| RAGHAIB
NIGHT AND THE THREE MONTHS Prof.
Dr. Mahmud Es'ad COSAN Aùzu
billâhi
minesh-shaytànir-rajîm. Bismillâhir-rahmânir-rahîm. Alhamdu
lillâhi rabbil
àlemîne I
seek refuge with Allah against Satan. In
the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Mercy Giving. Praise
is due to Allah, the Lord of the Universe. We praise Him with the
best of
the praises endlessly. Peace
and blessings of Allah be upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad
the Dear
Beloved Brothers and Sisters! May
Allah Almighty be pleased with you all. May He grant you
happiness in
this life and in the hereafter. May He honor you in both
lives. May
He reward you with His Beauty in the highest ranks of His Paradise. a.
Two Spiritual Seasons A
year has four physical seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and
winter. It
also has two important spiritual seasons. One of these spiritual
seasons comes
after the Hegira month Shawwal. It starts with the eleventh
Arabic month
Dhil-Qadah and extends through the months Dhil-Hijjah and
Muharram.
This is a season people move to perform the Pilgrimage. From
distant as
well as nearer lands, in response to the call of Allah, to earn
physical and
spiritual benefits, to acquire many experiences that are full of
wisdom, to
observe spiritual states, people, lovers, and unselfish servants start
a
journey. Saying "Labbayk allahumma labbayk--I respond to your
call o Allah!" with tears in eyes, the Pilgrims cross the mountains,
valleys and seas; they arrive in the blessed lands via the land, sea,
and
airways. They earn great rewards for performing the Hajj. Almighty
Allah takes an oath in
Surah al-Fajr by ten blessed nights: والفجر. وليالٍ عشرٍ (الفجر:١-٢) (Wal
fajri wa layâlin ashrin)
"By the dawn and by ten nights." These blessed nights are
interpreted as the nights of the first ten days of the month of
Dhul-Hijjah
during which Hajj is performed. Apart
from the verses that instruct performing
the Pilgrimage, these verses indicate that this time period is very
precious
and rewarding. The worship carried out in this time period is
very valuable.
Fasting during those days has so much reward. There are reports [of
ahadith] that
if a person fasts on the day of Arafa, the day before the Eid al Adha,
he is
forgiven his offences of two years--of the past year and the year to
come. This is for those who are not performing the Hajj.
Those who
are performing Hajj will have their duties on the plains of
Arafa.
However, for those who are at their homes, fasting on the day of Arafa
earns a
great reward. Islamic books describe how great to enliven the
first nine
days and ten nights of Dhul-Hijjah. The
first of the spiritual season is
the season of the Pilgrimage. These are the months people abandon
their
anger, grudge and enmity towards one another so that they can perform
Hajj in
peace. These are the months people put their weapons and arms
away; the months
they put a side the unresolved matters among them. These are
called Haram
months. There is no fighting during these months, nor is any
prevention
of people from performing the Pilgrimage. Even if an Arab saw the
murderer of
his father during this month, he would turn his head and
overlook. It is
all because these months are blessed and respectable months. We all
are aware that Hajj is one of
the most important worships in Islam. Both Muslims and non-Muslims,
friends and
foes, acknowledge that Hajj is a great worship logically, socially,
physically,
and spiritually. They express their admiration saying: "It is a
colossal ritual worship; there is nothing like that in other
religions." There are some people who admired the wisdom and
beauties of such ritual worship and entered the realm of Islam. Hajj is
a magnificent ritual
worship. Muslims from all parts of the world gather in on
eplace.
They respond to the call of Allah and come to the blessed places in the
same
attire, the same humbleness, and the same way. It is a
magnificent
worship, a colossal opportunity. It is a great ritual gathering
that
results in many good things. It is an enormous task, an event
that shakes
the world. There
is another spiritual season in
every year: the blessed season of the three months Rajab, Sha'ban, and
Ramadhan. The Prophet Muhammed SAS has stated in his ahadith and
showed
with his actions, conduct and worship how great, how blessed, and how
rewarding
these three moths are as a set. Rajab is the month during which
the Prophet
SAS fasted the most besides Ramadhan. There are great,
magnificent
rewards for fasting in the month of Rajab. Here,
this evening, we are entering
this spiritual season. We have gathered here to learn something,
to
improve ourselves so that we can be more beneficial to our Muslim
brethren.
