Where is Allah when it hurts?

Have you ever experienced the death of a close relative, mother, father or a brother? Ever lost a contract to a cheaper or less capable contractor? How do you feel when, after several burnings of midnight candles- reading, memorizing, and depriving your eyesight of her right, you still can’t escape the pool of failure? It hurts really, isn’t it? Where is Allah then?

Moreso, where is Allah when it doesn’t hurt? Can you tell? Actually, I would rather ask you: Where do you put Allah when it hurts? And deeper still: Where do you put Allah when it doesn’t hurt?

When it doesn’t hurt, when everything goes fine, when all is well with you, when everything is a nail…Maa Sha Allah, where do you put Allah? Do you worship him?

The reason of existence is often forgotten when everything goes fine. Very minimal or no thanks is forwarded to the creator when it doesn’t hurt. Look at you, When it doesn’t hurt, you are too busy to stand in Solah. And when you do, you do so with laziness. Even when you do so in laziness, your mind isn’t there! All you want is happiness but you never make your lord happy.

When it doesn’t hurt, do you offer the voluntary prayers (nawaafil) or you think they are for the people in problems and grieves? How often you do wake up late in the midnight to read but not to stand in the presence of your lord! You are so comfortable that you feel there’s no need to Qiyaamu layl! Oh Akhi, even the best of mankind (Peace be upon him) had his foot swollen due to his constant standing in prayers. “Why do you have to go to this extent?” he was asked. He replied:

 “Shouldn’t I be a thankful Servant?”

When it doesn’t hurt, you hardly raise your hand to Allah in prayer, perhaps you think only the needy should raise hands in prayers! Even in your prostrations, where you are closest to Allah, you refuse to utilize these golden avenues … and when it hurts, you ask: “Where is Allah?”!

When it doesn’t hurt, how do you present yourself to Allah? In an attire you wouldn’t want to wear to class or to a less formal meeting? 

“O children of Aadam, take your adornments at every masjid (Q7v31)”

 is the word of the Quran. You know what it means? Beautify yourself when attending the mosques or at every time of prayer.

Brother, when it doesn’t hurt, do you answer Allah’s calls? Your sincere answer will reveal, at great length, where Allah is when it doesn’t hurt and will shed a beam of luminescent white lights to the question: Where is Allah when it hurts!

To be continued next week insha Allah.

This cloned title of one of Abu Mazaadatil Khayr’s works triggered my long relenting memory and pen when seen on the floor of sales today. It challenged my memory of words combination and questioned my knowledge of Islam: Really, Where Do you put Allah when it doesn’t hurt?

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Stay hungry. Stay foolish."- These are the words of farewell Steve Jobs (former CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios) used at the end of his Commencement address at Stanford University on June 12, 2005.

"Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."- Deep, isn't it?

In his Commencement Address, He shared three inspirational stories from his life- The first story was about "connecting the dots", The Second Story is about love and loss, while The third story is aboutdeath. These stories have been a source of inspiration for long time and a "my life changer".

 Below is the text, Video, and audio formatof the address:

 I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised thatI would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had beenrejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that theonly thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off.Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Bukunmi's blog: Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

I look forward to falling in love with you, but until then...

When I fall in love with you, I want it to be real. 
There won’t be any hesitation, 
no one will question it.

When I fall in love with you, expect to have our Nikkah, too. 
it will be done through the way of those pious men and women before us, and it will be in a way that pleases us, 
but, more importantly, pleases God.

We’ll explore the world, 
and we’ll explore each other.
 Each step we take on our journey will be a step more in our hearts.

We’ll visit places we’ve never been, 
and have a bucket list of things to do. Every day will start with a smile, 
and every night will end with a kiss.

SIDE ATTRACTION: Rape Incidents by "Men of God"

Maybe people won’t understand this, or maybe they’ll think it’s silly,
they won’t understand that I need my love for you to be halal, 
I need it to be so good that I’m proud of how I love you.

when I fall in love with you, it will continue while we’re married. Each day, we’ll pray to have God fill our hearts with more love and sincerity.
 Whatever we do, it will be done in the Name of God, and whatever we do will be to make us better, 
together.

We will remind each other to pray each day.
 You’ll wake me up for fajr, 
and after you come home from work and take your nap, I’ll wake up you up for maghrib.

when I make breakfast
 you’ll know that I love when you come up behind me, and put your arms around me,
 and tell me good morning with a little #kiss on the cheek.

You’ll be good to my parents, and my sisters and brother will love you.
 They’ll look at you, and then look at me, 
and say, Masha'Allah.

