MUSJIDUL HAQ

لَیۡلَۃُ الْقَدْرِ۬ۙ خَیۡرٌ مِّنْ اَلْفِ شَہۡرٍ ؕ﴿ؔ۳﴾

The Night of Destiny is better than a thousand months.

Tafsir al-Baghawi                                                        تفسیر البغوی                            

عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ: ذُكِرَ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ رَجُلٌ مَنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ حَمَلَ السِّلَاحِ عَلَى عَاتِقِهِ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَلْفَ شَهْرٍ، فَعَجِبَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لِذَلِكَ وَتَمَنَّى ذَلِكَ لِأُمَّتِهِ، فَقَالَ: يَا رَبِّ جَعَلْتَ أُمَّتِي أَقْصَرَ الْأُمَمِ أَعْمَارًا وَأَقَلَّهَا أَعْمَالًا؟ فَأَعْطَاهُ اللَّهُ لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ، فَقَالَ: {لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ} الَّتِي حَمَلَ فِيهَا الْإِسْرَائِيلِيُّ السِّلَاحَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ، لَكَ وَلِأُمَّتِكَ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ

Sayyiduna Ibn ‘Abbas – may Allah be pleased with them – reports:  A man of Bani Israel was mentioned before the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – who carried weapons on his shoulder (fought) in the path of Allah for a thousand months.  The Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – was surprised at it and wished that for his Ummah and said, “O my Lord, You made my Ummah to have the shortest length of time and age and of the least of the good deeds”, so Allah Almighty bestowed upon him the Night of Destiny and stated:

لَیۡلَۃُ الْقَدْرِ۬ۙ خَیۡرٌ مِّنْ اَلْفِ شَہۡرٍ ؕ﴿ؔ۳﴾

The Night of Destiny is better than a thousand months.

For you and your Ummah till the Day of Judgment, even better than those thousand months in which the Israeli man carried weapons in the path of Allah.

قَالَ الْمُفَسِّرُونَ: لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ مَعْنَاهُ: عَمَلٌ صَالِحٌ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مَنْ عَمِلِ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ لَيْسَ فِيهَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ.

Meaning of this verse according to exegetists:  The good deeds in the Night of Destiny are better than those deeds carried out over the period of thousand months in which there is no Night of Destiny.

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: مَنْ قَامَ لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ إِيمَانًا وَاحْتِسَابًا غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah – may Allah be pleased with him – reported that the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – has stated:  Whoever worships in the Night of destiny with Iman and contentment all his previous sins are forgiven.

قَالَ سَعِيدُ بْنُ الْمُسَيَّبِ: مَنْ شَهِدَ الْمَغْرِبَ وَالْعَشَاءَ فِي جَمَاعَةٍ فَقَدْ أَخَذَ بِحَظِّهِ مِنْ لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ

Sayyiduna Sa’eed ibn Musayyib – may Allah be pleased with him – said:  Whoever prays Maghrib and ‘Esha Salah in congregation on the Night of Destiny, has indeed obtained the share of the Night of Destiny.

أَنَّ عَائِشَةَ قَالَتْ لِلنَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: إِنْ وَافَيْتُ لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ فَمَا أَقُولُ قَالَ: قَوْلِي: اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفْوٌ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي”

Sayyidah ‘Ayesha – may Allah be pleased with her – asked the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him:  If I observe the Night of Destiny, what do I recite?  He replied, “Say: O Allah, Indeed You are the Most Forgiving, who loves to pardon, so forgive my sins.”

Tafsir al-Baghawi (Ma’aalim al-Tanzeel) of Muhiyy al-Sunnah Imam Abu Muhammad Al-Husain ibn Mas’ood al-Baghwi al-Shafe’I t D. 510 A.H.

Tafsir al-Kabeer                                                                                                 التفسیر الکبیر                        

قَالَ مَالِكُ بْنُ أَنَسٍ: أُرِيَ رسول الله صلى الله عليه وو سلّم أَعْمَارَ النَّاسِ، فَاسْتَقْصَرَ أَعْمَارَ أُمَّتِهِ، وَخَافَ أَنْ لَا يَبْلُغُوا مِنَ الْأَعْمَالِ مِثْلَ مَا بَلَغَهُ سَائِرُ الْأُمَمِ، فَأَعْطَاهُ اللَّهُ لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ وَهِيَ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ لِسَائِرِ الْأُمَمِ

Sayyiduna Malik ibn Anas – may Allah be pleased with him – said:  The Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – was shown the ages of the people, so he found the age of His Ummah short and feared if they could not compete with the good deeds of the other nations, so Allah Almighty bestowed the Night of Destiny upon him which is better than a thousand months of other nations.

Tafsir al-Kabeer (Mafateeh al-Ghaib) of Imam Fakhruddin Muhammad ibn Umar al-Raazi al-Shafe’i t D. 606 A.H.

Tafsir al-Qurtubi                                                                                                                         تفسیر القرطبی                                                    

وَقَالَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ الْوَرَّاقُ: كَانَ مُلْكُ سُلَيْمَانَ خَمْسَمِائَةِ شَهْرٍ، وَمُلْكُ ذِي الْقَرْنَيْنِ خَمْسَمِائَةِ شَهْرٍ فَصَارَ مُلْكُهُمَا أَلْفَ شَهْرٍ، فَجَعَلَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى الْعَمَلَ فِي هَذِهِ اللَّيْلَةِ لِمَنْ أَدْرَكَهَا خَيْرًا مِنْ مُلْكِهِمَا.

Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Warraq – may Allah be pleased with him – said:  The kingdom of Sayyiduna Sulaiman – peace be upon him – lasted for 500 months and similarly the duration of the kingdom of Sayyiduna Dhul Qarnain was 500 months, hence both combined would make 1,000 months, so Allah Almighty made the good deeds obtained in this night for the one who observes it to be even superior to their kingdoms.

وَقَالَ كَعْبُ الْأَحْبَارِ: كَانَ رَجُلًا مَلِكًا فِي بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ، فَعَلَ خَصْلَةً وَاحِدَةً، فَأَوْحَى اللَّهُ إِلَى نَبِيِّ زَمَانِهِمْ: قُلْ لِفُلَانٍ يَتَمَنَّى. فَقَالَ: يَا رَبِّ أَتَمَنَّى أَنْ أُجَاهِدَ بِمَالِي وَوَلَدِي وَنَفْسِي، فَرَزَقَهُ اللَّهُ أَلْفَ وَلَدٍ، فَكَانَ يُجَهِّزُ الْوَلَدَ بِمَالِهِ فِي عَسْكَرٍ، وَيُخْرِجُهُ مُجَاهِدًا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ، فَيَقُومُ شَهْرًا وَيُقْتَلُ ذَلِكَ الْوَلَدُ، ثُمَّ يُجَهِّزُ آخَرَ فِي عَسْكَرٍ، فَكَانَ كُلُّ وَلَدٍ يُقْتَلُ فِي الشَّهْرِ، وَالْمَلِكُ مَعَ ذَلِكَ قَائِمُ اللَّيْلِ، صَائِمُ النَّهَارِ، فَقُتِلَ الْأَلْفُ «2» وَلَدٍ فِي أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ، ثُمَّ تَقَدَّمَ فَقَاتَلَ فَقُتِلَ. فَقَالَ النَّاسُ: لَا أَحَدَ يُدْرِكُ مَنْزِلَةَ هَذَا الْمَلِكِ، فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ مِنْ شُهُورٍ ذَلِكَ الْمَلِكِ، فِي الْقِيَامِ وَالصِّيَامِ وَالْجِهَادِ بِالْمَالِ وَالنَّفْسِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ.

Sayyiduna Ka’b al-Ahbar – may Allah be pleased with him – said:  There was a king in the nation of Bani Israel who held this one practice, so Allah Almighty sent revelation to the Prophet of their era, “Tell so and so to make a wish.”  So the man said, “I wish to fight in Your path with my wealth, my children and my life.”  Allah Almighty then blessed him with thousand children and he enrolled each child with his wealth in the army and dispatched him as a soldier in the path of Allah while he worshipped for a month and then that child was martyred.  He would then send another child in the army, and like this, every child of his was martyred each month while the king stood in worship in the nights of all those months and fasted during the days.  His thousand children were martyred in thousand months and then he went out and fought till he was martyred.  The people said, “No one can match up to the status of this king.”  Allah Almighty then revealed the verse that the Night of Destiny is better than the thousand months of that king in worship, fasts and fighting in the path of Allah with his wealth, life and children.

وَقَالَ عَلِيٌّ وَعُرْوَةُ: ذَكَرَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَرْبَعَةً مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ، فَقَالَ (عَبَدُوا اللَّهَ ثَمَانِينَ سَنَةً، لَمْ يَعْصُوهُ طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ)، فَذَكَرَ أَيُّوبَ وَزَكَرِيَّا، وَحِزْقِيلَ بْنَ الْعَجُوزِ وَيُوشَعَ بْنَ نُونٍ، فَعَجِبَ أَصْحَابِ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ. فَأَتَاهُ جِبْرِيلُ فَقَالَ: يَا مُحَمَّدُ عَجِبَتْ أُمَّتُكُ مِنْ عِبَادَةٍ هَؤُلَاءِ النَّفَرِ ثَمَانِينَ سَنَةً لَمْ يَعْصُوا اللَّهَ طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ، فَقَدْ أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكَ خَيْرًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ، ثُمَّ قَرَأَ: إِنَّا أَنْزَلْناهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ.

Sayyiduna ‘Ali and ‘Urwah – may Allah be pleased with them – said:  The Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – mentioned four people of Bani Israel and said, “They worshipped Allah Almighty for eighty years without blinking an eye.” And mentioned (that they were) Sayyiduna Ayyub, Sayyiduna Zakariyya, Sayyiduna Hizqeel and Sayyiduna Yoosha’ ibn Noon – peace be upon them.  The companions of the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him, his noble household and all his companions – were surprised by the fact, and then Sayyiduna Jibreel – peace be upon him – descended upon him and said, “O Muhammad (may Allah send peace and blessings upon him), your Ummah marvels at the eighty-years-worship of these individuals without blinking an eye.  Indeed Allah Almighty has bestowed upon them with something even better than that and recited Surah Al-Qadr.

Tafsir Qurtubi (Al-Jame’ Li Ahkaam al-Quran) Imam Shamsuddin Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Qurtubi t D. 671 A.H.

Tafsir al-Jalalain                                                                                                                        تفسیر الجلالین                                                

{لَيْلَة الْقَدْر خَيْر مِنْ أَلْف شَهْر} لَيْسَ فِيهَا لَيْلَة الْقَدْر فَالْعَمَل الصَّالِح فِيهَا خَيْر مِنْهُ فِي أَلْف شَهْر لَيْسَتْ فِيهَا

The Night of Destiny is better than a thousand months, in which there is no Night of Destiny, for a righteous deed on that Night is better than one [performed] for a thousand months without it.

Tafsir al-Jalalain of Imam Jalaaluddin Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Mahalli al-Shafe’i t D. 864 A.H. and Imam Jalaaluddin Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr al-Suyooti al-Shafe’i t D. 911 A.H.