The Ten Nights and What You Know of Them

Occasion: A transcription of a lecture delivered in the month of Ramadan 1441 AH, on 12 May 2020Source: A transcription of a video lecture by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

Praise be to Allah, by whose grace good deeds are completed, and prayers and peace upon the seal of His prophets and messengers, our master and Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and upon his family and Companions. May Allah welcome you and be pleased with you, and welcome to this blessed night. I ask Allah, Blessed and Exalted, to bring us and you to the places of His pleasure, and to preserve for us and for you well-being, safety, security, tranquility and mercy.

A Special Stretch of Time

These ten nights of Ramadan begin tomorrow, which is the twentieth day. Some reports say that the Prophet ﷺ would enter his place of spiritual retreat on the night of the twentieth, and others that he would enter it on the night of the twenty-first. Whichever it was, once we enter these ten we have begun a stage of worship, and in the manner required of it. We are speaking of a very special stretch of time in the life of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ; the whole year is of one measure, and these nights are of another.

And why does Allah single out His servants for seasons? The answer is that Allah the Exalted treats a human being the way a human being likes to be treated. The human being was created hasty, and was also created anxious.^[1] He hurries after reward from time to time, and when he senses that results are slow he grows lazy or stops midway along the road. I do not know whether this is common to all people or is in some people and not others, but in general it is the condition of the human being. So when a person does not feel profits following one upon another quickly, his soul slows down or grows lazy about the road. So Allah gave us these last ten nights, among which is the Night of Power (Laylat al-Qadr), in which Allah repays people their reward without measure.^[2] Glory be to Him who gives all these gifts!

"He Revived His Night"

What did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do when the last ten nights came? The Mother of the Believers ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) tells us about it, saying: When the Prophet ﷺ entered the last ten, he revived his night.^[3] Let us pause at the phrase "revived his night": was the night of the Prophet ﷺ dead so that it needed to be revived? All nights are alive, of course. The point is that a night without remembrance of Allah is a dead night, and a night filled with remembrance is a living night. So who wants to live a dead life?

Imagine a person who is relaxed and in good spirits, who sat down with his wife while she is sullen and distressed, so that whenever he tried to talk to her she became more vexed with him. Does harmony result at that moment? Or let us give another example: a person with great capacity for walking and setting out, but the ground beneath him is in such a state that he cannot set his foot down without falling.^[12] How can these two sides be reconciled without a common ground between them? The living person must live a life that is alive in itself; if the time is dead, he cannot, however alive he may be, respond to time. That is why we find some people always feeling despair, frustration and suppression. Why? Because in their souls is a very great energy and they do not find anything to pour it into.

And the Prophet ﷺ, when the last ten came, would revive his night. When we speak of the ten whose night the Prophet ﷺ revived, we are speaking of a way of life that he lived throughout his time. For at the beginning of the call, the Lord of Might says to the Prophet ﷺ: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُزَّمِّلُ ۝ قُمِ اللَّيْلَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا﴾ (O you who wrap yourself [in clothing], stand [in prayer] at night, except for a little).^[7] And we add another verse: ﴿وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِ نَافِلَةً لَّكَ عَسَىٰ أَن يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَّحْمُودًا﴾ (And from [part of] the night, pray with it as additional [worship] for you; it may be that your Lord will raise you to a praised station).^[8]

Then the speech comes at the level of Muslims in general, and Allah, Blessed and Exalted, says: ﴿إِنَّ الْمُتَّقِينَ فِي جَنَّاتٍ وَعُيُونٍ ۝ آخِذِينَ مَا آتَاهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ ۚ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا قَبْلَ ذَٰلِكَ مُحْسِنِينَ ۝ كَانُوا قَلِيلًا مِّنَ اللَّيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ ۝ وَبِالْأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ ۝ وَفِي أَمْوَالِهِمْ حَقٌّ لِّلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ ۝ وَفِي الْأَرْضِ آيَاتٌ لِّلْمُوقِنِينَ﴾ (Indeed, the righteous will be among gardens and springs, accepting what their Lord has given them. Indeed, they were before that doers of good. They used to sleep but little of the night, and in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness, and in their wealth was a right for the petitioner and the deprived. And on the earth are signs for the certain [in faith]).^[9] With these verses from Sūrat al-Dhāriyāt Allah describes His believing servants, and mentions that they used to sleep but little of the night, and this is before He speaks about spending.

