The Night of Glory

this surah talks about lailat-ul-qadr — most likely the 27th night of ramadan, when the first revelation of the quran (96:1–5) came to the prophet ﷺ through the angel jibreel.

according to verse 4, every year during this night, jibreel and other angels come down with allah's commands for the whole year — this includes all the things that are going to happen to a person until the next lailat-ul-qadr.

the prophet ﷺ said, "whoever stands in prayer in the night of glory, all their past sins will be forgiven." (recorded by imam al-bukhari & imam muslim)

This is a true story of a major company in Germany called Saturn. To celebrate the opening of its 150th store, Saturn announced in 2013 that 27-year old Sebastian was the lucky winner of an awesome prize-150 seconds to take anything from the store for free. Everyone was Sur- prised that Sebastian was able to collect electronic items totalling $40,000 in two and half min- utes. He said he was able to win those amazing items because he had a good strategy, which included wearing comfortable running shoes and clothes, and visiting the store a few times to see where all the expensive items were.

When I read this story, I think of all the elephants that distract us from getting the best out of Ramadan. Playing games for hours every day is an elephant, wasting too much time on social media is an elephant, and watching too much TV is an elephant.

People usually prepare for salah by making wudu', and zakah by calculating their money, and haj by saving and planning. However, most people don't have a goal or a strategy, like Imam Yahya and Sebastian, to win millions of rewards in the renewing section month of Ramadan. Ramadan is the best of all months and Lailat-ul-Qadr is the best night of the year. Like the Prophet , our strategy should include:

1. Physical worship: fasting and praying.:

2. Verbal worship: reading Quran, remembering Allah, and making du'a.

3. Financial worship: paying our zakah and şadaqah. The Prophet was very generous all vear long, but was more generous in Ramadan. {Recorded by Imam Al-Bukhari}

Imagine you work for a big company and they offer you a great deal. They tell you, "If you work just one hour tonight, we will give you a salary for 84 years." Do you think it will be wise to refuse this deal? According to this surah, the reward of good deeds done on Lailat-ul-Qadr is better than a thousand months (which is equal to 84 years). So, if you pray or give charity on this night, you will get the reward for praying or donating for 84 years.