didn't disobey Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
You are present on the night of Laylat al Qadr.
Alhamdulillah, that's observing Laylat Al Qadr.
Inshaallah, the reward of Laylat al Qadr....
that the night of Al Qadr is better than a thousand months has been written for you.
That is the mercy of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that you start with.
First and foremost, be happy that you're here.
Say, Alhamdulillah, that you're here.
You're in a masjid in the last 10 nights.
This is where you need to be.
You're doing Mushahada, you're witnessing the Salah,
you're witnessing the prayer and jamaah in the last 10 nights in a masjid.
You're attending a halaqah in the last 10 nights of a masjid.
That's exactly what it is. Observe it.
Now, Jibril (A.s) curse the person who still manages to not be
forgiven in Ramadan, where is that situated in?
It's situated with sinfulness.
A person who is disobedient to their parents,
a person who does not send Salawat
on the Prophet, Sallalalhu Aleyhi Wasallam,
at least the first time that they hear his name in a particular setting or gathering.
It's sinfulness. What is wrong with you?
How do you still miss out on the mercy of Allah?
If that's the case for the month of Ramadan,
imagine a person who sins on Laylat al Qadr.
Think about it, because there's a scheme here.
The better the time or the place, the more severe the sin.
A sin in ihram is not like a sin outside of ihram.
A sin at hajj is not like a sin outside of hajj.
A sin in Ramadan is not like a sin outside of Ramadan.
A sin in the sacred months, the sacred months,
Dhu'l-Qa'dah, Dhu'l-Hijjah and Muharram, and Rajab
is not like a sin outside of the sacred months.
A sin in a sacred place or a sacred time
is that much worse because at the bare minimum to observe means do not violate.
Do not violate.
You have 20 days to practice guarding this tongue, guarding your eyes, fasting.
Consider the fasting of the night at this point.
Do not violate these nights.
If the only thing is you come and you sit
here and you don't shed a single tear and you even sleep for a good part
of the night, may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala write down
Laylat al Qadr for you because you still could be amongst those who observe
Laylat al Qadr because this is a gift from Allah to this ummah.
The first thing in is, al Mushahada, to witness something.
The second thing is al 'Amal' are the deeds that you put forth.
That refers to the multiplication beyond
what Allah has guaranteed as a bare minimum.
What the scholars mentioned is
that at the bare minimum, and this is the mercy of Allah,
if you don't mess up on Laylat al Qadr and you do the basics and you don't
compromise it, you are observing of it, but not everyone catches it the same.
Some people would put forth deeds
on the night of Laylat al Qadr that make it worth even more than a lifetime.
Some people will glorify Allah, will pray,
will have a moment of closeness to Allah that make it better than 10 lifetimes,
that make it better than 50 lifetimes because not everyone catches it the same.
So you start with that first level of Al Mushahada, then the second level is
what deeds am I doing in these last 10 nights?
Can you imagine the Prophet (pbuh) described as
tying his waist belt in those last 10 nights?
Take the Prophet (pbuh) on an average night of Qiyam.
I can't imagine what his Qiyam (night prayer) looked like in the last 10 nights.
If he would cry until his place would be wet on a regular night,
imagine the Qiyam of the Prophet (pbuh) in his tent in those last 10 nights.
He gave life to the night, peace be upon him.
Some of the Sahabah,
they came to the Masjid and it was like Eid for them in those last ten nights.
Subhanallah, I was reading about Tameem al-Daari (ra), a companion.
When he comes to the Masjid in those last ten nights, it's like Eid.
He's wearing his best garment.
He had a particular garment that was reserved,
a particular type of perfume for those last ten nights because it was special.
These are the nights of Eid,
the nights of celebration in the metaphorical sense because I'm
celebrating that closeness to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Iman Malik (Rah), very similar narrations about him.
Not everyone catches it the same way.
That's where you want to build on observance and think about the deposits.
How can I make this night even better than a lifetime?
Because the potential is there.
How can I do extra good deeds now?
How can I do extra dhikr?
How can I have a moment in my du'a?
But at the bare minimum,
do not fail to observe the rights of these nights upon you.
There is an observance and then there is to do the deeds that are be fitting of it,
that honor the night, observe the night and then honor the night
the same way that you do with your fasting.
That's when the Prophet (pbuh) says
whoever fasts Ramadan with faith and accountability,
Allah will give them the reward of being forgiven for all of their previous sins.
Whoever stands on the night of Laylat al Qadr
with faith and with a sense of accountability,
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala seeking its reward, accountability and seeking its
reward, Allah will forgive all of their previous sins.
O Allah, You are the one who forgives. You love to forgive.
So forgive all of us and accept Laylat al Qadr from all of us.
Make us amongst those that observe it and that honor it as well.
Allahumma Ameen.