SIDE ATTRACTIONS: Being Romantic is a Sunnah

when I fall in love with you, 
and you fall in love with me, I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.

I’ll be good to you, I’ll do everything I know how to do just to make you happy, but I expect the same,
 and nothing less.

My heart isn’t a toy, and I won’t be played with, 
but when I fall in love you, I know you’ll know the rules.

I know that when I fall in love with you
 whoever you are, you’ll be mine, 
and I’ll be yours, INSHA ALLAH

I look forward to falling in love with you
 but until then, I’ll keep my eyes open, hoping to see you someday soon.”



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COMMENTS ALLOWED BELOW. THANKS

The Distribution of Records

After the agonizing wait and the Prophet’s intercession, people’s records of deeds will be handed out.  God says:

“Then as for he who is given his record in his right hand, he will be judged with an easy account and return to his people in happiness.  But as for he who is given his record behind his back, he will cry out for destruction and [enter to] burn in a Blaze.” (Quran 84:7-12)

This is further clarified by God in another.

“So as for he who is given his record in his right hand, he will say, ‘Here, read my record!  Indeed, I was certain that I would be meeting my account.’ So he will be in a pleasant life –        In an elevated Garden, its [fruit] to be picked hanging near.  [They will be told], ‘Eat and drink in satisfaction for what you put forth in the days past.’ But as for he who is given his record in his left hand, he will say, ‘Oh, I wish I had not been given my record And had not known what is my account.  I wish it [i.e., my death] had been the decisive one. 

And his regret will increase 

“My wealth has not availed me.  Gone from me is my authority.’

It shall be said to him:

 ‘Seize him and shackle him.  Then into Hellfire drive him.  Then into a chain whose length is seventy cubits insert him.’

But why all these punishment?

 Indeed, he did not used to believe in God, the Most Great, nor did he encourage the feeding of the poor.  So there is not for him here this Day any devoted friend.  Nor any food except from the discharge of wounds; none will eat it except the sinners.” (Quran 69:19-37)
 

The Scales of Justice

Everyone’s deeds will be weighed in actual scale and if the good outweighs the evil, they will be successful but if the opposite happens they will be among the losers.

God says: 

“And We place the scales of justice for the Day of Resurrection, so no soul will be treated unjustly at all.  And if there is [even] the weight of a mustard seed, We will bring it forth.  And sufficient are We as accountant.”

For the believers

Indeed the companions of paradise, that Day, will be amused in joyful occupation. They and their spouses-under shades, reclining on adorned couches. Fruits of different types are available. The Quran says “and whatever they request or wish” 36 vs 55

For the Disbelievers

As for those who disbelieve in Allah and disobey his commandments, It shall be said to them: “But stand apart today, oh you Criminals. Have I not warned you not to worship shaytaan, for indeed he is to you a clear enemy.” And that you should worship me, this is a straight path.”

This is the hellfire which you were promised. Enter to burn in it today as a recompense for what you used to deny on earth.

That day, we will seal over their mouths and their hands will speak to us, and their feed will testify about what they used to earn.

Indeed, the tree of zaqqum is the food for the sinfuls, like murky oil, it boils within bellies, like the boiling of scalding water”

You may also like: 

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The Judgement Day [Part 2]

Continuation of The Judgement Day [Part 1]

People will be standing naked, barefooted and uncircumcised. The Prophet described to us what will happen, he said: “You will be gathered, barefooted, naked, and uncircumcised (as God says):

“As We began the first creation, We shall repeat it.” (Quran 21:104)

Aishah, the Mother of the Believers, exclaimed: “Men and women both! Won’t they all look at one another?” The Prophet said:

“The situation they are in is so grim that they would have no time for this!” (Saheeh Muslim)

As the people await the decree of Almighty God, they will be standing under the sun, which would be brought close to them. Al-Miqdad b. al-Aswad, one of the Companions, said: ‘I heard the Messenger of God saying:

“The sun will be a distance of a mile from the creation on the Day of Resurrection. People will sink in their sweat/perspiration according to their deeds. Some would sink in their perspiration till their ankles, while others would sink in it to their thighs and waists; yet others, would sink in it till their mouths!”‘ (Saheeh Muslim)

the Day of Resurrection will be 50 000 years long. The Prophet said:

“That day will be 50 000 years long, after which a person will be admitted into Paradise or cast into Hell.” (Abu Dawood)

Peoples’ hearts will be pounding, not knowing what would become of them. God describes to us the horrors of that day. He says:

“O mankind, fear your lord, the convulsion of the final hour is a very terrible thing. On the Day you see it, every nursing mother will be distracted from that [child] she was nursing, and every pregnant woman will abort her pregnancy, and you will see the people [appearing] intoxicated while they are not intoxicated; but the punishment of Allah is severe.” (Quran 22:2)

Even the believers who believed in truth will be severely worried

The Intercession

As humankind waits, some would exclaim, ‘Let us ask somebody to intercede for us with our Lord!’ The people would then go to Adam and say:

‘You are the father of all the people, and Allah created you with His Own Hands, and ordered the Angels to prostrate to you, and taught you the names of all things; so please intercede for us with your Lord, so that He may relieve us from this place of ours.’