Someone may say: And what is spending? Is it not included in the matter of doing good (iḥsān)? Let us go back to the beginning of the verses: ﴿إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا قَبْلَ ذَٰلِكَ مُحْسِنِينَ﴾ (Indeed, they were before that doers of good), meaning that they used to give out money? Wait; doing good comes in kinds. There is doing good by spending, and there is doing good by giving in general, and part of giving in general is that they did not store up their times for themselves. Pay attention: they did not store up their times for themselves, but made their times for Allah, glory be to Him, the Exalted. And among the best of what is given for Allah, Blessed and Exalted, is that the servant worships Him with the kinds of worship He has commanded him, according to his strength and ability. So what is asked at night? Night prayer (qiyām al-layl). And the Prophet ﷺ, when he entered the last ten, revived his night.

Why the Night?

And why do we revive the night? Because it is the place of stillness in which the servant is alone with his Lord. Someone may say to me: O our Shaykh, we now, praise be to Allah, have days that are all stillness, and the night is like the day, and we do not even know what day it is, because we cannot go out or go or come. The world is confined and closed, and in some countries there is a complete curfew and in some a partial one, and conditions are closed, naturally. So I say: Allah the Exalted singled out the night in terms of time … with the nature of the body;^[11] for the body loves to settle into sleep at night, and the person takes his body from his bed to stand it before Allah, Blessed and Exalted, and this in itself is a special act of worship for the Lord of the worlds, glory to Him, exalted on high. That is why this matter has a special standing with Allah.

And how do we stand the night in prayer? It is enough for you to pray the tarāwīḥ. And if you can add a little, then add, for these are special days. And why were these days singled out? Because in them is the Night of Power.

When Is the Night of Power?

So when is it? The possible nights are the twenty-first, the twenty-third, the twenty-fifth, the twenty-seventh and the twenty-ninth, as the Prophet ﷺ told us: Seek it in the last ten, in the odd nights of it.^[13] But I have another report that says: Seek it in the last ten, so the matter is possible across all ten; and if we want more detail, the likelihood is greater in the odd nights. If the likelihood is greater in them, then it may be the twenty-seventh or the twenty-third or the twenty-fifth or the twenty-first, according to the differences between the reports.

Then I have a very important question. I have another ḥadīth that says: Seek it in the ten that remain of Ramadan. Send blessings upon the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. So if Ramadan comes at thirty days, the remaining ten are the night of the twenty-first and the twenty-second and the twenty-third to the end of the month. But if Ramadan comes at twenty-nine days, the odd nights are no longer the same ones, and they become the night of the twentieth and the night of the twenty-second and the twenty-fourth and the twenty-sixth and the twenty-eighth. So if we count from the end, we find the balance wobbling with us and shifting.

It is as though the Prophet ﷺ places these texts before us, not to confuse people, I seek Allah's forgiveness, but to place the choices before them, the "options," as they say, so that we take in the whole of the time. And by Allah, if you were sitting waiting for a very, very important person, and you were told he would come from three o'clock to half past three, would you sit waiting for him at one particular time and leave the rest? If he were very important, would you not go a little early, in case he came before his appointment or a change occurred in the appointments? So we remain waiting, because the matter cannot bear delay. So imagine someone waiting through the last ten of Ramadan for the sake of the Night of Power: does it occur on the night of the twentieth or the twenty-first or the twenty-second or the third or the fourth or the fifth or the sixth or the seventh or the eighth or the ninth? What is the story? And what is the problem with worshipping Allah, glory be to Him, the Exalted, on all the nights? And what is the issue with our finishing listening to this gathering now and beginning continuous worship with the Lord of the worlds?

