﴿إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَـهُ فِى لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ – وَمَآ أَدْرَاكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ – لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ – تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَـئِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِم مِّن كُلِّ أَمْرٍ – سَلَـمٌ هِىَ حَتَّى مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ ﴾
(1. Verily, We have sent it down in the Night of Al-Qadr.) (2. And what will make you know what the Night of Al-Qadr is) (3. The Night of Al-Qadr is better than a thousand months.) (4. Therein descend the angels and the Ruh by their Lord’s permission with every matter.) (5. There is peace until the appearance of dawn.)
Allah informs that He sent the Qur’an down during the Night of Al-Qadr, and it is a blessed night about which Allah says,
﴿إِنَّآ أَنزَلْنَـهُ فِى لَيْلَةٍ مُّبَـرَكَةٍ﴾
(We sent it down on a blessed night.) (44:3) This is the Night of Al-Qadr and it occurs during the month of Ramadan. This is as Allah says,
﴿شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِى أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ﴾
(The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur’an.) (2:185) Ibn `Abbas and others have said, “Allah sent the Qur’an down all at one time from the Preserved Tablet (Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz) to the House of Might (Baytul-`Izzah), which is in the heaven of this world. Then it came down in parts to the Messenger of Allah based upon the incidents that occurred over a period of twenty-three years.” Then Allah magnified the status of the Night of Al-Qadr, which He chose for the revelation of the Mighty Qur’an, by His saying,
﴿وَمَآ أَدْرَاكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ – لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ ﴾
(And what will make you know what the Night of Al-Qadr is The Night of Al-Qadr is better than a thousand months.) Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Hurayrah “When Ramadan would come, the Messenger of Allah would say,
«قَدْ جَاءَكُمْ شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ، شَهْرٌ مُبَارَكٌ، افْتَرَضَ اللهُ عَلَيْكُمْ صِيَامَهُ، تُفْتَحُ فِيهِ أَبْوَابُ الْجَنَّةِ، وَتُغْلَقُ فِيهِ أَبْوَابُ الْجَحِيمِ، وَتُغَلُّ فِيهِ الشَّيَاطِينُ، فِيهِ لَيْلَةٌ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ، مَنْ حُرِمَ خَيْرَهَا فَقَدْ حُرِم»
(Verily, the month of Ramadan has come to you all. It is a blessed month, which Allah has obligated you all to fast. During it the gates of Paradise are opened, the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are shackled. In it there is a night that is better than one thousand months. Whoever is deprived of its good, then he has truly been deprived.)” An-Nasa’i recorded this same Hadith. Aside from the fact that worship during the Night of Al-Qadr is equivalent to worship performed for a period of one thousand months, it is also confirmed in the Two Sahihs from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah said,
«مَنْ قَامَ لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ إِيمَانًا وَاحْتِسَابًا غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِه»
(Whoever stands (in prayer) during the Night of Al-Qadr with faith and expecting reward (from Allah), he will be forgiven for his previous sins.)
Credit: Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Suratul Qadr
