A Night better than a thousand months

A month has verily come upon us, wherein lies a night better than a thousand months. Whosever misses such a night, has indeed been deprived of all that is good; and none is deprived of it, except he who is really unfortunate.

Who can have doubt as to the misfortune of the person who is either deprived or deprives himself of the great good of laylatul qadr? There are those who, during their service and terms of employment, have to stay awake by night throughout the year.

How easy should it be, for the sake of gaining the reward of over eighty years of worship of Allah to stay awake for one month in Allah ta’ala’s service?

Because of lack of interest, there is no desire in the heart. If that were present, then even a thousand nights in worship of Allah ta’ala would become exceedingly easy. It is this urge and desire that we must create. Our Nabi (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) had been promised time and again that he had nothing to fear in the a’khirah and had been given good news as to his exalted position. Yet night after night he was seen in worship of Allah, so much so that his feet became swollen.

Among the believers of Islam, there are many saintly followers who copied his example. They were human beings like us, and none can this say that it is impossible for us to have that same desire for worship; it is really a matter of taking this to heart.

Let us look at the example of the following illustrious sons of Islam:

One such man was ‘Umar (radiyalahu ‘anhu) who, having performed his ‘isha’ salah, would return home and then remain in salah throughout the night, until the adhan was heard for fajr.

Then there is the example of ‘Uthman (radiyalahu ‘anhu) who, after fasting the whole day, used to spend the whole night in salah apart from getting a little sleep during the first third of the night. It is well known about him that he used to recite the whole Quran during one rak’ah at a time.

In Ihya ‘Ulum al-Din by Imam-Ghazali (rahmatullah ‘alaihi), Abu Talib Makki (rahmatullah ‘alaihi) speaks of some forty men form among the tabi’is who used to perform fajr salah with the wudu’ with which they had performed their ‘isha’ salah.Imama Abu Hanifah (rahmatullah ‘alaihi) used to cry so much while reciting the Quran that his neighbours would feel pity for him. Once he wept all night, crying while reciting the following ayah again and again;

“Nay, the Hour (of Judgment) is the time promised for them (for their reckoning), and that hour will be most grievous and bitter. (al-qamar 46)

So, we should spend our time in Allah’s service, and Allah ta’ala shall bless us with freedom form want, and Allah ta’ala shall remove our poverty. Otherwise, He shall load us with pressing engagements and duties, while our poverty and needs shall not decrease.

How often we observe the truth of this. Some people serve only Allah ta’ala while having no means of livelihood, and yet they need nothing.

‘O’ almighty Allah, secure us from sins and bless all of us. “A’min”