We have come together to figure out what we can do to be more helpful
to our
brothers and sisters. While we are here, we are observing the first
night of
the blessed season. This is the first night of Rajab, the first
of the
three months. When did we enter the month of Rajab? We
entered the
month of Rajab as we heard the call for the Maghrib prayer. We
are in the
very first hours of Rajab. b.
The Specialties of Rajab Our
Prophet SAS stated how precious
the month of Rajab is. It is stated in the Qur'an that there are
four
blessed Haram months, and Rajab is one of them. The haram months
start
with Dhul-Qadah, and continue as Dhul-Hijjah and Muharram
consecutively.
These are the months for preparation for Hajj, performance of Hajj, and
return
from Hajj. Yet the month of Rajab is a separate month--five months
after the
other Haram months. Let us name the Hegira months: Muharram,
Safar,
Rabi-al-Awwal, Rabi-al-Akhir, Jumâdal-ûlâ, Jumâdal-Akhir, Rajab,
Sha'ban,
Ramadhan, Shawwal, Dhul-Qâdah, and Dhul-Hijjah. Since Rajab is a
separate
Haram month, it is also called Rajab-al-ferd (The individual, solitaire
Rajab). The respect, reverence, regard and honor as well as
abstinence
from the quarrels and fights are to be observed during the month of
Rajab, too. This
month is also called
Rajab-ul-Asabb. It is a month in which the rewards are poured in
plenty
to the record book for each servant. The rewards flow like
running
river. In Arabic, sabbe means pouring, munsab,
is the
place where the river running from mountains pours, like a
waterfall. It comes
from the same root word. Rajab-ul-Asabb is the month that the
Mercy of
Allah showers the servants, His blessings flood all. There
is another attribute for this
month: Rajab-ul-Asamm--Rajab the deaf. That means, people overlook the
enmities
and what they hear about them. If a person is informed that his
enemy is passing
some place, he will act as though he is deaf. That is why it is
called
this way. There have been various explanations of this
attribute.
In brief, it has been stated in various sources that Rajab is an
interesting
and important month, and we have just entered it. The
scholars have indicated in their
books that this month is a month of sowing. In this month one does
righteous
and rewarding deeds such as repenting and fasting. Like
cultivating the
soil and sowing the seed, this month is the time for sowing.
Sha'ban is
the month of attending the crop. Ramadhan is the month of
harvesting the
crop. That means, Rajab is the first step to prepare us for
Ramadhan. Ramadhan
is the king of eleven
months. One does not enter Ramadhan all of a sudden. One
organizes his
deeds and prepares himself for Ramadhan. For this he has to
repent in
Rajab which is also known as the "month of repentance." A
servant must turn to Allah: "O my Lord! I failed to understand Your
orders. I have disobeyed You. I confess my shortcomings and
offences. Please forgive me my sins." Uttering these words,
one
shall abandon the offenses and be an obedient servant in the path of
Allah. He
shall remember that Rajab is the month of repentance. The
following month, Sha'ban, is the
month of attendance of the worship. Ramadhan is the month of
reaping the
rewards. These words express the connection among these months. It is
related from the Prophet SAS
that Rajab is Shahrullah. In Arabic, shahr means
"month." There is another use of the word shahr in
Turkish as in Shahr-i We have
thus entered a month in
which Almighty Allah opens the gates of repentance and
forgiveness. This
is important for me to remind you about this. It is also an important
opportunity for you to pull yourselves together, to do a
self-accounting, to
consider your shortcomings and deeds, to realize our mistakes, and to
turn to
Allah to beg for forgiveness. This is what we shall do in this
month, Fasting
in the month of Rajab is
also very meritorious. You are aware that fasting corrects the
self and illuminates
the heart. It has two major effects. First, the fasting
limits and suppresses
the desires and ambitions of the self. Second, it illuminates and
strengthens
the heart and spirit. When a person fasts, his stomach gets empty, and
then his
feelings become clearer--I am sure you have experienced it in
Ramadhan.
