بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

*A Must Read❗*

*When should we look out for Laylatul Qadr❓*

Shaykhul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah – رحمه الله – was asked this very question while in captivity in the year 706 Hijri…

…To which He responded:

*Laylatul Qadr occurs during the last ten (nights) of Ramadhan*. This is what is authentically established from the Prophet ﷺ, that he ﷺ said:

((تَحَرَّوْا لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ فِي الْعَشْرِ الأَوَاخِرِ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ)).

“Look out for Laylatul Qadr during the last ten nights of Ramadhan.”

[Hadeeth Aishah : Bukhari & Muslim]

And In the version of Bukhari, he ﷺ said:

((تَحَرَّوْا لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ فِي الْوِتْرِ مِنَ الْعَشْرِ الأَوَاخِرِ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ)).

“Look out for Laylatul Qadr *during the odd nights* of the last ten nights of Ramadhan.”

▫However, it is important to note that *there are two ways of calculating the odd nights:*

*THE FIRST:*

*By counting the days that have already passed*; such that Laytul Qadr could fall on the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th, or the 29th night of Ramadhan.

or

*THE SECOND:*

*By counting the days that remain*, just as the Prophet ﷺ said:

((الْتَمِسُوهَا فِي الْعَشْرِ الأَوَاخِرِ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ فِي تَاسِعَةٍ تَبْقَى، فِي سَابِعَةٍ تَبْقَى، فِي خَامِسَةٍ تَبْقَى)).

“Look out for the Laylatul Qadr during the last ten nights of Ramadhan, *on the night when nine or seven or five nights remain* (out of the last ten nights of Ramadan).”

[Hadeeth Ibn Abbas : Bukhari]

*This means that if Ramadhan was 30 days – and only Allah knows if this will be the case – Laylatul Qadr will fall on one of the even nights*, because the 22nd will be the night when nine remain, the 24th will be when seven remains and the 26th will be when five remains.

This is the understanding of Abu Sa`eed Al-Khudri رضي الله عنه:

Muslim reported that Abu-un-Nadhr enquired:

يَا أَبَا سَعِيدٍ! إِنَّكُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِالْعَدَدِ مِنَّا‏.‏ قَالَ: أَجَلْ! نَحْنُ أَحَقُّ بِذَلِكَ مِنْكُمْ.‏ قَالَ: قُلْتُ: مَا التَّاسِعَةُ وَالسَّابِعَةُ وَالْخَامِسَةُ؟ قَالَ: إِذَا مَضَتْ وَاحِدَةٌ وَعِشْرُونَ فَالَّتِي تَلِيهَا ثِنْتَيْنِ وَعِشْرِينَ وَهْىَ التَّاسِعَةُ، فَإِذَا مَضَتْ ثَلاَثٌ وَعِشْرُونَ فَالَّتِي تَلِيهَا السَّابِعَةُ، فَإِذَا مَضَى خَمْسٌ وَعِشْرُونَ فَالَّتِي تَلِيهَا الْخَامِسَةُ.

“O Aba Sa’id, you know more than us about (these) numbers. He said: Yes, indeed we have better right than you. I said: What is this ninth, seventh, and fifth? He said: *When 21 (nights are over) and the 22nd begins, it is the ninth, and when 23 (nights) are over, that which follows (I.e. The 24th) is the seventh, and when 25 nights are over, what follows it (I.e. The 26th) is fifth”.*

If, however, Ramadhan consists of 29 days, these two forms of calculations will be exactly the same.

*This being the case, it is befitting that the Believer works hard throughout the last ten nights of Ramadhan*, just as the prophet ﷺ said:

((تَحَرَّوْا لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ فِي الْعَشْرِ الأَوَاخِرِ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ))

“Look out for Laylatul Qadr during the last ten nights of Ramadhan.”

[Hadith Aisha : Bukhari & Muslim]

This is also proven by the practice of the prophet ﷺ, just as Aisha رضي الله عنها said:

كَانَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ إِذَا دَخَلَ الْعَشْرُ – أي العشر الأواخر من رمضان – شَدَّ مِئْزَرَهُ، وَأَحْيَا لَيْلَهُ، وَأَيْقَظَ أَهْلَهُ‏.‏

“With the start of the last ten days of Ramadan, the Prophet ﷺ used to tighten his waist belt (i.e. work hard) and used to pray all the night, and he would also wake his wives.”

[T.N: this is not the exact word for word translation, for more information refer back to the original Reference: “Majmu’ul Fatawa”: (25/284)]

Translated by Abu Ishaq Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Al-Barawi