Taraweeh Reflections
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What Counts As Catching Laylatul Qadr? | Taraweeh Reflections
What does it mean to catch Laylatul Qadr? Why does that definition vary for different people in various situations, and why is avoiding sinning of utmost importance?
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to catch Laylatul Qadr. Ameen. Alhamdulillah, we're in the best ten nights of the year. May Allah allow us to be focused and sincere, and bid'nillahi ta'ala realize the full reward of every single one of these blessed nights. Allahumma ameen. What does it mean to catch Laylatul Qadr? So I actually wanted us to think about this question in a schematic way, because nothing in the shari'ah, nothing in our taskiyah, nothing in our spirituality is random. Everything has a logic to it, everything has a coherence to it. And so when someone asks the question, what does it mean to catch Laylatul Qadr? And I'm not talking about the idea of, you know, what does it look like outside, and the sun the day after, and the peacefulness of the night. I mean for you as an individual, what does it mean to have caught Laylatul Qadr? May Allah azza wa jalla allow us all to catch Laylatul Qadr. Allahumma ameen. There are two things I want you to think about, bid'nillahi ta'ala, as we talk about this particular subject. There are two levels of catching Laylatul Qadr, and in general, when it comes to seasons of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's mercy, when Allah gives us an opportunity, a season or a place, where His mercy is more present to us, or there is a greater opportunity, there are two levels of observance. Number one is to witness, al-mushahadah, to witness. Number two is al-'amal, are the deeds that are present therein. So first and foremost, al-mushahadah, to witness something. Secondly, to perform extra deeds, to perform blessed deeds during that time. So I want you to think about everything in our deen that's relegated to a time or a place, and think about how this scheme fits insha'Allah ta'ala for a moment.
Observance means, how do I know that I fasted a day of Ramadan? Al-mushahadah, I witnessed the day of Ramadan, I did not eat or drink. I witnessed that day of Ramadan, insha'Allah. ذهب الضماء وابتلت العرق وثبت الأجر, insha'Allah. Hopefully, the reward of that fast is maintained, preserved, so long as I didn't do anything to break my fast. In the physical sense, that would mean nullifying it by eating or drinking. In the spiritual sense, that would mean nullifying it by backbiting, or gossiping, or lying, or arguing, or doing something that would compromise it spiritually. Otherwise, I caught that day of Ramadan, I fasted that day of Ramadan. When we talk about hajj, when we talk about umrah, when we talk about being present on the day of Arafah. فَلَا رَفَثَ وَلَا فُسُوقَ وَلَا جِدَالَ فِي الْحَجِّ Allah defines hajj, and the acceptance of hajj, first and foremost, by what? The lack of violating that hajj. الحج المبرور, when the Prophet ﷺ talks about an accepted hajj, you can read any book of hadith, and the word مبرور here, of accepted, refers to not violating the hajj. Meaning, if you go there, and you pass the miqat, you pass the station in your ihram, and you don't violate your ihram, and you perform what needs to be performed, you can consider yourself amongst those who witnessed that day. You witnessed the day of Arafah, you witnessed the umrah, you witnessed the hajj. So this is the first level. Ramadan is first and foremost defined by that, and the last ten nights are first and foremost defined by that. In Salatul Isha, لا يصلها إلا الأشقى No one will reach hellfire except for the one who is deprived. الأشقى الأشقى, the deprived one,
is a person who even if they are placed in the center of khayr, in the center of goodness, they're immersed in it, they will still find a way to miss out on the mercy of Allah SWT. عمر بن عبد العزيز رحمه الله صدق قد خاب وخسر من خرج عن رحمة الله التي وسعت كل شيء Indeed, a person has lost and failed when they find themselves excluded from the mercy of Allah, though it encompasses all things. How could you miss out on the mercy of Allah SWT? الأشقى is the person who missed out despite the fact that they were right in the middle of it. They had the opportunity, but they were deprived of that good. And when the Prophet ﷺ talked about a gathering of goodness, he said هم القوم, they are a group of people, if someone is amongst them. لا يشقى لهم جليس A person who is sitting amongst them will not be deprived. I say this to first and foremost give you some hope, but at the same time give you a warning. That as Al-Hafidh Ibn Rajab رحمه الله says, you want Laylatul Qadr to be accepted, what counts as catching Laylatul Qadr? As a believer being awake at the time of Laylatul Qadr, not doing anything to violate it, even if you just prayed Salatul Isha, and you prayed Salatul Fajr, and you attended some halaqat, and you made some dhikr, you didn't backbite, you didn't sin, you didn't insult anybody, you didn't disobey Allah SWT, you are present on the night of Laylatul Qadr. Alhamdulillah, that's observing Laylatul Qadr. InshaAllah ta'ala the reward of Laylatul Qadr خير من ألف شهر That the night of Al-Qadr is better than a thousand months has been written for you. That is the mercy of Allah SWT that you start with. That you, you know, first and foremost be happy that you're here. Say Alhamdulillah that you're here. You're in a masjid in the last ten nights. This is where you need to be. You are doing mushahadah, you're witnessing the salah, you're witnessing the prayer in jama'ah in the last ten nights in a masjid. You're attending a halaqah