With fasting the heart becomes more attentive, compassionate and
sensitive. Then the person can contemplate on the deeper meanings
of
things. He observes good states. For
these reasons, we shall fast in
the month of Rajab and do deeds to incur the mercy and forgiveness of
Almighty
Allah. Remember the verse: انما يوفى الصابرون اجرهم بغير حساب
(الزمر:١٠) (Innemâ
yuwaffas sàbirûne ajrahum
bighayri hisâb) There is a multiplier for the rewards of
everything, yet
"the patient will be given their reward without account or limit"
(Zumer 10). Since fasting requires patience and perseverance, it
will be
rewarded without limit. That is why we should try to fast in this
month
as much as possible. Our beloved Prophet SAS would fast many days in
Rajab. Renew
your repentance! The
repentance does not mean the mere utterance of the words "Astaghfirullah
wa atûbu ileyh." The meaning of repentance is making a turn towards
Almighty Allah. A repenting person abandons his state and deeds
that are
unpleasant to Allah, and he follows a path that is pleasing to
Allah. If
he fails to make that turn and if he does not abandon the wrong deeds,
then his
repentance will be the repentance of liars--as pointed out Hadrat Ali
ibn-Abu
Talib. Once
our master, Hadrat Ali ibn-Abu
Talib entered the mosque of Kûfa. He heard a person uttering the words:
"Tawba
yâ Rabbî! Tawba yâ Rabbî!" Hadrat ali went to him and said:
"O respectable Brother! The repentance by the tongue alone is the
repentance of the liars." The
repentance does not concern the
tongue only. The repentance is the total turning to Allah with all
parts of the
body and with all activities in life. We have to be aware of
this!
We shall not think of the repentance as something we say only.
Even a
parrot would utter these words, yet it would not know their
meanings. I
have seen a parrot who says three times the kalima "Lâ ilâha
illallah!" Eylesen
tûtîye ta'limi eder kelimât,
Tûtî means parrot. If you teach a parrot how
to speak, its words will be human words, yet its essence will not be
human.
It still will be a bird. It will keep its nature and remain a
parrot. We
shall remember that the condition
and state of the person who repents shall change to comply with the
consent of
Allah. We shall appreciate these days as opportunities to turn to
the
path of Allah, to become a good Muslim, to become a true Muslim, a
Muslim like
one of the companions of the Prophet SAS. We should interrogate
ourselves
and take an account of our intentions and deeds. We should turn
to Allah
and follow the path he prescribed for us. Our
becoming good practicing Muslims
is a must not only for us, but for the entire Nation of Prophet
Muhammed
SAS. It is necessary for This is
such a month.
"Rajab is the month of Allah-- a month in which Almighty Allah accepts
the
repentances," said the Prophet SAS. He continued: "Sha'ban is my
month, and Ramadhan is of my Ummah." That means we shall repent
in
Rajab and seek forgiveness from Allah. In Sha'ban, we shall try
to be the
special Ummah of the Prophet SAS. In Ramadhan, we shall try to
receive
the grace of Allah and rewards from Him for our deeds as the Ummah of
the Prophet
SAS. In a
hadith, the Prophet SAS said:
"Woe to a person who lived in Ramadhan and yet failed to correct
himself
and benefit from the blessings of Ramadhan. May his nose be
rubbed to
dirt --may he be humiliated." To benefit from Ramadhan, we shall
prepare ourselves for Ramadhan. It is like the preparation of an
athlete
before the competition. One prepares for the competition and does the
exercises
regularly will be in the top positions. One who does not prepare
will
earn nothing in the competition. Just like that, we have to start our
preparation process for Ramadhan early--starting this month. Tonight
is also the Friday
night. Tomorrow is Friday; the night belongs to the day that
comes after
the night. When sun goes down, a day ends, and a new day starts.
This is
how it is Islamically. When
sun is setting, it completes a
day. A new day starts with the call for the Maghrib prayer. If we
see the
new crescent in the sky soon after the sunset, we say: "Here is the
sliver
of the crescent moon that became visible in the sky where sun has
set. That
means tomorrow is the first day of Ramadhan." Since it would be
the
first night of Ramadhan, we offer the Tarawih prayers after Isha and
get up for
the suhur meal to fast during the day. This is all
because a new
day starts with Maghrib. We see the crescent in the evening, and
we start
fasting of Ramadhan. At the
end of Ramadhan, we observe
the crescent. If we see the crescent in the sky where the sun has
set, we
say "It is Eid tomorrow!" That evening we do not offer the
Tarawih prayers because Ramadhan would be over with Maghrib, and it
would be
the first night of the month Shawwal. The next morning we offer the Eid
prayer. Keep this in mind, too. Tonight
is the night joining
Thursday to Friday: it is the Friday night. Tomorrow is Friday,
and we
will offer the Friday prayers. The Friday night is a blessed
night
throughout the year, every week. It is a night full of spiritual
lights. It is
a precious and meritorious night, so the Prophet SAS described it as "Al-laylatul
gharrâu" -- a gleaming night that is illuminated with spiritual
lights. We
shall be aware of how precious
the Friday night is. We must appreciate every night, of
course. We
have to spend each and every night in accordance to the consent of
Allah
Almighty, yet Friday night is the most precious of the nights of the
week, and
Friday is the most precious of the days of the week. Tonight
is a triple blessed
night. First of all, we are in the first day of Rajab--a blessed
day and
a blessed precious night. It should be enlivened and
appreciated.
