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The last ten have begun.
Taharaw laylatal qadr fil ashril awakhir min Ramadan. Hunt for Laylatul Qadr in the last ten nights of Ramadan.
Here’s why this gift exists. The Prophet ﷺ once told the companions about a man from the Banu Israel who worshipped Allah for 80 years straight. Not 80 years of regular life with some ibadah mixed in. 80 years of dedicated, committed worship. The companions were jealous — and honestly, who wouldn’t be? We live 60, maybe 70 years. The Prophet ﷺ himself said the age of his ummah is between 60 and 70, and very few go beyond that. And yes, there are billionaires today spending fortunes trying to extend human life to 120, 130 — but biologists will tell you that quality of life drops significantly past a certain point, no matter how much money you throw at it. That’s just how the body is built.
So the companions asked: Ya Rasulullah, how do we compete with people who had 80 years to worship Allah when we barely get 60?
And then Allah revealed an entire surah — Surah Al-Qadr — answering that question.
The night of Al-Qadr is greater than a thousand months.
Not equal to. Greater than. 1,000 months is 83 years. And Allah didn’t say you get this once. You get it every single year. Think about that. If you start taking your deen seriously at the age of 10 and you live to 70 — that’s 60 Ramadans. 60 Laylatul Qadrs. 60 opportunities where one night of ibadah is worth more than 83 years of continuous worship. In terms of quality of ibadah, how old are you really?
That is the gift Allah gave the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ.
So don’t let any of these ten nights pass you without something in it. The absolute minimum — and none of us should drop below this — is to pray Isha in jama’ah and pray Fajr in jama’ah. Just those two. The Prophet ﷺ said whoever does that, Allah writes for them the reward of praying the entire night. Imagine praying the entire night. Now imagine that night is Laylatul Qadr. Do it every night for these ten nights and insha’Allah you will not miss it. Beyond that — pray your sunnah, do taraweeh, read some Quran when you get home, wake up a few minutes before suhur and make dua.
For the sisters who can’t pray right now — you are not left out. Your dua is the same. Your dhikr is the same. Sayyidah Aisha RA asked the Prophet ﷺ what to say on Laylatul Qadr: Allahumma innaka afuwwun tuhibbul afwa fa’fu anni. O Allah, You are the Most Forgiving, You love to forgive, so forgive me. That’s the dua. Fill these nights with it.
The People of the Heights — And What Their Story Tells Us
We stopped last night at the Ashab al-A’raf — the people standing on the elevated ground between Jannah and Jahannam, neither here nor there, their good and bad deeds perfectly balanced at 50-50.
From their vantage point on the heights, they can see both destinations. And here’s a detail I want you to sit with: the ayah says wa idha surifat absaruhum — when their gaze was turned towards the people of fire. They didn’t choose to look. Allah turned their eyes. Given the choice, if you’re standing on the A’raf and Jannah is right there on one side — you know exactly where you’re going to keep your attention. You’re not voluntarily turning to look at Jahannam.
But Allah turns their gaze. And the moment they see the punishment the people of fire are enduring, they immediately make dua: Rabbana la taj’alna ma’al qawmidh dhalimin — O Allah, do not place us among the wrongdoers.
Then they recognise people. They call out to the people of fire and they know them — ya’rifoonahum bisimaahum — by the marks on them. And this makes sense, because the Ashab al-A’raf are the in-between people. In their life on earth, they moved between both worlds. Sometimes in the company of good people, sometimes in the company of bad. So on Yawmul Qiyamah, they look at Jahannam and they see faces they know. And they look at Jannah and they see faces they know too.
They point to the people of Jannah — people like Bilal, like Sumayyah, like Khabab ibn al-Aratt — and they say to the people of fire: are these the ones you swore would receive no mercy from Allah? Look where they are now.
Why Do They Get to Enter?
And then comes the moment. Allah says to the Ashab al-A’raf: udkhulul jannah — enter Jannah.
Some of the mufassirun say this is the Ashab al-A’raf congratulating the people of Jannah as they enter. Others say it is the angels — who had been guarding the Ashab al-A’raf at the heights, preventing them from moving — now giving them permission to enter.