He would say: ‘I am not fit for this (i.e. intercession for you).’

Adam would remember his sin and feel ashamed thereof. He would then say, ‘Go to Noah, for he was the first Messenger God sent to the inhabitants of the Earth.’ 

He would say: ‘I am not fit for this undertaking!’

He will remember his appeal to his Lord to do what he had no knowledge of, then he will feel ashamed thereof and would say,

‘Go to the Khalil ur-Rahman (i.e. Abraham, the One whom God chose for His love).’

They will go to him and he will say, ‘I am not fit for this undertaking. Go to Moses, the slave to whom God spoke (directly) and gave him the Torah.’

So they will go to him and he will say, ‘I am not fit for this undertaking,’ and he will mention (his) killing a person who was not a killer, and so he will feel ashamed thereof before his Lord, and he will say, ‘Go to Jesus, God’s Slave, His Messenger and God’s Word and a Spirit coming from Him.’

Jesus will say, ‘I am not fit for this undertaking, go to Muhammad the Slave of God whose past and future sins were forgiven by God.’

Prophet Muhammad then said: ‘They will come to me and he will proceed till he will ask Allah’s permission. He will be listened to and allowed to intercede for mankind’ (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)

After the agonizing wait and the Prophet’s intercession, people’s records of deeds will be handed out...

This I call  "The Distribution of Records"

Click to continue reading

THE JUDGEMENT DAY [part 1]

This is believed to be the final assessment of humanity by God. Virtually all religions, except a few, teach the belief in the day of judgement. The Arabic word Yamul Qiyaamah is mostly used to refer to the Day of Judgement. Other Arabic words used are Yaumun-Azeem, Yaumul Jam’i, Yaomu t- tagaabun, Yaumul fasl, Yaumun Aseer, Yaumul aakir, Yamul deen etc

There are a lot of verses in the Quran specifically mentions the word Yaomul Qiyaamah. Like In Quran 40:44: 

“Indeed the Day of Judgement is the appointed time for them all.

And even when the word I doesn’t appear, you can quickly decipher it like in Quran 50 vs 30 where Allah Says:

“On the day, we shall say to Hell, have you been filled? And it will say: “Are there some more?"

The Bible isn’t silent on this either. Matthew 12:36 says:

 “I tell you, on the Day of Judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

This tells us that no doubt whatsoever should you have regarding the day of judgement.

Now the big question or let me say the first intellectual poser is: “when is the day of judgment?

The time of this great event is not specified, nobody knows. From the Quran and the hadith, it is clear that the exact timings of the Day of Judgement is an absolute Divine secret. No one except Allah (swt) knows the time of Qiyamat. 

"They question you (Muhammad) about the Hour: When shall it be? (Say) you have no knowledge to say anything about it. Allah alone knows when it will come. You are but a Warner for those who fear". (79:42-44)

Quran clearly tells us why the time of the Qiyamat is held in secret. 

"Indeed, The Hour is sure to come. But I choose to keep it hidden, so that every soul may be rewarded for its efforts". (Naaziat 22:15)

Matthew 24:36 

 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."

Although there are major and minor signs which have been foretold to happen .

Summarily, the Minor signs: Removal of khushoo' (fearfulness of God, taqwah, reverence, etc.) Everyone presuming himself that he is an apostle of Allah. Loss of honesty, and authority is given to those who do not deserve it. The taking away of knowledge and the prevalence of religious ignorance. Rejection of Sunnah (Hadith). the spread of zina (adultery, fornication), drinking of alcohol. The widespread and condoning of music. The decoration of mosques as a matter of pride and competition. Women will increase in number and men will decrease in number so much so that fifty women will be looked after by one man. Qur'an and Islamic knowledge will be passed on, but no one will follow it correctly.  A man obeys his wife and disobeys his mother; and treats his friend kindly whilst shunning his father. Voices are raised in the mosques.

MAJOR SIGNS

The Prophet (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: "Verily the Hour will never be established until you see ten signs before it." Then he (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) mentioned: “

The smoke, The Emergence of the Dajjaal, The Beast: the Beast that will come out of the ground to talk to people.