Second, tonight is a Friday night--a blessed night to be appreciated,
too. And third, this is the first Friday night of Rajab which is
called
Raghâ'ib Night--a very precious and blessed night to be enlivened and
appreciated. These three nights coincided tonight. This is a
night with
three folded blessings. The
first Friday night of Rajab is
called Raghâ'ib Night. It could be any night from the first to the
sixth
night. This year it is the first night of Rajab. Raghâ'ib
is the
plural of raghîba which is something that is desirable, a
reward, a gift
or a favor. During this night, Almighty Allah bestows so much rewards,
gifts
and blessings for His servants. That is why the angels named this
special night
as Laylat-ur-Raghâ'ib. It is the night of grace and blessings
that Allah
bestows on His servants. That is we are in such a blessed night. c.
Enlivening a Special Night I have
been asked how one should
enliven such a precious night and how one should appreciate this
special night
in prayers. This is in opposition to the spending the night aimlessly
in vain.
On one hand, wasting the night; on the other hand, enlivening it as
much as
possible. How
would one enliven a night?
Enlivening a night starts with offering the Isha and Fajr prayers in
congregation in mosque. This is also enlivening the day,
too.
Offering the Isha and Fajr prayers in the mosque equals the enlivening
of the
night and the day. If a person does that, he receives rewards as though
he has
spent the entire night and day in prayers. That is
why we must pay special
attention to offering Isha and Fajr prayers in mosque. Our beloved
Prophet SAS
said: "Try your best to attend these two prayers in the
mosque." These are the times people have the lack of zeal to
offer
the prayer in congregation. A person may lack the eagerness to go
to the
Isha prayer. His nafs and Satan would prevent him from going to
the
mosque: "You are very tired! Eat your food and offer your prayer
at
home. Then go to bed right away. Your eyes look extremely
sleepy. What would you do going out in the dark?" That is
how
they try. As a
matter of fact, the person
would be a tired as a consequence of the days work--be it a worker or
an
employer. After eating dinner, the person becomes sleepy and
mellow and
falls asleep watching television. Sometimes he may even forget
turning
the television off. The television may be left on until the end
of the
day's broadcast. The sleep takes over making it difficult to come
to the
mosque for the Isha prayer. The
Fajr prayer is even harder to
attend. It requires for the person to break the sweet sleep and
get out
of the warm and cozy bed. It requires overcoming his nafs. It
requires a
significant amount of effort to do so. It is a difficult task for
the
person to overcome his own desires, to go beyond himself, and to be
superior to
himself. This is a matter of training. Those who have not
received
such training will not be victorious over themselves. I was
told a story during the
Hajj. While a sheikh effendi was with his disciples at a meeting,
a man
entered the room and handed a paper to the sheikh effendi. The
sheikh
effendi read the message on the paper and said: "No, son. What
you
want is not possible." The man
insisted: "It has to
be!" All the
disciples of the sheikh got
up as though they were going to silence the man. How dare a
stranger
comes to their sheikh and insistently demands something despite the
negative
response from the sheikh? If the sheikh effendi made a gesture, the man
would
be removed from there at that instant and perhaps be well beaten up. When
the stranger insisted, the sheikh
effendi lowered his head and stayed in that position and contemplated
for a
while. Then he lifted his head, inhaled, and said gently:
"One
who has been patient, one who has overcome his nafs, has been the
winner." A
person may get angry; everybody
may get angry. A person gets angry when he was wronged: "Are you
insulting me? Am I your slave?" He says something and get
angry. It is not easy to swallow one's own anger and keep
control.