And intend that you are giving what you can, then sleep so that you can complete your work the next day, and Allah, glory be to Him, the Exalted, will give you the reward of what you do.^[14] Let us not think that we deal with Allah in dirhams and dinars; we deal with the One who does good, glory to Him, exalted on high. That is why what is asked of the servant is to strive as much as he is able.

Tightening the Waist-Wrapper and Waking the Family

And the second piece that Lady ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) relates to us says: When he entered the last ten he revived his night, tightened his waist-wrapper, and woke his family. So what is the meaning of tightening the waist-wrapper? It means tying his garments well, as though they would not come undone with him. Like one who prepares for a task and so tightens the fastenings and makes sure everything is in order to begin an arduous journey of work. The worker, before going down to his place of work, ties his shoes, may Allah honor you, well, puts on gloves and checks his tools, and takes up the readiness for this work. And the clothing may differ with the work. The doctor, when he enters the operating room or makes the rounds of his patients, puts on his coat and gloves, and puts on his head what keeps the hair from falling, then goes in to look after his patients. But one who goes down to do a job or climbs to the roof to fix something, it is different even in clothing. So if some laxity may occur in the ordinary nights of Ramadan, the nights of the last ten are more emphatic: he tightened his waist-wrapper.

And he woke his family, why? Because group worship is a greater help to the servant than individual worship. Understand this: when you pray with your wife and children, it is easier for you than praying alone, or each one praying in a corner apart from the other's. And our problem in our homes is that we do not know how to gather to pray well together, because we sometimes feel embarrassed. I am shy before my children; I do not want to appear small in front of them because I do not recite well. Or she feels that she will sit while praying, or will stand, or will pray very quickly and go. So people are shy before one another. Let us gather, please, in one place to pray better, and whatever mistake or shortcoming comes from us, if we are together we help one another to stand for Allah, glory be to Him, the Exalted.

And we must understand well that before us is a very, very great gain in this world and the next. If we imagined that there were nothing in the Night of Power except that when you call upon Allah He answers you, it would be enough. And each one of us has his own supplications and wishes that he wants fulfilled. And I know that others make what they call a "wish box" at the new year, writing in it what they want fulfilled. As for me, I do not want to put paper where anyone can see it; I want to place my wish with our Lord, in a place that is for me, first, sacred, and second, very hidden, that no one can see. So what do you think of placing your wishes with our Lord at a particular time, in the depth of the night, in the nights of the last ten of Ramadan? We strive and give what we can to the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Exalted.

Spiritual Retreat While the Mosques Are Closed

And among the very important matters in the last ten is the matter of spiritual retreat (iʿtikāf). It is staying in the mosque, remaining in it for a period of time. And our shaykhs and scholars, when they speak of iʿtikāf, speak of night and day joined to one another until the last ten end, then we leave the retreat on the day of ʿĪd or the night of ʿĪd. And this year there is hardly a mosque open in the whole world except rarely, a very small number of mosques worldwide, and perhaps one of them goes to pray ʿishāʾ and tarāwīḥ in it.

So can we make iʿtikāf at home, O our master? The answer is that every place in which true solitude with Allah, glory be to Him, the Exalted, takes place, its occupant may be counted as one in iʿtikāf if it is impossible for us to go to the mosques.^[4] And of course someone may say to me: Where did you get this fatwa? I say: I got it from the fact that the mercy of Allah the Exalted is vast, and that servants are excused in what they do, and I also got it from our earlier words when we spoke about our women and sisters: can they make iʿtikāf in homes or not? And we said: if we had a small prayer space in the house, it would be possible for the sister to make iʿtikāf in it for a number of hours or a number of minutes according to the time given to it. So I am speaking of a simple independent judgment (ijtihād) imposed by this stage we are in, as we are in our homes now, and there is nothing in our hands that we possess with which to go out and be in iʿtikāf in the mosques. So we can make iʿtikāf at home, even in a very small measure.

The Giving of One Who Does Not Fear Poverty

And the other matter is that the Prophet ﷺ, when he entered the last ten, was more generous than the wind sent forth,^[5] that is, very generous, very munificent, giving the giving of one who does not fear poverty.

