{"id":1193,"date":"2011-08-21T14:13:47","date_gmt":"2011-08-21T18:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/cityofbrass\/?p=1193"},"modified":"2012-08-09T01:12:38","modified_gmt":"2012-08-09T05:12:38","slug":"laylatul-qadr-the-night-of-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2011\/08\/laylatul-qadr-the-night-of-power.html","title":{"rendered":"Laylatul Qadr, the Night of Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Night of Power is described in just five brief, magnificent verses of the Qur’an:<\/p>\n

We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power; And what will explain to thee 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 Allah’s permission, on every errand of Peace. This until the rise of morn! [Qur’an 97:1-5<\/a>, MP3 recitation by Husain Saifuddin DM<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n

Like moonsighting, there is some difference between muslim schools of jurisprudence as to the actual date of Laylatul Qadr, but all muslims agree that this it was the night of the Revelation of the Qur’an to the Prophet, and that prayer and supplication (ibadat<\/em> and dua<\/em>) on this night are amplified to immense degree. <\/p>\n

The last weeks of Ramadan have been of intensifying ibadat, “kicking it up a notch” in a sense. Laylatul Qadr is the apex of Ramadan, the highest point of our efforts, and the maximum reward.<\/p>\n

As readers know, this past year I performed the Hajj<\/a> pilgrimage, and in Hajj there is also a key day around which the entire journey revolves, namely Yawn al Arafat. In Hajj this is a physical journey, culminating in a physical location, whereas in Ramadan it is a spiritual journey culminating in a spiritual elevation. In both cases, we undertake extensive preparation<\/a>, which culminates in an intense experience that leaves us drained yet rejuvenated. <\/p>\n

And after it is over, comes the certainty that the time remaining is scarce and dwindling away. The longest days have given rise to the longest night, but the shortest month is even shorter still, now. <\/p>\n

But for now, my focus is on maximizing the opportunity given to me by Allah tonight. <\/p>\n

(UPDATE – see my post on Laylatul Qadr for 1433 Hijri\/ 2012<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Night of Power is described in just five brief, magnificent verses of the Qur’an: We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power; And what will explain to thee what the night of Power is? The Night of Power is better than a thousand months. Therein come down the angels and the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[40,24,93,28,46],"class_list":["post-1193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-pillars-of-faith","tag-hajj","tag-islam","tag-laylatul-qadr","tag-muslims","tag-ramadan"],"yoast_head":"\nLaylatul Qadr, the Night of Power - City of Brass<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Laylatul Qadr, the Night of Power - City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Night of Power is described in just five brief, magnificent verses of the Qur’an: We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power; And what will explain to thee what the night of Power is? The Night of Power is better than a thousand months. Therein come down the angels and the…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2011\/08\/laylatul-qadr-the-night-of-power.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-21T18:13:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-08-09T05:12:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Aziz Poonawalla\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Laylatul Qadr, the Night of Power - City of Brass","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Laylatul Qadr, the Night of Power - City of Brass","og_description":"The Night of Power is described in just five brief, magnificent verses of the Qur’an: We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power; And what will explain to thee what the night of Power is? The Night of Power is better than a thousand months. Therein come down the angels and the…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2011\/08\/laylatul-qadr-the-night-of-power.html","og_site_name":"City of Brass","article_published_time":"2011-08-21T18:13:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-08-09T05:12:38+00:00","author":"Aziz Poonawalla","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2011\/08\/laylatul-qadr-the-night-of-power.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2011\/08\/laylatul-qadr-the-night-of-power.html","name":"Laylatul Qadr, the Night of Power - City of Brass","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-08-21T18:13:47+00:00","dateModified":"2012-08-09T05:12:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/87dfd5533a0222456bb5ad6eaf152fbb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2011\/08\/laylatul-qadr-the-night-of-power.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2011\/08\/laylatul-qadr-the-night-of-power.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2011\/08\/laylatul-qadr-the-night-of-power.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Laylatul Qadr, the Night of Power"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/","name":"City of Brass","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Aziz Poonawalla","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/87dfd5533a0222456bb5ad6eaf152fbb","name":"Aziz Poonawalla","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a95\/a95f814e7f2984c887f3b03aed357433x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a95\/a95f814e7f2984c887f3b03aed357433x96.jpg","caption":"Aziz Poonawalla"},"description":"Aziz Poonawalla is a member of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, and currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. City of Brass is his weblog, which was founded in 2002 under the name UNMEDIA. He is a co-founder of the annual Brass Crescent Awards. The name City of Brass refers to the Story of the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights, and the poem by Rudyard Kipling of the same name: Here was a people whom, after their works, thou shalt see wept over for their lost dominion; And in this palace is the last information respecting lords collected in the dust. -- Thousand and One Nights, Story of the City of Brass IN A land that the sand overlays, the ways to her gates are untrod, A multitude ended their days whose fates were made splendid by God, Till they grew drunk and were smitten with madness and went to their fall, And of these is a story written: but Allah Alone knoweth all! -- Rudyard Kipling, The City of Brass (1909)"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1193"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1195,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193\/revisions\/1195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}