It is not easy to be gentle and lenient. Being patient is not an
easy
task. We have to be patient. If one remains patient and in
control
of his nafs, if one overcomes his desires, then he will be a mature
Muslim. One has
to overcome his own
desires. What does his nafs want? It wants to stay in bed with a
justification: "I went to bed late. I have slept little.
Let's
continue sleeping and pray later." One objects the nafs and gets
up.
Then the nafs starts again: "Get up but don't go the mosque. Pray
here and get back to the bed before it gets cold. The mosque will
be far
and it is hard to go there." This is another excuse. Nullifying
the excuses and attending
the mosque for the Isha and Fajr prayers are tasks not for the ordinary
people. It is for the Muslims who have the control and power over
their
nafs. Our beloved Prophet SAS stated: "The hypocrites do not have
the strength for these two prayers." they cannot wake up or get up.
They
cannot spare some sleep and leave the comfort behind. They come to
neither the
Isha prayer nor the Fajr prayer. They have no problem coming to
the
mosque for other prayers because they are already awake. If other
people
notice that they are not attending the prayers in the mosque, their
status may
be shaken in the society. "The
hypocrites do not have the
strength for these two prayers," said the Prophet SAS. That is
why
performing these two prayers in mosque is for the perfect believers and
mature
Muslims. Keep this in mind and do not neglect offering these prayers in
congregation in mosque. d.
Importance of Offering Prayers in
Congregation What is
the difference between
offering the prayer in the mosque and offering it at home? For men,
offering
the prayer in congregation in the mosque is 27 times more rewarding
than
offering it individually at home: صـلـوة الجـمـعـة تـفـضـل صـلـوة
الـفذ بسبع وعشرين درجة (مالك، حم. خ. م. ت. د. ه. ن.
حب. عن ابن عمر) RE. 309/9 (Salâtul jamâati tafdilu salâtel
fardi biseb'in wa 'ishrîne darajah) This is an authentic hadith:
"Congregational prayer is 27 times more rewarding over the individual
prayer." This is for the local mosque. If the prayer is
performed at a large mosque where Friday prayer is held, the reward is
50 times
more than the individual prayer. Dear
Brothers and Sisters. Let me remind you
something else. The congregation is so
important that the
Prophet SAS stated the following: ما من خمـسة ابيات لايؤ ذّن فيهم بالصلوة وتقام فـيهم بالصلوة، الا استحوذ عليهم الشيطان (حم. طب. عن ابى الدرداء) RE.
381/5 "If there are five Muslim houses in a
locality, it is an obligation for them to call the prayer regularly and
establish the congregational prayers."
The measure is five houses. If
there are five Muslim houses in the village, in the plains, in the
city, in any
locality, Muslims must call Adhan and establish the congregational
prayers. "If they do not call Adhan
and establish the congregational prayers, (istahwedhe
alayhimush-shaytân) Satan dominates them." They
would enter the dominion of Satan. When
Satan takes over a home, then there
would be no peace there. They will be manipulated by Satan. Satan
is a skilful creature. It is an expert in
deceiving people. He has quite an
experience accumulated since the time of Adam AS. When
a person falls to the trap of Satan,
Satan will ruin his life for him. What
is solution for this terrible condition?
Adhan should be called and the congregational prayers
should be
established so that Satan could not get a foot hole or dominate. The prayer is so important; the congregation
is so important, too. Wherever the Adhan
is not called and the congregational prayers are not established, Satan
dominates
that locality. Once we
visited a friend in his village which
is located on the I told
the host of the house there: "You
are going to call the Adhan and lead the prayers. You
are not going to deprive this village
from the sound of the Adhan. Let's go to the mosque!"
We went to the mosque. A friend of ours
walked up to the minaret and called Adhan.
Then we offered the prayers in the mosque.
We were told later that some women in the
village cried because they were happy to hear the Adhan in the village
again. Dear
Brothers and sisters! These are important
things! You may not appreciate its
significance, or some may not appreciate it, yet it is very important. Offering the Isha and Fajr prayers in
congregation in Mosque is a way towards enlivening a night. The
second way towards enlivening a night is
going to bed after having fresh wudhu and offering two/four units of
prayers. In a hadith the Prophet SAS
stated: "An angel between the skin and the underclothing of that person
prays: 'My Lord! This servant of Yours went to bed in a state of purity
with
wudhu; forgive him his shortcomings!'"
