SURAH AL-QADR (DIGNITY)

Introduction

NAME: The Surah takes its name from the mention, in the first verse, of Quran being revealed in the Night of Dignity (Lailatul-Qadr).

TIME OF REVELATION: It is Makkan as state by Imam Suyuti in “Al-Itqan” (Vol. I. p. 22). From the subject also it can be gathered that it was revealed in Makkah.

CENTRAL THEME: To show the importance and greatness of Quran. The commencement of the revelation of Quran had begun, with the first five verses of the Surah Alaq, In this Surah, it is explained that the time when the holy verses were first revealed was very auspicious.

ORDER OF THE VERSES: At the outset mention is made of the great historical event; that the commencement of the revelation of Quran began in a grand manner in a night of great ‘honour, because the revelation of Quran is not an ordinary. thing. It is that great Divine Decision which is going to change the fates of nations, and to cause a revolutionary change in the world of humanity. After this it is shown what are the blessings and auspiciousness of this night and in what way it is a night of peace till morning. The idea is to point out that the Book which has been revealed in such a grand style, its detractors and those as are indifferent to it can be only such people who want to deprive themselves of this treasure of goodness and righteousness.

SURAH AL-QADR (DIGNITY) Ayah: 5 Parah 30 S. 97

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

1. We have indeed sent it, ¹ down in the Night of Dignity; ²

2. And what do you know what the Night of Dignity is ? ³

3. The Night of Dignity is better than a thousand months. ⁴

4. Therein the angels and the Spirit ⁵ (Ruhul-Ameen) descend by the command of their Lord, on every errand. ⁶

5. It (That Night) is all peace until the rising of the dawn. ⁷

1. That is: the holy Quran.

2. Qadr means honour and dignity and Lailatul Qadr means the night of honour and dignity. It is this night in which the first divine revelation came to the Prophet, when he was in prayer in the cave of Hira. Since this night enjoys the honour of having the first revelation brought to the Prophet, it has been named as the Night of Dignity (Lailatul Qadr), and in Surah Dukhan, it has also been called the Auspicious Night. It is like calling those days in which the nation of Aa’d was subjected to punishment:

“So We sent down on them very violent winds on inauspicious day.” —(Ha Meem Sajda——16)

It is obvious that in this verse the inauspicious days do not mean that they in themselves were inauspicious or bad, but that since on these days the nation of Aa’d was confronted with Allah’s punishment, these days were inauspicious for them. Another example of this kind is month of Ramzan, whose importance and auspiciousness is on account of the fact that Quran was first revealed during this month, similarly the greatness of the Night of Dignity is on account of the fact that the revelation of Quran commenced from this night.

This was a night in the month of Ramzan, as is mentioned in Quran: “The month of Ramzan, in which Quran was revealed.” ( Al-Baqarah -185)

As mentioned in the authenticated traditions it is a night which falls during the last ten days of the month of Ramzan. It should be noted that the Quran having been revealed in this night does not mean that the whole Quran was revealed in this one night, but it means that the commencement of the revelation of this holy Book began in this night, as if the Divine Favour stirred during this night and the springs of Guidance began to flow from this night.

The selection of a night instead of a day for revealing Quran is not without good reason. The time of night is quiet and peaceful. The Godloving and virtuous people are more inclined towards God. This peaceful time is very suitable for the nourishment of the soul, and particularly the last hours of the night is the most proper time for praying and for seeking Allah’s help. For this reason Quran and hadith have spoken of great importance of praying and seeking Allah’s help in the last part of the night. And no wonder if the verses of Surah Lailatul Qadr might have been revealed in the last hours of the night.

3. This is a rhetorical question to emphasise the importance and greatness of the Night of Dignity, besides it also points to the fact that the date of its actual occurrence has been kept a mystery. Therefore, there is no means to know more details about it than what the Divine Revelation has already stated. Accordingly, to fix its actual occurrence on a particular date is not within a man’s power. We should be content with what the Prophet has said in a hadith that it should be sought in the odd dates of the last ten days of the month of Ramzan.

4. The mention of a thousand months has been made to indicate auspiciousness and virtuousness. It means that this night is better than a thousand nights, nay even thousand months, because in this night the wise decision of blessing man with Guidance was taken, because the commencement of the revelation of Quran had begun, and because Muhammad (P.b.u.h.) was favoured with prophethood. When the vessel (night) is of this grandeur, then what would be the magnitude of the grandeur of its content (Quran) !!

This night had already opened its gates of the treasure house when the angel for the first time had come with the Divine Message in the cave of Hira, but its auspiciousness has continued to be with us permanently. Accordingly every year in the month of Ramzan this night is celebrated to commemorate the revelation of Quran. This celebration takes the form of prayers, recitation of Quran, sermons and praying to Allah, as the Prophet has said:

“The person who offered prayers to Allah in the Night of Dignity with faith and with the hope of reward from Allah, all his past sins have been forgiven.” - (Bukhari -Kitab Salatut --Tarawih).