 “We shall bring out from the earth, a Beast for them, to speak to them because mankind believed not with certainty in Our signs.” [Surat-un-Naml (27): 82]

The rising of the sun from the west, 

 “The Day that some of the signs of your Lord will come, no good will it do for a person to believe then, if he believed not before nor earned good (by doing good deeds), through his Faith.” [Surat-ul-Ana’aam (6): 158]

The descent of 'Eesaa Ibn Maryam, “I swear by Allaah, ‘Eesaa Ibn Maryam will indeed descend judging (mankind) with justice.” This hadeeth is agreed upon.

Ya'jooj and Ma'jooj, 

Three tremors (in which the earth will open and swallow those upon it) – one in the east,  one in the west and one in the Arabian peninsula. 

And the last of them will be a fire that will come out from Yemen, which will drive the people to the (final) place of assembly." 

[Saheeh Muslim: Book of Tribulations (no. 2901) from the hadeeth of Hudhaifah Ibn Usaid Al-Ghifaaree (radyAllaahu 'anhu).] 

Nearing the end of time, the trumpet will be blown and creation will cease to exist. God, Almighty, says:

“And the Trumpet will be blown, and all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth will swoon away, except him whom God wills.” (Quran 39:68)

It will be blown a second blowing, and all creation from the beginning of time till the end of time will be resurrected. God, the Exalted, tells us:

‘And the trumpet will be blown, everyone will hasten from their graves to their lord" (36 vs 51)

“When the earth is shaken with its final earthquake. And the earth discharges all its content… that day, the people will emerge separately from their graves to be shown their deeds.

And by the time people get to the place of assembly, what happens.?

People will stand naked,... Continue Reading

THE FINAL LAP

Well, we aren’t racing, but I can tell you it’s another form of competition. The big question now is: who am I competing with? 

Following the first two laps of Ramadan, the third and final part is significantly powerful. That is why I decided to lay fingers on my keyboard to write, so that the one who doesn’t know might know and the one who has forgotten might be taken away from the world of forgetfulness. 

On a night in this last lap was the complete Quran revealed. This isn’t a contradiction to what you know of the Quran being revealed part by part. It simply means that on the Night of Majesty was the Qur’an sent from the upper heavens to the lower heaven.

On a night in this last lap does Allah changes the affairs of mankind. Perhaps an ever unlucky man might have his decreed change to becoming the ever-lucky man. Well, this does not mean the opposite can’t happen likewise.

On a night in this last lap, any act of worship is better than a thousand month of worship. Imagine someone who had the opportunity to stand up in this night and pray to Allah getting reward more than that of the one who has been worshipping for one thousand month (missing this night every year)! 

On a night in this last lap, the angels will descend one after the other, and even the RUH. The descent of the angels might not mean much to you but Allah’s reference to their descent is very apt here and obviously significant. The style in which the verse was revealed shows that someone particularly important will also descend, the RUH. Who’s the Ruh? I leave that for you to research on your own or ask you hall imam.

On a night in this last lap, the night will be peaceful until the daybreak. Blessings will be spread on the earth, no evil doer will dare stay up to act, and most importantly, all forms of peace will reign in this night!

Now the issue is: NO ONE KNOWS THE NIGHT! NO ONE, not even a prophet, a saint or anyone. But there’s an idea. This is where itikaf came in. 

The prophet used to stay in the mosque during the day and night of the last ten days of Ramadan, seeking the opportunity to witness this night of Majesty! What a great loss to the one misses this great opportunity to have his affairs reset to that which he likes.

Aishah, May Allah be pleased with her asked the prophet regarding this night: 

What should I say on the night of Laylatul Qadr. The prophet replied: say (as many times as you can ):

اللهم إنّك عفوّ تحبّ العف فاف عني

Allahumma innaka afuwwu tuhibul afwa, fa’fu anni

“O Allah, you are the one who forgives, you love the one who repents, please forgive me”

Our responsibility is to worship Allah this night, seeking his forgiveness, praying for mercy, and continuously chanting the adhkar above on the nights of the last 10 days.

The prophet however said the night of Majesty usually falls on the odd number days (21, 23, 25, 27, and 29th of Ramadhaan). So you should know what your target is!!

Finally, it wouldn’t be a bad idea if you join them in ITIKAF (seclusion in the Central Mosques of Allah), but if you aren’t gona have the time (as students), ensure you don’t miss these nights. In this should the competitors compete!

May Allah assist and accept all our forms of worship. 

Was salaamu Alaykum Warahmatullah!