Nuzul Quran And The Night Of Power

Alhamdulillah.

If you are reading this post, than Allah has allowed us to live through 27 nights of Ramadhan. Today, we have entered into the 27th day of Ramdahan.

This means that the treasure hunt for the Night of Power is now on. It has been on for the last 7 nights. As the Prophet (SAW) informed us, the Night of Power can be found in the last 10 nights of Ramadhan and he further went into more detail by informing us that it is in the odd nights.

In the YMP sharing session last Saturday, I mentioned that there is a difference between Nuzul Al-Quran and the Night of Power. Nuzul Al-Quran is the night when the first revelation was revealed to the Prophet (SAW) at the Hira’ Cave by Jibrail A.S. I can do no better than to cite what was narrated by Saidatina Aishah R.A. in the translation of Sahih Bukhari in Volume 1, Book 1, Number 3 regarding the revelation of the first Divine words of the Quran to the Prophet (SAW):

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Narrated 'Aisha (the mother of the faithful believers):

The commencement of the Divine Inspiration to Allah's Apostle was in the form of good dreams which came true like bright day light, and then the love of seclusion was bestowed upon him. He used to go in seclusion in the cave of Hira where he used to worship (Allah alone) continuously for many days before his desire to see his family. He used to take with him the journey food for the stay and then come back to (his wife) Khadija to take his food like-wise again till suddenly the Truth descended upon him while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him and asked him to read. The Prophet replied, "I do not know how to read.

The Prophet added, "The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read and I replied, 'I do not know how to read.' Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read but again I replied, 'I do not know how to read (or what shall I read)?' Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me, and then released me and said, 'Read in the name of your Lord, who has created (all that exists) has created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous." (96.1, 96.2, 96.3) Then Allah's Apostle returned with the Inspiration and with his heart beating severely. Then he went to Khadija bint Khuwailid and said, "Cover me! Cover me!" They covered him till his fear was over and after that he told her everything that had happened and said, "I fear that something may happen to me." Khadija replied, "Never! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You keep good relations with your Kith and kin, help the poor and the destitute, serve your guests generously and assist the deserving calamity-afflicted ones."

Khadija then accompanied him to her cousin Waraqa bin Naufal bin Asad bin 'Abdul 'Uzza, who, during the PreIslamic Period became a Christian and used to write the writing with Hebrew letters. He would write from the Gospel in Hebrew as much as Allah wished him to write. He was an old man and had lost his eyesight. Khadija said to Waraqa, "Listen to the story of your nephew, O my cousin!" Waraqa asked, "O my nephew! What have you seen?" Allah's Apostle described whatever he had seen. Waraqa said, "This is the same one who keeps the secrets (angel Gabriel) whom Allah had sent to Moses. I wish I were young and could live up to the time when your people would turn you out." Allah's Apostle asked, "Will they drive me out?" Waraqa replied in the affirmative and said, "Anyone (man) who came with something similar to what you have brought was treated with hostility; and if I should remain alive till the day when you will be turned out then I would support you strongly." But after a few days Waraqa died and the Divine Inspiration was also paused for a while.

Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah Al-Ansari while talking about the period of pause in revelation reporting the speech of the Prophet "While I was walking, all of a sudden I heard a voice from the sky. I looked up and saw the same angel who had visited me at the cave of Hira' sitting on a chair between the sky and the earth. I got afraid of him and came back home and said, 'Wrap me (in blankets).' And then Allah revealed the following Holy Verses (of Quran):

'O you (i.e. Muhammad)! wrapped up in garments!' Arise and warn (the people against Allah's Punishment),... up to 'and desert the idols.' (74.1-5) After this the revelation started coming strongly, frequently and regularly.

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As for the Night of Power Ibn `Abbaas R.A., amongst others, explains that the complete Qur'aan was sent down from Al-Lawh Al-Mahfooz (the Preserved Tablet) in the night of Power to Bait Al-`Izzah (the House of Glory) in the lowest heaven, from whence it was revealed piecemeal to the Prophet (SAW) according to events which took place during his life over a period of twenty-three years. Then, Allah says, in order to make clear the greatness of the matter of the night of Al-Qadr, which He has chosen for sending down of the Noble Qur'aan: “And what will make you know what the night of Al-Qadr is? The night of Al-Qadr is better than a thousand months ( Al-Qadr:2-3).

I wrote a brief explanation on the Night of Power here some years ago. 

To my humble understanding, the Night of Power changes from one year to another. I feel that if let’s say it is on the 25th night last year, it could then be on the 23rd night this year and probably on the 27th night next year.

The reasons are as follows

Time is a creation of Allah and as the Creator of all Heavens and Earth, Allah is not subdued to the rules of time that He has created.

The time zone in this world and the time zone in the Heavens are not of equal proportion. One minute here is not similar to one minute in the Heavens. Therefore, Nuzul Al-Quran will remain similar because it is when the Quran was first revealed within the time zone in this world. However, the Night of Power is beyond the time zone of this earth as it is within the ambit of the time zone in the Heavens. On that note, the Night of Power could be different from one year to another in this world.

Another reason why I feel that the Night of Power differs every year is because of the normal time zone in this world.

Looking at our own time zone, the calling of when it is night is based on the geographical area of a place. When it is night in Malaysia, it is still daylight in America. The movement of the sun and the moon comes to Malaysia first and then to America. If let’s say, last night was actually the Night of Power in Malaysia, it is still daylight in America. When the Night of Power is over in Malaysia, the Night of Power will then start in America.

But it could also be that the Night of Power is in America first, and when the Night of Power ends in America, the Night of Power starts in Malaysia!

I am not too sure how some people could pin point the Night of Power based upon their mathematical analogy of surah Al-Qadr.

The wisdom for not knowing the exact night is to ensure that we make a continuous effort throught the last ten nights.

But I do know that it starts when it is considered as night. That is from Maghrib to Subuh. Whatever good deeds that we do between it in the Night of Power, Allah will reward us as though we did it for 1000 months or 83 years. Good deeds must not necessarily mean to read the Quran or to perform night prayers. A wife who tends to her baby as an amanah from Allah is also performing a good deed. Preparing food for sahur is also a good deed. Sleep is also an ibadah.

Then again, these are merely the general ibadah. Wouldn’t it be nice if our records in the Day of Judgment shows that we also pursued for the specific ibadah such as performing Tahajjud prayers, hajat prayers and the like or taking some time to perform I’tikaf in the mosque, reading and contemplating on the Quran etc?

Seek for His forgiveness, His Mercy, His Rizk. Ask from Him anything.

'Aisha (the mother of the faithful believers) said: I asked the Messenger of Allah: 'O Messenger of Allah, if I know what night is the night of Qadr, what should I say during it?' He said: 'Say: O Allah, You are pardoning and You love to pardon, so pardon me.' "(Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and Tirmidhi).

Reciting it is one thing. How you recite it is another. I read somewhere that one of the best way to really pray to Allah is like a man who is alone in the middle of the ocean, clinging to a piece of plank for his life, and saying, "O Allah! please save me... O Allah! please save me..."

It is important to set our intention to pursue the Night of Power by arranging several form of ibadah to fill our night.  One thing that I realize is this. Pursuing the Night of Power makes the night flies by so swiftly…

Ramadhan is about to leave us. Will we be able to meet her again next year?

God knows best.

Blog adjourned.