Night of Power: Shed your veil at night

“We have indeed revealed this [Message] in the Night of Power. And what will explain to you what the Night of Power is? The Night of Power is better than a thousand Months. Therein come down the angels and the Spirit by Alláh’s permission on every errand. Peace… this until the rise of Morning!”

Allah created heavens and the earth, and then created one being to stand out amongst all the others: mankind

Out of all the ways that were sent down of ages past, he chose Islam as a way for us “This day I have perfected your religion for you and given you Islam”

Out of mankind, he created one human being to stand out amongst all the humans: Muhammad “verily in the Messenger of Allah do you have a most excellent of example”

And for mankind, once in a lifetime, he has given us Hajj as an act of worship

And out of all the acts of worship, Allah has chosen one act for Himself and he will reward it without measure “assiyammu li”; fasting in the month of Ramadan

And out of the fasting that he has given us, He has chosen one night to forgive us our sins;

The night in which Allah opened up the heavens and revealed the Qur’an to a man whose named would encompass the annals of history; we cannot even imagine how the world would be without this one act of Mercy that Allah did for us:

Arabs would still be in jahiliyyah, many nations would still be in darkness, including Europe, science, technology, math, all would have stopped in their tracts as Islam was the religion that created geniuses that trailblazed history;

Movie came out a few years ago called Independence Day and in it, the President of the US, after seeing his country destroyed, gets up and makes a speech to the few of mankind that are left and says “this day we take back our humanity, we take back our country”

So this Night of Power is an independence night of sorts for all of humanity; the day when an independence for ignorance, tribalism, bloodshed, took root in the most backward of places; a night as we look back in History, we can easily say that it was a night when Allah “gave us back our humanity, and gave dignity back to mankind”

But like any other celebration that occurs in Islam, we honored it not with parties, dances, or any public occurances, but rather with solemness and gratitude to the One who gave us this opportunity: the Creater of the Heavens and the Earth and everything in between: Allah

But it is for us to take advantage of this night; to use it as an opportunity to get closer to him; so we are instructed to seek it out in the odd nights of the last ten nights of Ramadan; it is difficult: our bodies are tired from lack of energy, our mind is weaker because of lack of food, but if we did the first 20 days correctly, one organ is stronger and can rejuvinate the entire body and push us till the end: our heart

And so we need to seek it out at night during these nights that are upon us, and don’t let the opportunity pass us by; who knows if it will ever come again;

Abu Dah Daah was one of those who found an opportunity and won that which is greater than the heavens and the earth. An adult companion of the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) cultivated his garden next to the property of an orphan. The orphan claimed that a specific palm tree was on his property and thus belonged to him. The companion rejected the claim and off to the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) went the orphan boy to complain. With his justness, the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) measured the two gardens and found that the palm tree did indeed belong to the companion. The orphan erupted crying. Seeing this, the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) offered the companion, “would you give him the palm tree and to you is a palm tree in Jannah?” However, the companion in his disbelief that an orphan would complain to the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) missed the opportunity and went away angry.
But someone else saw the opportunity, Abu Dah Daah – radi Allahu ‘anhu. He went to the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and asked, “Ya Rasul Allah, if I buy the tree from him and give it to the orphan shall I have that tree in Jannah?” The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) replied, “Yes.”
Abu Dah Daah chased after the companion and asked, “Would you sell that tree to me for my entire garden?” The companion answered, “Take it for there is no good in a tree that I was complained to the Prophet about.”
Immediately, Abu Dah Daah went home and found his wife and children playing in the garden. “Leave the garden!” shouted Abu Dah Daah, “we’ve sold it to Allah! We’ve sold it to Allah!” Some of his children had dates in their hand and he snached the dates from them and threw them back into the garden. “We’ve sold it to Allah!”
When Abu Dah Daah was later martyred in the battle of Uhud, Rasul Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) stood over his slain body and remarked, “How many shady palm trees does Abu Dah Daah now have in paradise?”
What did Abu Dah Daah lose? Dates? Bushes? Dirt? What did he gain? He gained a Jannah whose expanse is the heavens and the earth.
Abu Dah Daah did not miss his opportunity, and I pray to Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) that we do not miss our opportunity of standing to Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) on Laylatul Qadr.
It was narrated that in the days that Musa (Alahi salaam) wandered with Bani Israel in the desert an intense drought befell them. Together, they raised their hands towards the heavens praying for the blessed rain to come. Then, to the astonishment of Musa (Alahi salaam) and all those watching, the few scattered clouds that were in the sky vanished, the heat poured down, and the drought intensified.
It was revealed to Musa that there was a sinner amongst the tribe of Bani Israel whom had disobeyed Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) for more than forty years of his life. “Let him separate himself from the congregation,” Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) told Musa (Alahi salaam). “Only then shall I shower you all with rain.”
Musa (Alahi salaam) then called out to the throngs of humanity, “There is a person amongst us who has disobeyed Allah for forty years. Let him separate himself from the congregation and only then shall we be rescued from the drought.” That man, waited, looking left and right, hoping that someone else would step forward, but no one did. Sweat poured forth from his brow and he knew that he was the one.
The man knew that if he stayed amongst the congregation all would die of thirst and that if he stepped forward he would be humiliated for all eternity.
He raised his hands with a sincerity he had never known before, with a humility he had never tasted, and as tears poured down on both cheeks he said: “O Allah, have mercy on me! O Allah, hide my sins! O Allah, forgive me!”
As Musa (Alahi salaam) and the people of Bani Israel awaited for the sinner to step forward, the clouds hugged the sky and the rain poured. Musa (Alahi salaam) asked Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala), “O Allah, you blessed us with rain even though the sinner did not come forward.” And Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) replied, “O Musa, it is for the repentance of that very person that I blessed all of Bani Israel with water.”
Musa (Alahi salaam), wanting to know who this blessed man was, asked, “Show him to me O Allah!” Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) replied, “O Musa, I hid his sins for forty years, do you think that after his repentance I shall expose him?”
The night is a veil over the day, just like our clothes are a cover for us; use the night as an opportunity to expose your sins, open your hearts, and cry to Allah for He is the only one that can forgive, change our hearts, and make us be close to Him on the Day of Judgment.