The Hidden Laylatu L-Qadr

Assalamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuh, Auzu Billahi Minashaytanir Rajeem. Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem, Wassalatu Wassalamu ala Rasulina Muhammadin Sayyidul Awwalin wal Akhirin, Madad Ya Rasulallah, Madad Ya Sadat As’habi RasuLillah, Madad Ya Mashayikhina, Dastur Mawlana Sheikh Abdullah Faiz Daghestani, Sheikh Nazim al-Haqqani. Madad. Tariqatunas sohba, wal khayru fil jamiyya.

The Holy Night of Power, Laylatu l-Qadr is the night Allah ﷻ gave as a gift to our Holy Prophet ﷺ and his Ummah. Our Holy Prophet ﷺ says that it is one of these nights. It can be any night after the 20th of Ramadan. It can be within the whole month of Ramadan and rarely out of Ramadan. It is a great favor. People earn Thawab in one night as much as worshipping throughout their lifetime. It is more acceptable and has more Thawab. Allah ﷻ says that it is better than a thousand months which is more than eighty years. A man lives that long in average. That’s why, as it is valuable, Allah ﷻ hid it so that people hope that every night is Laylatu l-Qadr and worship accordingly. Allah ﷻ wishes goodness to us. If He showed the exact night, people would leave everything and worship only on that night, and then they would relax. Most people would do so, but of course not everyone.

It is a holy night and it is hidden. There is a nice memory from Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. When he went to his Shaykh for the first time while being a student in Istanbul. Religion and Tariqa were forbidden at that time. People used to go in hiding. So when he went to his Shaykh, the Shaykh said, “The first Sohbah I heard from my Shaykh was to know every night as Laylatu l-Qadr and every person as Al Khidr ‘alayhi s-salam”. Al Khidr ‘alayhi s-salam is also hidden. Therefore, sometimes he can show up as someone you don’t like. If you treat him badly, there won’t be any benefit. If you treat everyone well, it will be means to goodness for you. This is the wisdom of Sayyidina Al Khidr ‘alayhi s-salam. But the word of Mawlana’s Shaykh was told by a Karāmāh (miracle). It meant that the person who came there was a valuable person. Some people understood it and some did not because Mawlana was a young student without a beard. No one would imagine him to be someone of such high rank. It was told by a Karāmāh and it was the first lesson for Mawlana.

Therefore, Laylatu l-Qadr is hidden. We have to spend every night with that intention. It became a tradition to celebrate it on the 27th however it isn’t clear when exactly it is. May Allah ﷻ accept all of our worship. It is for our benefit to worship every night as if it is Laylatu l-Qadr. It will be for our benefit and our good insha’Allah. May Allah ﷻ bless this night and all nights. May it be means to goodness and may it be strength to our Iman insha’Allah.

Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 5 May 2021/23 Ramadan 1442 Morning Prayer, Akbaba Dergah