in the last ten nights of a masjid. That's exactly what it is. Observe it. Now if Jibreel Alayhi Salaam cursed the person who still manages to not be forgiven in Ramadan, where is that situated in? It's situated with sinfulness. A person who is disobedient to their parents, a person who does not send salawat on the Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam at least the first time that they hear his name in a particular setting or gathering. It's sinfulness like, what is wrong with you? How do you still miss out on the mercy of Allah? If that's the case for the month of Ramadan, imagine a person who sins on Laylatul Qadr. Think about it. Because there's a scheme here. The better the time or the place, the more severe the sin. A sin in ihram is not like a sin outside of ihram. A sin at hajj is not like a sin outside of hajj. A sin in Ramadan is not like a sin outside of Ramadan. A sin in the sacred months, the sacred months, the Qadr, the Hijjah, Muharram, Rajab, is not like a sin outside of the sacred months. A sin in a sacred place or a sacred time is that much worse because at the bare minimum to observe means do not violate. Do not violate. You have 20 days to practice guarding this tongue, guarding your eyes, fasting. Consider the fasting of the night at this point. Do not violate these nights. If the only thing is you come and you sit here and you don't shed a single tear and you even sleep for a good part of the night. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala write down Laylatul Qadr for you because you still could be amongst those who observe Laylatul Qadr because this is a gift from Allah to this ummah. So the first thing in is al-mushahadah, to witness something. The second thing is al-amal, are the deeds that you put forth. And that refers to the multiplication
beyond what Allah has guaranteed as a bare minimum. So what the scholars mention is that at the bare minimum, bi-idhnillah, and this is the mercy of Allah, if you don't mess up on Laylatul Qadr and you do the basics and you don't compromise it, you are observing of it, khayru min alfi shahab. But not everyone catches it the same. Some people would put forth deeds on the night of Laylatul Qadr that make it worth even more than a lifetime. Some people will glorify Allah, will pray, will have a moment of qurb, a moment of closeness to Allah that make it better than 10 lifetimes, that make it better than 50 lifetimes, because not everyone catches it the same. So you start with that first level of al-mushahadah, then the second level is what deeds am I doing in these last 10 nights. Can you imagine the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam described as tying his waist belt in those last 10 nights. Take the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam on an average night of qiyam. I can't imagine what his qiyam look like in the last 10 nights. If he would cry until his place would be wet on a regular night, imagine the qiyam of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in his tent in those last 10 nights. He gave life to the night Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Some of the sahaba, they came to the masjid, and it was like Eid for them in those last 10 nights. You know, subhanAllah, I was reading about Tamim ibn Ausad, daddy, rahimahullah radiallahu ta'ala anhu, a companion. When he comes to the masjid in those last 10 nights, it's like Eid. He's wearing his best garment. He had a particular hula, a particular garment that was reserved, a particular type of perfume for those last 10 nights because it was special. These are the nights of Eid, the nights of celebration in the metaphorical sense because I'm celebrating that closeness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Imam Malik, rahimahullah, very similar narrations about him. So, not everyone catches it the same way. And that's where you want to build on observance and think about the deposits. How can I make this night
even better than a lifetime? Because the potential is there. How can I do extra good deeds now? How can I do extra dhikr? How can I have a moment in my dua? But at the bare minimum, do not fail to observe the rites of these nights upon you. So, there is al-mushahadah, observance, and then there is al-amal biha, to do the deeds that are befitting of it, that honor the night. Observe the night and then honor the night, the same way that you do with your fasting. And that's when the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says, من صام رمضان إيمانا واحتسابا غفر له ما تقدم من ذنبه Whoever fasts Ramadan with faith and accountability, Allah will give them the reward of being forgiven for all of their previous sins. من قام ليلة القدر Whoever stands on the night of Laylatul Qadr إيمانا واحتسابا غفر له ما تقدم من ذنبه With faith and with a sense of accountability, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, seeking its reward, accountability and seeking its reward, Allah will forgive all of their previous sins. اللهم إنك عفو تحب العفو فاعف عنا Oh Allah, you are the one who forgives, you love to forgive, so forgive all of us and accept Laylatul Qadr from all of us. Make us amongst those that observe it and that honor it as well. اللهم آمين جزاكم الله خيرا Before you get up, part of honoring it and observing it is please be courteous to the volunteers. MashaAllah, in these last 10 nights, this place gets packed. We have a lot of you from out of town. They are giving up these nights to try to facilitate crowd control at a time when our masjid is way way fuller than it is at other times. Please be courteous to them, InshaAllah Ta'ala, and thank them as well and make dua for them. As you walk in and out of the masjid. جزاكم الله خير والسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
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