Perhaps someone asks: And does the mosque need money now? Yes, the mosques need money, at least so that they can continue the activities they run, at least to keep the workers who work in them, at least to keep the same level, or less or more, of the aid they give to the people around them, and at least to be able to provide the share of da'wah (outreach) that exists, whether virtual da'wah, or receiving people to resolve their problems, or attempts to help in the community as much as we can. And Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity, but at the very least… (the phrase breaks off in the transcript).

And how does generosity come about? That a person spends or gives the giving of one who does not fear poverty. So do we really fear poverty? And this is a question I direct to myself before anyone: are we really afraid of poverty? And if we are afraid, why? Are we truly certain of what is with Allah, glory be to Him, the Exalted? Is there still in us the measure of faith in the Lord of Might that there ought to be? Or do we have doubt to begin with that Allah the Exalted is the Provider, Possessor of Power, the Firm? Do we have doubt that Allah, glory be to Him, the Exalted, is the One who arranges the means, not we? So if you are truly a believer, then give out what is in your hand: ﴿عَسَى اللَّهُ أَن يَأْتِيَ بِالْفَتْحِ أَوْ أَمْرٍ مِّنْ عِندِهِ فَيُصْبِحُوا عَلَىٰ مَا أَسَرُّوا فِي أَنفُسِهِمْ نَادِمِينَ﴾ (Perhaps Allah will bring conquest or a decision from Himself, and they will become, over what they concealed within themselves, regretful).^[6] And the verses speak in general about the matter of provision, and that it is all in the hand of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, and that no one has any hand at all over anyone. So is what prevents you from spending and giving charity for the house of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, or for the needy, or for those with special needs, or others, truly your fear of poverty? Or do you fear Allah the Exalted more than you fear poverty? For fear of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, takes you to every station: it gives you wealth, grants you contentment, inspires you with stability, eases your soul, calms your mind, quiets your alarm, gathers your affairs with those around you, and gladdens the hearts of those around you, and so on. Glory be to Him who accepts charity from His servants, glory be to Him who takes charity from His servants and accepts the deeds of the righteous, glory be to Allah, the Ancient!

What We Learned, and What Remains of the Opportunity

So the Prophet ﷺ, when he entered the last ten, would strive in his worship as he did not strive in other times: he tightened his waist-wrapper, revived his night, woke his family, gave, and made iʿtikāf in the mosque, and we agreed that we can do that in our homes as much as we are able, and he gave the giving of one who does not fear poverty. Those were some of the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ for the ten nights of Ramadan.

And we need to remember together once more that Allah, Blessed and Exalted, has tested us with these great gifts in the nights of Ramadan, so which of us responds and which of us does not? This is the question once again. Deeds are according to aspirations, and opportunities do not come often, and perhaps we shall not reach Ramadan next year. And we see now that life is not as we imagine it, but is as the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Exalted, draws it. No one ever imagined that Ramadan would come while the mosques are closed. No one ever imagined that he would be unable to greet his companion if he met him on the road. No one at all imagined that we would remain confined in our homes for all this length of time. Life has changed in form and in content. So if we want to be saved from all this, we really must place our deposits in the hands of Allah the Exalted as much as we can.