That is what the Prophet SAS stated.
We would not know it or see it, yet that is the statement
of the Prophet
SAS. Then,
"The guardian angels, kirâmen kâtibîn angels, register
the
person as one who prayed throughout the night till the morning. The rewards will be registered in his record
book till the morning for going to bed with wudhu."
This is also something the Prophet SAS
informed us about. Then, "The
angels in heaven see the spiritual light of the person and understand
that the
person went to bed with wudhu. They
gather around the person in large numbers forming a crowd." The Prophet SAS indicated that there will be
so many angels around the person for his going to bed with wudhu. For this reason, making a fresh wudhu and
offering two or four units of prayer before going to bed is a way of
enlivening
a night. Yet
another way of enlivening a night is the
classical way: having slept for some
time, getting up, making wudhu and offering night vigil prayers. The Prophet SAS stated: ركعتان من اليل خيرٌ من الدنيا وما
فيها (Rak'atâni
minal layl) "Two units of the night prayer, (khayrun
minad dunyâ wa mâ fîhâ) is better than this world and
everything in it." Who is said
this? Our beloved Prophet, Muhammad the
Chosen SAS stated this. Asdaqul
qàilîn, the most truthful of
speakers, the most beloved of Allah, Muhammad the Dear
Brothers and Sisters. What would you do if
you were given this great Alâaddin Hotel of Alanya?
Imagine that a billionaire generous rich man
got up and said: "I like you. I
have so much money but no children. I
bought this Alâaddin Hotel, and I am giving it to you."
What would you do? A person may lose his mind
in such a situation because of excessive happiness. Dear
brothers and Sisters! Don't we believe in
what the Prophet SAS said? We need to
comprehend the meaning the words carry. "Better than this world and
everything in it!" said the Prophet SAS.
Why is it so? It is because the night vigil prayer is "a shammatun min ma'rifetullah--a sniff of
the knowledge of Allah," and it is very important. You are going to get
up
at night and make wudhu. There would be
nobody but you in your room. There is no
possibility of show-off or fame. You
turn to your Lord, the Lord of the universe.
Alhamdu lillahi rabbil âlemîn--praise
is due to the Lord of universe. What a great sentence!
You are in the presence of the owner, the
creator of the universe, and you say, "Praise is due to You O my
Lord!" You bow down and prostrate
before Him. You enjoy the taste of the
worship as though you sip from an elixir. If one
were to come in the room and looked at
you, you would feel embarrassed and uncomfortable.
You would not want anybody see you; you would
want not to offer the night vigil prayer in the presence of another
person. Yet you are alone at night,
nobody is watching you. You are on you
prayer rug, and you shed tears. The
place you put your head in prostration gets wet from the tears. You turn to Allah with words: "O my
Lord, forgive me, have mercy on me!"
These feelings are very precious.
They could make a person one of awliyâ. These feelings make a person the most
valuable individual in the world. These
feelings make a person the most beneficial to mankind with his services. One can enjoy these feeling when he gets up
for the night vigil prayer. Our
beloved Prophet ASA was ordered in Surah
Muzzammil: يا ايها المــزَّمـــّل. قم اليَّل
الا قليلاً. نصفه او انقص منه قليلاً. او زد عليه ورتِّل القراۤن
ترتيلاً (المزمل:١-٤) (Yâ ayyuhel muzzammil. Qumil layla illâ qalîlâ. Nisfahû awinqus minhu qalîlâ. Aw zid 'aleyhi wa rattilil qur'âna tertîlâ.) [O you who wraps himself in clothing. Arise to pray the night, except for a litle--half of it--or subtract from it a little, or add to it, and recite the Qur'an with measured recitation.] (Qur'an 73:1-4) The verses of the Qur'an that were revealed first were the first five verses of Surah 'Alaq. The second group of verses that were revealed was in the beginning of Surah Muddeththir or in the beginning of Surah Muzzammil. Either case, the verses above were revealed to the Prophet in the second or third revelation. In other words, in the third revelation of the verses, the Prophet was instructed to get up in the middle of the night. The greatness and beauty of the nights... The new generations who live among the piles of concrete building are unaware of it. How beautiful is the grandeur of the nights! How spiritual is the time of the nights! Our
beloved Prophet SAS stated: "At night
the gates of heavens will be opened." Are the gates of heavens? Yes
there
