Virtues of the Night of Qadr

ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us: Sufyān said: We memorized it—he had memorized it from al-Zuhrī, from Abū Salamah, from Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), who said: ‘Whoever fasts Ramaḍān out of faith and seeking reward will have his past sins forgiven; and whoever stands in prayer on the Night of Decree out of faith and seeking reward will have his past sins forgiven.’ Sulaymān ibn Kathīr also transmitted it from al-Zuhrī.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf related to us: Mālik informed us, from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both): Some men among the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) were shown in dreams that the Night of Decree fell during the last seven nights. The Messenger of Allah said: ‘I see that your dreams agree that it is in the last seven nights. Whoever seeks it, let him seek it in the last seven nights.’

Muʿādh ibn Faḍālah related to us: Hishām related to us, from Yaḥyā, from Abū Salamah, who said: I asked Abū Saʿīd, who was a friend of mine. He said: We observed iʿtikāf with the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) during the middle ten days of Ramaḍān. On the morning of the twentieth, he came out, addressed us, and said: ‘I was shown the Night of Decree, then I was made to forget it—or I forgot it. So seek it during the odd nights of the last ten days. I saw myself prostrating in water and mud. Whoever has been observing iʿtikāf with the Messenger of Allah, let him return.’ We returned, and saw no clouds in the sky. Then a cloud came and it rained until water streamed through the mosque roof, which was made of palm fronds. The prayer was called, and I saw the Messenger of Allah prostrating in water and mud, until I saw traces of mud on his forehead.’

Qutaybah ibn Saʿīd related to us: Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar related to us: Abū Suhayl related to us, from his father, from ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her), that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: ‘Seek the Night of Decree among the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramaḍān.’

Ibrāhīm ibn Ḥamzah related to us: Ibn Abī Ḥāzim and al-Darāwardī related to me, from Yazīd, from Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm, from Abū Salamah, from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him): The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to observe iʿtikāf during the middle ten days of Ramaḍān. When evening came after twenty nights had passed and the twenty-first was beginning, he returned to his dwelling, and those observing iʿtikāf with him returned as well. In one Ramaḍān, however, he remained in the mosque on the night he would normally return. He addressed the people and instructed them as Allah willed, then said: ‘I used to observe iʿtikāf during these ten days, but now I have decided to observe it during the last ten days. Whoever has been observing iʿtikāf with me, let him remain in his place of seclusion. I was shown this night, then made to forget it, so seek it during the last ten days, and seek it on every odd night. I saw myself prostrating in water and mud.’ The sky opened that night and rain fell. On the night of the twenty-first, water leaked into the mosque at the place where the Prophet prayed. My eyes saw the Messenger of Allah, and I watched him leave after the dawn prayer with his face covered in mud and water.’

Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us: Yaḥyā related to us, from Hishām, who said: My father informed me, from ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her), from the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), who said: ‘Seek it.’

Muḥammad related to me: ʿAbdah informed us, from Hishām ibn ʿUrwah, from his father, from ʿĀʾishah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to observe iʿtikāf during the last ten days of Ramaḍān and would say: ‘Seek the Night of Decree during the last ten days of Ramaḍān.’

Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl related to us: Wuhayb related to us: Ayyūb related to us, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both), that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: ‘Seek it—the Night of Decree—during the last ten nights of Ramaḍān: when nine nights remain, when seven remain, or when five remain.’

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī al-Aswad related to us: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid related to us: ʿĀṣim related to us, from Abū Mijlaz and ʿIkrimah: Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both) said that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: ‘It is during the last ten; it is when nine have passed or seven remain’—meaning the Night of Decree. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb also related it from Ayyūb. And from Khālid, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās: ‘Seek it on the twenty-fourth.’

Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us: Khālid ibn al-Ḥārith related to us: Ḥumayd related to us: Anas related to us, from ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit, who said: The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) came out to tell us about the Night of Decree. Two Muslim men quarreled, so he said: ‘I came out to tell you about the Night of Decree, but so-and-so and so-and-so quarreled, and its knowledge was taken away. Perhaps that is better for you. So seek it on the ninth, the seventh, and the fifth.’

ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us: Sufyān related to us, from Abū Yaʿfūr, from Abū al-Ḍuḥā, from Masrūq, from ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: When the last ten days began, the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) would gird his waist, stay awake at night in worship, and wake his family.