As the rainy season is suitable for farming, similarly for the attainment of nearness to Allah the specific timings, specific days and specific nights are most suitable, e.g. the time for offering Tahajjud prayers, Friday, month of Ramzan, the Day of Arafat, etc: So also the Night of Dignity is the most suitable night for attaining nearness to Allah. Because of this in the hadith we have been asked to seek it in the last ten nights of the month of Ramzan:

“Hazrat Ayesha narrates that the Messenger of Allah has said:

‘Seek the Night of Dignity (Shab-i-Qadr) in the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramzan.” (Bukhari-Kitab Salatul-’Tarawih).

By odd nights are meant the twenty-first, the twenty-third, the twenty-fifth, the twenty-seventh and the twenty-ninth night of the month of Ramzan. No one night has been fixed so that the yearning to seek it may increase and people may spend more nights in worshipping. From this aspect, the importance of E’tikaf meditation) during the last ten days of Ramzan is clear.

The question is raised that in one part of the world there is night while in the other it is day, therefore when in Makkah there is the Night of Dignity then how the people in distant regions will find it? The answer is that whatever time the Shariah has declared as auspicious for prayers, for that the local time only would be proper, for example, the last part of the night which is considered auspicious for the acceptance or the answering of a man’s prayer, or the time for the Friday congregational prayers are observed according to the local timings and calendar, and this does not take away the blessings or the auspiciousness which are attached to the specific timings, or the days. Similarly the blessings and the auspiciousness, of the Night of Dignity remain undisturbed inspite of following the local timings or calendar, and the people of every region can derive benefit from them.

5. The Spirit or Rooh stands for Roohul Ameen’ (The Trustworthy Spirit) which is the title of Angel Jibril (Gabriel). He has been mentioned particularly because he is the chief of the angels.

6. ‘Tanazzal’ (descend) is used in the present tense, so that the picture of the time when the angels were descending with the message of Allah should come before us. It means that as the soldiers of a king run on an errand carrying the royal decree, in the same way Jibril, with the army of the angels, descended carrying the Divine Decree, and he had descended in such a grand manner as if in the spiritual world this was the night of celebration of the holy Quran. Descending on every errand does not mean that the angels had descended on some casual mission or on some insignificant errand, but that they had come with a set purpose, e.g. to convey the first five verses of Surah Alaq of the holy Quran, to descend in the cave Hira of Makkah, to reveal Allah’s Message “to Muhammad (P.b.u.h.) and thus adorn him with prophethood, to press the Prophet hard with a view to generate in him the ability to grasp the revelation and to recite it correctly, etc., etc. Besides this whatever commands in connection with the sending down of auspiciousness and righteousness were given to them, the angels diligently obeyed them, therefore, the entire matter of the revelation of Quran and the attainment of prophethood by the Prophet is a matter without any shadow of doubt.

It should be noted that at the time of the commencement of the revelation, only Jibril could be seen by the Prophet, but as this verse elicits other angels had also descended. Since this was the first time for the Prophet to see an angel, and to bear this experience was not an ordinary thing, only Archangel Jibril was made to appear before him.

7. At the time of the revelation of Quran, a very strict watch was maintained on the skies, so that the devils might not interfere with the revelation of Quran, nor should they be able to get any inkling about it from the angels, because if the devils got the news of the prophethood being bestowed on Muhammad (P.b.u.h.) before the actual bestowal, or if they got a hint about the Messages that were being sent to the Prophet, they would have immediately rushed to the soothsayers and given them incorrect information and started some mischief. Therefore, it was the result of the extra-ordinary arrangement made by Allah that before the conferment of prophethood on Muhammad (P.b.u.h.) nobody knew that he was going to be favoured with this great honour, nor did anybody come to know before the revelation of the first verses that such and such message was coming from Allah.

In this way Allah had made fool proof arrangements to keep the night of the revelation of Quran safe from all kinds of troubles, and had made this night a perfectly peaceful night. Such a state did not remain for a short time only, It remained till the rising of the morning, because this auspicious night was the night of the inauguration of the Quran; and these days the Night of Dignity that is being celebrated in commemoration of the revelation of Quran has also its auspiciousness and blessings till the dawn. Therefore, this whole night is so auspicious that it demands we should spend it in worshipping Allah.

The Night of Dignity is the night of total peace, and the Book which was revealed in this night is also a Book of total peace. This is a message of peace for humanity. The people who will accept its message will lead a life of peace in this world, and in the Hereafter also they will be blessed with eternal peace.