You are not required to perform a special type of worship in order to attain the auspicious nights.
It's not like if you're worshipping [on those special nights] in the mosque, then all the angels must and shall come to the mosque and go nowhere else.
This was a misconception.
Must We Celebrate Auspicious Nights in the Mosque?
We have been taught to frequent the mosque since our childhood.
Everyone would be lighting sparklers and fireworks on Shab e Baraat in Pakistan
and my father would drag me into the mosque and it would break my heart.
The question is are we required to perform special worship on these auspicious nights?
That is what is implied, anyway.
We are told to offer nawafil (auxiliary worship) in the mosque [on those auspicious nights]
If you must offer nawafil prayers, why not do it at home?
Is there a special reason behind offering nawafil prayers in the mosque?
You are required to go to a mosque so that you may offer congregational prayers.
However, mosques are replete with worshippers on those auspicious nights.
The clergyman would be sitting inside, delivering his sermons.
So do we acquire the [benevolence of] those auspicious nights by offering nawafil prayers and attending the clergy's sermons?
It is not necessary to gather at the mosques on those auspicious nights.
In fact, Prophet Muhammad (s) advised his companions not to turn their homes into cemeteries.
The Prophet (s) said, 'You may offer the obligatory prayers in the mosque,
and the other auxiliary worships can be performed in your homes.
So that your homes under the divine blessings'.
However, this is not the culture in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
They must perform every type of worship in the mosque.
And this takes more time.
How long could one keep up with such a tight schedule?
This is something that one cannot maintain on a regular basis.
For example, the Zuhr prayers.
The congregation of worshippers will gather at 1:30 pm,
but you will have to be there at 1 pm because you must offer four customary prayers beforehand.
Then, you just have to sit and wait for the obligatory prayers to begin so you can join them.
Then after the obligatory prayer, you must offer further auxiliary prayers.
So, it would take one hour to complete one prayer
and another hour to complete the following prayer.
It would take even longer to complete the Isha prayer.
You have to complete 17 rakats in this prayer.
You will complete the first four rakats, then the obligatory rakats
then you must offer nawafil, sunnat and witr prayers
which will amount to 17 rakats.
One would be able to maintain this for a few months at the most
however, this cannot be done on a regular basis
because you are required to live a life in this world, too.
I am practical and I speak the truth and that's why it's hard to digest for some.
Although, people are troubled by this situation.
If you visit the Arab countries, you will see that people only come to the mosques to offer obligatory prayers.
and since it takes a few minutes to offer obligatory prayers,
so they think, 'Well, it's just for a few minutes. Might as well pray'.
But in India and Pakistan, it is a 2-hour-long affair.
'Might as well pray tomorrow'.
So, this becomes an issue in people's lives.
This is why people have distanced themselves from prayers.
However, this is only the case in Pakistan and India
that they pray all the auxiliary worships - sunnah, nawafil, etc. - inside the mosques.
When you offer nawafil prayers in the mosque on auspicious nights, it is certainly not a guarantee that you will attain the Night of Power by doing so.
When I was younger, I would hear about these auspicious nights from the clergymen,
specifically the Night of Power.
They would tell us that Gabriel would come and shake everyone's hand on that night.
So, I would think, 'There are 4 or 5 mosques in my neighbourhood alone....'
'So how many mosques would there be in Karachi, and then the whole of Pakistan?'
'How many mosques must there be in India?'
Dhaka has been given a special title: The City of Mosques.
City of Mosques.
There are mosques everywhere.
So I wondered how on earth would Gabriel shake hands with all these people at the same time?
Because the Qur'an states that those special etheric moments only last until Fajr.
Then, that auspicious night ends.
Those moments only last for about an hour or so, and there are mosques absolutely everywhere in the world, so how could he shake hands with everyone?
It didn't make sense to me.
My point is that things, in reality, are often not as they are perceived to be.
So what actually happens?
When those special angels and that special soul from the etheric realms descend onto Earth,
first and foremost, they visit the Divine Accomplished Spiritual Master who has been appointed in the world at the time.
If there are a few Spiritual Masters in any given era, then they would only visit those Spiritual Masters.
They do not visit common human beings.
They meet with the Spiritual Masters, and they provide to the Spiritual Masters the benevolence they brought down for the disciples.
And the whole world is covered this way.
That's when I found out this secret that the blessings and benevolence of the Night of Power
would be brought down and presented to my Spiritual Master,
and we would receive it from our Spiritual Master.
Therefore, I wondered why I would need to seek anything or go anywhere else now.
Isn't that right?
We don't have to go anywhere else, do we?
But that era has passed. Now, we are in a new era.
Now, this world is devoid of Spiritual Masters.
Now, the only one to bless this land is His Divine Eminence Imam Mehdi Gohar Shahi.
The spiritual benevolence that HDE Gohar Shahi has given to humanity and is continuing to bestow upon humankind without it being the Night of Power,
it is far greater than whatever one may attain on the Night of Power.
There is a limit established [for the Night of Power].
'Khair min alf shahar (it is greater than a thousand months)'.
That's it.
And what is this benevolence bestowed upon humanity by HDE Gohar Shahi?
'Yawma laa yanfa'u maalun wa laa banoon'
'Illa man atal laaha biqalbin saleem'
Here, God has given a guarantee of success on the Day of Judgement.
As per the divine guarantee on the Day of Judgement,
God has stated his demands for the Day of Judgement beforehand.
'Neither your sons nor your wealth will help you on that day, successful is one who brings forth a Qalb e Saleem'.
Qalb e Saleem (a Secured Heart).
The Night of Power was actually invented in order to introduce a special personality.
Every year, minute manifestations of that grand personality would be revealed to all so that the concept and ... remains fresh in the minds and hearts of people.
I have no reason to lie to you about anything.
And is there any other personality or any 'soul' that can give us something greater than the association with His Divine Eminence Imam Mehdi Gohar Shahi?
The one in whose remembrance our beloved Prophet (s) would shed tears uncontrollably,
it's not like the Prophet (s) awaited the Night of Power every year.
He would cry for that grand personality.
The actual attainment of the Night of Power is to find that grand personality.
And that special soul that descends from above, if his likeness is stamped onto your hearts forever,
then, I swear by God, every beat of your heart is the Night of Power.