I ask Allah, the Most High, the Almighty, to lift from us distress, worry and grief. O Allah, I am making supplication, so say amen. O Allah, send blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad among the earlier and the later generations, and send blessings upon him, O Allah, in the highest assembly until the Day of Judgment, and send blessings upon him, O Allah, on the day when people stand before the Lord of the worlds. O Allah, guide us among those You have guided, grant us well-being among those You have granted well-being, take us into Your care among those You have taken into Your care, bless us in what You have given, and protect us and turn away from us, by Your mercy, the evil of what You have decreed; You decree with truth and none decrees against You; he whom You befriend is not humbled and he whom You oppose is not honored; You are Blessed, our Lord, and Exalted; to You is praise and to You is thanks for what You have bestowed upon us and granted. O Allah, O You who connect those who are cut off, connect us to You. O Allah, grant us from Yourself righteous work that brings us near to You. O Allah, do not disgrace us on the day of presentation before You, and prepare for us right guidance in our affair, and bless us in what You have provided us, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire. O Allah, turn Your punishment away from us, O Most Merciful; O Allah, lift Your wrath and anger from us, O Bestower; O Allah, turn harm and its causes away from us, O Lord of the worlds; and guide us, and make us content, and mend our hearts, and have mercy on our weakness, and be for us and not against us, and prefer us and do not prefer others over us, and make us pleased and be pleased with us, O Allah, O Allah. O Allah, accept from us our fasting, our prayer, our standing in prayer, our bowing and our prostration; accept our deeds and do not throw them back at us, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, make faith beloved to us and adorn it in our hearts, and make disbelief, wickedness and disobedience hateful to us, and make us among the rightly guided, by Your favor and blessing, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, let us reach the Night of Power; O Allah, do not deprive us of its good, and do not write us in it among the heedless; and make us content and be pleased with us, and pass over our misdeeds and our errors, and expiate for us, O Most Merciful of the merciful. And the last of our supplication is that praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and send blessings, O Allah, upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his family and Companions. May you remain in goodness and blessing from Allah the Exalted, and we shall meet you tomorrow, God willing. And peace be upon you.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The lecturer uttered the two phrases ("the human being was created hasty," "and was created anxious") without attribution. In the Qur'an there occurs ﴿وَكَانَ الْإِنسَانُ عَجُولًا﴾ [al-Isrā': 11] and ﴿إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ خُلِقَ هَلُوعًا﴾ [al-Maʿārij: 19]. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The phrase "Allah repays people their reward without measure" is from the lecturer's words describing the Night of Power, and he did not attribute it to a text; what is known in the Qur'an is that ﴿إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُونَ أَجْرَهُم بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ﴾ [al-Zumar: 10] is about the patient. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: The ḥadīth is in the two Ṣaḥīḥs from the narration of ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) with the wording «أحيا الليل وأيقظ أهله وشدّ المئزر», and the lecturer did not attribute it. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: The general view of the scholars is that iʿtikāf takes place only in a mosque, so what the lecturer mentioned is an independent judgment (ijtihād) of his in the circumstance of the pandemic, and he presented it on the basis of the vastness of mercy and the excusing of servants. ^[5]: Editor's documentation: The ḥadīth of his ﷺ generosity like the wind sent forth is in the two Ṣaḥīḥs from the narration of Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both), and it mentions Ramadan in general, and the lecturer linked it to the last ten. ^[6]: Editor's documentation: The lecturer recited this verse beginning "ʿasā Allāh…" as evidence on the matter of provision in general and did not mention where it occurs; it is in Sūrat al-Māʾidah: 52 and begins «فَعَسَى اللَّهُ…», and its context is the discussion of the hypocrites. ^[7]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Muzzammil: 1-2; the lecturer did not mention where it occurs. ^[8]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Isrāʾ: 79; the lecturer did not mention where it occurs. ^[9]: Editor's documentation: The lecturer mentioned that it is from Sūrat al-Dhāriyāt without the verse numbers, and they are verses 15-20. ^[11]: Editor's documentation: In the transcript there is an unclear word before «مع طبيعة الجسد» ("with the nature of the body"); its meaning was not settled, and what is understood from the context is that the lecturer contrasts the body's inclination to sleep at night with the servant's standing in prayer. ^[12]: Editor's documentation: The phrase in the transcript is «الأرض سخرية» and what is meant by it did not become clear, so only the general meaning was formulated. ^[13]: Editor's documentation: The transcript's wording: «التمسوها في العشر الوتر الأواخر من رمضان» ("Seek it in the odd last ten of Ramadan"), and perhaps he joined the two reports "in the last ten" and "in the odd nights." ^[14]: Editor's documentation: The phrase is garbled in the transcript («والناس اللي عندها ش… انوي أنك بتبذل ما تستطيع ونام علشان تقدر تكمل شغلك»); what is clear of it has been set down.