Laylat al-Qadr: Difference between revisions

'''Laylat al-Qadr''' (Arabic: {{ia|لَیلَة القَدر}}, lit. night of the measure or night of the destiny) is the night of the [[revelation]] of the [[Qur'an]] and the predestination of the coming year for everyone. In the Qur'an and [[hadith]]s, the Night of Qadr is said to be more valuable than one thousand months. It is the most virtuous night of the year and the night of divine mercy and the forgiveness of [[sin]]s, when [[angel]]s descend on the Earth. According to some [[Shiite]] hadiths, the angels present people's predestination for the coming year to the [[Imam]].

The exact date of Laylat al-Qadr is unknown. However, according to many traditions, it is in the [[month of Ramadan]]. Shi'a believe that it is whether the eve of 19th or 21st or 23rd of the month of Ramadan. Majority of Shi'a emphasis on the eve of [[Ramadan 23|23rd]] and majority of [[Sunni]] Muslims mark [[Ramadan 27|27th]] of the month of Ramadan as Laylat al-Qadr.

On these nights, Shi'a follow their [[Imams (a)]] in [[Vigil|staying awake the whole night]], reciting the Qur'an, praying and performing other rituals. The anniversary of [[Imam 'Ali (a)]]'s martyrdom at [[Ramadan 21]] has increased the importance of these days among Shi'a.

* Some say that if one stay awake at this night, one will reach a high state.

According to a hadith from [[Imam al-Sadiq (a)]], the best month is Ramadan, and the heart of the month of Ramadan is the Night of Qadr. There is a hadith from the Prophet (s) to the effect that the Night of Qadr is the head of all nights. According to sources of hadiths and [[jurisprudence]], the Days of Qadr are as virtuous and valuable as its Nights. In some hadiths, [[Lady Fatima (a)]] is referred to as the secret of the Night of Qadr. According to these hadiths, if one recognizes the status of Fatima (a), he will recognize the Night of Qadr. For Shi'as, the Nights of Qadr are doubly important, because events such as the [[martyrdom]] of [[Imam 'Ali (a)]] occurred in the last ten days of the month of Ramadan. In addition to [[recommended]] practices of these nights, the Shi'as also [[mourn]] for Imam 'Ali (a).

According to Islamic sources, the Night of Qadr is special night for divine mercy and the forgiveness of [[sins]]. In this night, [[Satan]] will be chained and doors of the [[Heaven]] will be opened to [[believer]]s. The Prophet (s) was quoted as saying: "if a person stays [[vigilant]] in the Night of Qadr and is a believer in the [[day of rewards and punishments]], then all his sins will be forgiven."

According to [[verse]]s of [[Qur'an 97]], [[angel]]s and the Spirit descend on the Earth in the Night of Qadr, and according to some hadiths, they meet the Imam to notify him on what is predestined for people in the coming year. Imam al-Baqir (a) said: "in this night, angels circumambulate around us, whereby we find out that it is the Night of Qadr." In some other hadiths, Shi'as are recommended to draw upon this fact to present an argument for the necessity of [[Imamate]] and the rightfulness of Shiism, since at each age there must be an [[Infallible Imam]] whom angels notify about people's predestinations.

In Shiite hadiths, one of the tree nights, [[Ramadan 19]], [[Ramadan 21|21]], and [[Ramadan 23|23]], is said to be the Night of Qadr, and of these three nights, the latter is allegedly more likely to be the Night of Qadr. According to another hadiths, destinies are written on the night of Ramadan 19, are finalized on the night of Ramadan 21, and are ultimately confirmed on the night of Ramadan 23.

The majority of Sunnis appeal to a hadith from the Prophet to show that the Night of Qadr is one of the last ten nights of the Ramadan month, and the night of Ramadan 27 is more likely to be the Night of Qadr. Accordingly, Sunnis supplicate and stay vigilant on this night. Some Sunnis maintain that the Night of Qadr was repeated every year only during the lifetime of the Prophet (s), but there is no Night of Qadr after his demise. According to some others, the Night of Qadr is not a specific night every year; instead, different unknown night is the Night of Qadr each year. They believe that in the year in which prophet Muhammad (s) was appointed as a prophet, the Night of Qadr occurred in the Ramadan month, but it might occur in other lunar months in other years.

Only one night of every year is the Night of Qadr. However, because of different horizons of countries (e.g. Iran and Arabia), the Ramadan month begins at different times in different locations, and thus, nights of [[Ramadan 19]], [[Ramadan 21|21]], and [[Ramadan 23|23]] will also differ in these countries. With regard to this conflict, [[jurist]]s believe that differences in horizons of different countries does not imply that there are different Nights of Qadr, and people in each region of the world should determine the Night of Qadr and other sacred times, such as [[Eid al-Fitr]] and [[Eid al-Adha]] in accordance to their own horizons. According to [[Ayatollah Makarim Shirazi]], a night is the shade of a half of the Earth, which moves with Earth's rotation which takes twenty four hours. Thus, the Night of Qadr can be a complete rotation of the Earth; that is, twenty four hours of darkness covering the whole Earth. Thus, the Night of Qadr begins from a region, and then continues for twenty four hours covering the whole Earth.

Lady Fatima (a) worshiped God in the Night of Qadr until morning, and had her children and family stay up the night and worship, and she compensated their sleeping problem with eating less and sleeping during the day. The Infallibles (a) were presented in mosques and stayed [[vigilant]] in Nights of Qadr. According to a hadith, Imam al-Sadiq (a) was very sick in one Night of Qadr. Notwithstanding this, he asked his companions to take him to the mosque where he could worship.

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