are. During the Night Journey (Isra) and Ascension (Miraj) of the
Prophet SAS,
they arrived in ولقد زيَّــنــَّا السماء الدنيا
بمصابيح (الملك:٥) (Wa laqad zayyannas samâ-ad dunyâ bimesâbiha) "We have certainly beautified the nearest heaven with lamps [i.e., stars]" (Qur'an 67:5) says Almighty Allah. The heaven that has the stars is the first heaven. What is in the other heavens is unknown to us. Almighty Allah knows what is beyond the heaven that has the stars. The guard at the gate of the first heaven stopped the Prophet and Gabriel AS. Gabriel AS is one of the four major angels who brought the revelation to the Prophet AS. The guard angel asked Gabriel AS: "Man anta--who are you?" In Arabic man means "who." "Ana Jibrîl!--I am Gabriel!" He introduced himself. In the Islamic code of manners, there is the introduction, the statement of the name. You hear a door is knocked, so you inquire: "Who is it?" One who knocks at the door responding: "Me!" Oh no! Fa subhanallah! If everybody is to respond as "Me," how would you identify the person? You must state your name instead of saying "Me!" The archangel said, "I am Gabriel!" Here is a lesson in proper conduct. Here on earth, after receiving the answer "Me!" you inquire: "Who are you?" "It is me; open the door!" You need to identify the person at the door. You could not open the door to everybody. We are warned by the police department, "Do not open the door for everybody; they would go in and get your gold bracelets and jewelry." The person at the door could stick in his foot through the opening of the door and pull a knife. You would not know if it is a good person or a trouble maker at the door. The proper conduct would be stating the name at the door. What happened then? The guard angel at the gate of the first heaven asked: "Wa men ma'aka--and who is with you?" "Muhammad!" Muhammed the Chosen SAS' the messenger of Allah. "Has he been permitted to go beyond this gate?" "Yes he has." "Then, he may pass." Dear Brothers and Sisters! There are such things in heavens. There are guards who stop Gabriel and ask questions. There are gates of heavens. We do not see or know how they are, yet there are those who see them and understand them. Those who had seen them informed us that the gates of the heavens will be open during the night. It is such a special treatment: "Here, please, this way!" It is a free pass. There is the second major event at night that the Prophet SAS informed us. Almighty Allah descends to the lowest heaven. That is, He gets closer to his servants. Then He calls His servants: "Who wants to be forgiven? Ask Me My forgiveness, I will grant it. Who has a request from Me? Ask Me, and I will grant it. Who wants the cure for his illness? Ask Me, and I will grant it. Does anybody want anything? Ask me I will grant it!" The call continues until dawn: هى حتى مطلع الفجر (القدر:٥) (Hiya hattâ matla'il fajr) "Until the emergence of dawn" (Qur'an 97:5). The night ends with the emergence of the dawn. It is similar for the Night of Power, too: تنزَّل الملئكة والروح فيها باذن
ربهم من كل امرٍ. سلامٌ هى حتى مطلع الفجر (القدر:٤-٥) (Tanazzalul malâ-ikati war-rûhu fîhâ bi-idhni rabbihim min kulli amrin) "The angels and the Spirit [i.e., Gabriel] descend therein by permission of their Lord for every matter. (Salâmun hiya hattâ matla'il fajr) Peace it is until the emergence of dawn." (Qur'an 97:4-5). the dissension of the angels is until the emergence of dawn, the beginning of the Fajr time. If we do not see it, if we are not familiar with the sky and the night, we look at the time of dawn (imsak, fajr) on the calendar. We get up before the time of dawn, make wudhu, and offer prayer. Then we ask from Almighty Allah: "My Lord, I want Your forgiveness. My Lord, I am the needy. May Lord, I have a request from You!" That is
the proper time to ask. It is the
time that Almighty Allah says he will grant the requests. Worship
at that
time of the night is the practice of the prophets, the awliya, and the
righteous servants of Allah. One must experience the pleasure of
being
