Laylat al-Qadr: Difference between revisions

==Laylat al-Qadr in the Qur'an==

Surat al-Qadr, the 97th sura of Qur'an is about Lalyat al-Qadr:

Ha Mim (1) By the manifest Book (2) Indeed We sent it down on a blessed night and indeed We have been warning [mankind] (3) Every definitive matter is resolved in it (4) as an ordinance from Us, Indeed We have been sending [apostles] (5) as a mercy from your Lord —indeed He is the All-hearing, the All-knowing—(6)

==Laylat al-Qadr and Imam al-Mahdi (a)==

There are hadiths in Shi'a sources that presented the night of Qadr and Surat al-Qadr as evidence for existence of Imam a-Mahdi (a). According to these hadiths, angels were sent down to the Prophet (s) on that night and because the night of Qadr is not only for the Prophet's (s) time, every year they will be sent down on his successors, Infallible Imams who are the nearest and most similar people to him (s). Here are two of these hadiths:

Ibn 'Abbas narrated: Imam Ali said, "There is a night of Qadr in every year, in which the affairs of the year will sent down. There are guardians for those affairs after the Prophet (s)." Ibn 'Abbas asked, "Who are they?" Imam said "I and eleven of my descendants, [who are] narrating Imams."

1- In the Night of Qadr the fate of the year was sent down to the Prophet (s). 2- Laylat al-Qadr is not only for the Prophet's (s) time. 3- There must a person with the same characteristics of the Prophet (s), to whom the angels would be sent down on the Night of Qadr. 4- According to hadiths, this person is an infallible Imam who succeeds the Prophet (s). 5- (Result =) There must be an existent infallible Imam in every time to whom the angels would descent, and presently - according to reliable hadiths - he is no one except for Imam al-Mahdi (a), the last infallible Imam.

According to Shi'a hadiths, the Night of Qadr is either 19th or 21st or 23rd of the month of Ramadan. The most probable of the three is the latter. Shaykh al-Saduq said, " Our elite anonymously said that Laylat al-Qadr is the 23rd of the month of Ramadan." It is been narrated from Imam al-Sadiq (a) that there is Laylat al-Qadr to the Day of Judgment and it is in the month of Ramadan. In another hadith, it is reported that the night of 19th is the night of assessment (Taqdir), the night of 21st is the night of confirmation (Ibram) and the night of 23rd is the night of determination (Imda').

==Merits of Laylat al-Qadr==

There is a complete Sura in the Qur'an describing and eulogizing this night, titled after it - al-Qadr.

- It is better than one thousand month: the Qur'an explicitly denotes this in Surat al-Qadr "The night of Qadr is better than a thousand months." Imam al-Sajjad (a) says in the 44th supplication of Sahifat al-Sajjadiyya, which is about coming of the month of Ramadan "… Then He made one of its nights surpass the nights of a thousand months, and named it the Night of Qadr."

- The night of revelation of the Qur'an: according to the verses of Qur'an and hadiths, the Qur'an was sent down as a whole on the Night of Qadr from al-Lawh al-Mahfuz (preserved tablet) to the sky of this world or [[Bayt al-Ma'mur]] or the heart of the Prophet (s). It is extensively explained in [[Quranic Studies]] that there are two revelations for the Qur'an: as a whole and gradual over 23 years of the prophethood of the Prophet Muhammad (s). The latter was a verbal revelation unlike the former.

- The night of forgiveness of sins: The Prophet (s) has been quoted, "Whoever stays up the Night of Qadr (performing Mustahab acts) and is faithful and believes in the Day of Judgment, all his sins will be forgiven."

- The heart of the month of Ramadan: Imam al-Sadiq (a) said, "'Indeed the number of the months with Allah is twelve months in Allah's Book, the day when He created the heavens and the earth', the master of the months is the month of Allah, the month of Ramadan, and the heart of the month of Ramadan is the Night of Qadr …."

- Master of the nights: It has been narrated from the Prophet (s) "The Night of Qadr is the master of all nights."

The Mustahab (recommended) acts for the nights of Qadr are divided into two types: the acts which are common to the three nights and are done in all of them, and particular acts for each night.