LAYLAT AL-QADR - THE NIGHT OF DECREE
Almighty Allah has honored the month of Ramadan with night of Laylat al-Qadr, the night of power and predestination.
In the Noble Quran there is a whole surah Al-Qadr dedicated to this night. It says (meaning): "I sent down the Quran on the night of power and predestination." And then, addressing the Prophet ﷺ the Almighty asks: "How do you know what Night Laylatul Qadr is?". Then He explains: "The night of power, or Laylatul Qadr is better than thousand months." Meaning ordinary months without the Night of Decree. And in the end it is said that this night lasts until dawn, that is, any time of this night is highly valued, from dusk to dawn.
In order to understand the meaning of what has been said it is necessary to narrate the prehistory of sending down this surah. Once the Prophet ﷺ and his companions heard story of the angel Jabrail (peace be upon him). He spoke of one of the heroes of the Bani Israil named Sham'un Gazi, who served the Almighty all night long, and in the daytime he fought infidels for 80 years and which the infidels could not overcome.When he wanted to drink, fresh water appeared to his mouth, and when he wanted to eat appeared meat, which he ate.
When the enemies could not defeat him in battle, they conspired a trick with Sham`un's wife, promising to give her plenty of wealth for helping her husband's murder. She refused to kill him, but agreed to help. The villains gave her a rope so that she would tie his hands and feet when he fell asleep.
When Sham'un woke up, he asked: "Who tied me?". His wife replied that she had tied him up to check his strength. Sham'un stretched out his arms and legs tearing the rope to pieces. Enemies brought a chain to tie him up. The same thing happened to the chain also. After that, Sham'un told his wife: "I am a favorite of Allah, and no earthly power can defeat me, except with the help of my hair."
When he fell asleep, the wife cut eight hair from his beard, with four tied his hands, and another four tied his legs. When he woke up, he could not free his hands or feet. And the wife, seeing that he could not free himself, called his enemies. They took him to the palace, where they cut off his hands, feet, tongue, ears and gouged out his eyes. All these villains were in the same room when the angel Jabrail descended to him and asked: "What would you want?" He replied: "I would like to have the strength to shatter this building and crush everyone under its wreckage." The Almighty fulfilled his desire, and all the enemies, together with his wife, were left in ruins, except for the beloved of the Most High Sham'un. Allah also restored to him all the organs, which he was deprived of by the enemies, and after that he served the Almighty for 24 hours in the course of 1000 months: he fasted during the day, and stood up in the night prayers.
When Jabrail (peace be on him) finished his story, the companions of the Prophet ﷺ burst into tears and wished to have the same reward that Sham'un received from the mercy of his Lord. They asked the Prophet ﷺ: "How can we deserve this?". Then Allah granted us this night, Laylatul Qadr, and sent down the whole Sura with an explanation of the greatness of this blessed night.
In the Noble Quran it is said (meaning): "The angels descend to the earth together with Jabrail (peace be upon him) this night with the permission of the Almighty with every prescription," that is, with all that is prescribed by the Almighty, with what is to happen during the year: good and bad. On this night, such a huge number of angels descend to the ground that a needle thrown up would definetely fall on their heads. All of them ask Allah for forgiveness of sins of those who are engaged in charitable deeds: prayers, reading the Quran, giving alms, making dua, etc
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