with Almighty Allah. One should not run away from solitude. Man takes his jacket and tells his wife: "I will be away for a while." "Where are you going?" "To the coffee house." "Why?" "I am so bored of solitude." One should love solitude. One should enjoy solitude and say: "O Lord! Praise to Allah there is nobody here. This is a good time for me to be with my Lord and contemplate." One should take pleasure from solitude. Solitude is the nutrition for the great spirits. Solitude is an important phenomenon. Making connection with Almighty Allah while in solitude is very important deed. That could happen at night in an excellent way. For this reason, one way of enlivening a night is getting up at night, making wudhu, and offering night vigil prayers--two units, four units, six units, eight units, ten units--as much as Almighty Allah wills. It is a way of enlivening the night because salâh is one of the best forms of worship. It is a complex and complete form of worship. The Prophet SAS stated: قرَّة عينى فى الصلوة (Qurrati 'aynî fis salâh) "Happiness of my eye is in the prayer." That means, "I am in a state of peace and happiness when I perform the formal prayer." While the Prophet enjoys the prayer this much, one should check himself if he does not feel anything while he performs the salâh. He should question himself: "Why am I not enjoying the prayer?" He should ponder about the reasons and solutions. He should figure out why he is so insensitive, why he is so ignorant, and why he is still like a beginner. Dear Brothers and Sisters! We ought to enjoy solitude [at night]. Also, reading Qur'an is also very meritorious. The new generations have failed to make a good connection with the Qur'an. They learn English, German, French; they think one foreign language is not enough. They learn the western languages, yet they have no desire for learning Arabic and studying Qur'an. Those who have the interest and who learn the Qur'an are not well received: "Come here, Hafiz. Sit down and recite! Here, take the money in this envelope. You may leave now." Perhaps, the person gets angry when he is told, "Hafiz, come here!" That is interpreted as a form of insult. How was it in the past? A hafiz, one who has the entire Qur'an in his memory, used to be well respected in the past. Now memorization is downgraded and posed as something undesirable. The honor of being hafiz and the appreciation for it have been forgotten. As a
matter of fact, the Qur'an is the Word of
Allah: one earns reward by just looking at it. When one understands its
meaning
and practices it in his life, he will earn much more rewards.
Reading
Qur'an earns rewards for a person. Some have problems with
vision, some
do not know how to read Arabic, some do not understand Arabic, thus
even if
they read it, they do not enjoy it because they would not know the
meaning. Another
way of enlivening a night is doing
dhikr. Dhikr is repeating certain blessed words again and
again.
What are those blessed words? For instance, "Lâ ilâha illallah"
is a blessed statement. It can lead a person to Saying the greatest name of Almighty Allah or any of the beautiful names of Allah is also dhikr. One could repeatedly say "Allah... Allah... Allah..." or "Yâ Qayyûm... Yâ Qayyûm... Yâ Qayyûm..." Likewise, "Yâ Wadûd... Yâ Wadûd... Yâ Wadûd..." and "Ya Hû..." constitute dhikr. All of these are dhikr, and dhikr is a way of enlivening a night. Dhikr also means "remembrance." If a person does the dhikr of Allah, Almighty Allah does the dhikr of the person: فاذكرونى اذكركم (البقرة:١٥٢) (Fadhkurûnî adhkurkum) "So remember me; I will remember you" says Almighty Allah (Qur'an 2:152). When you say "Allah," Almighty Allah says your name, too. If a servant says "Allah" by himself, Allah says his name by Himself. If a person does the dhikr of Allah in a group of people, Almighty Allah does the dhikr of the person in a better group. Thus the servant gets closer to Allah, and Allah loves the servant. Then the love of Allah is formed in the heart of the servant eventually. That is why dhikr is one of the best ways of worship, and a night could be enlivened with dhikr. There are also some formal prayers (salâh) that the Prophet SAS performed. One such prayer is salât-ul-tasbih. In this prayer, one says these words 300 times: "Subhânallàhi wal hamdu lillâhi wa lâ ilâha illallahu wallàhu akbar" [Glory be to Allah, and Praise be to Allah, and there is no deity but Allah, and Allah is the greatest]. At every 10th or 15th of this dhikr, "Wa lâ hawla wa lâ quwwata illâ billâhil 'aliyyil azîm" [There is no power or force except with Allah Who is the highest and the most magnificent] dhikr is added. It is a four units of prayer. [The 300 dhikr is distributed to the each part of each unit of the prayer]. This prayer may be performed individually or in congregation. It is stated in some authentic ahadith of the Prophet SAS. It has lots of rewards. One could enliven a night with such prayers. May Almighty Allah be pleased with you all.
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