Better than a thousand nights of worship

العلامة السيد علي فضل الله Sayyed Ali fadlullah

 Allah, The Most Exalted, says in His Glorious Book:  Ha, Meme, By the clear Book, Indeed, We sent it down during a blessed night. Indeed, We were to warn [mankind]. On that night is made distinct every precise matter. [Every] matter [proceeding] from Us. Indeed, We were to send [a messenger]

Few hours separate us from a night that God distinguished, considering it better than the other nights of the month of Ramadan, and even all the nights of the year, as He has   privileged it with many blessings and big rewards. God has pointed out to its great position in His Book:  The Night of Al-Qadr is better than a thousand months. This night, according to Allah, The Most Exalted, is better than a thousand months. He has bestowed on the Muslim nation a night whose deeds of worship in observing this night is equal or more than worshipping for a thousand nights; that is the worshipping of more than 80 years, which is a great reward by all standards. In this night, the angels and the Spirit, descend to earth to honor the night in which the Quran was revealed and to bestow on us security, peace and mercy, and to carry back the prayers and the Dua of the believers to their Creator.

The interpreters of the Quran differ in the identity of the Spirit that descends in this night:  The angels and the Spirit descend therein… with some saying it is Jibril, for Allah, The Most Exalted, says about him The Trustworthy Spirit has brought it down; while others say that it is a creature greater than the angels.

 In another Ayat, God points out to something else that happens in that night that calls for observing it. It is the night Allah, The Most Exalted, determines what will happen for His servants for a whole year, including their lives and deaths, their happiness and misery, their health and sickness, their wealth and poverty … We sent it down during a blessed night. Indeed, We were to warn [mankind]. On that night is made distinct every precise matter. [Every] matter [proceeding] from Us. Indeed, We were to send [a messenger].

What makes this night even more blessed is the fact that the Quran was sent down in it: Indeed, We sent it down during a blessed night. Indeed, We were to warn [mankind].

Here a question might be raised: How could the Quran be sent down in one night while we know that it was sent gradually over a period of 23 years until the Prophet departed whether to respond to questions and challenges or to convey a ruling or an Islamic concept and a moral instruction.

 In explaining this, some Quranic interpreters maintained that it was sent as a whole to the lower sky and then sent to Muhammad(p.) in a gradual manner at every occasion or event. Others said that it began to be sent in that night when Jibril came to Muhammad(p.) for the first time in the cave of Hira where he used to worship in the month of Ramadan with the first Ayat “read”. To further validate their opinion, they point out that the word “Quran” can refer to a part of the Quran as well as the whole Glorious Book. Yet a third party said that the Quran was sent to the heart of the Prophet so that he would be completely introduced to it, then it began to be sent gradually according to the circumstances, for 23 years.

But the question that is always raised in this regard is: when is this night? And: Why is this difference in its date? How come it is only one night while we revive it three times and some even revive it ten times?  This is because there are many narrations with some saying that it is on the 19th, the 21st, the 23rd, which we believe to be the most probable, and the 27th. Other narrations say it should be sought in the last 10 days of the month, without pinpointing a certain day. Thus we have to revive it in all these nights to make sure that we have not missed it.

There might be a certain wisdom and a reason for not revealing the exact date: to make people revive all these nights,  so that we would not lose its blessings. For just as Allah, The Most Exalted, did not reveal which act of good is the one that pleases Him most to make us perform all of them, without feeling that a certain deed is too small; He also did not indicate which sin is the gravest so that we would not commit any sin… He did not reveal His greatest name, so that all His names would be glorified; And He hid the time of death so that the people will be always prepared for it…  He also did not reveal the date of this night so that we would revive all of these nights.

But this night of blessings and rewards is not for free. Allah, The Most Exalted, has told His servants that He would give them His rewards only after they have performed their duties. Thus, they should perform all the prayers and Duas of this night to be rewarded by its enormous blessings. 

 Thus, dear loved ones, we should actively observe all these nights, if not in the mosques then in our houses…We should consider that every minute of these nights is very precious and that nothing is more precious than it.  We should not be occupied by anything else and revive it with pure hearts that are void of hatred.  When we address God, our tongues should have got rid of all lies, backbiting or false accusations … Our hearts should be full of love of God and trust in His promise and fear of His punishment. We should acquire the best of morals and ask God to grant us success to respond to the one who cheats us with advice, and the one who deserts us with good deeds and the one who deprives us with giving and the one who backbites us with mentioning his good deeds. We should make the Holy Quran our guide in life and include in our Dua all those who need it, even those whom we have developed disagreements or dispute with…

It is a precious chance people of awareness should not miss.  

The second sermon

Worshippers of Allah, The Most Exalted, I advise you and myself, with the will of the Commander of Faithful which he chose to leave with his family, companions and all people, before he left this world: I advise you to fear God, and not to pursue this vicious world even though it may try to entice you. Do not seek it though it may seek you and do not grieve over and long for things which this world refuses you. Always speak the truth, and work constantly for the eternal reward and blessings of God. Be an enemy of tyrants and oppressors and be a friend and supporter of those who are oppressed. To you, to my other children, to my relatives and to all who receive these words of mine, I advise to fear God and to be pious, to have fair and honest dealings with one another and improve mutual relations because I have heard your grandfather, the Prophet Muhammad (p.) often say: “To remove mutual enmity, ill-feeling and hatred among people is better than all the prayers and fasting of many years.”

Fear God when the question of helpless orphans arises. You should not let them be full some time and hungry some other times. So long as you are there to guard and protect them, they should not be ruined or lost. Fear God with respect to your neighbors, for your prophet constantly enjoined us to be good to the neighbor, so much so that we thought that he may even decree that they had the right to inherit from us. Fear God in respect of the Holy Qur’an, lest others should excel and surpass you in following its tenets and in acting according to its orders. Fear God so far as prayers are concerned because prayers are the pillars of your religion.

Fear God in the matter of His House (Ka’bah). Let it not be deserted because if it is deserted, you (the Muslims) will be troubled with chastisement. Fear God in the matter of struggle in the path of God with your properties, lives, and tongues. Develop mutual liking, friendship and love and help one another. Take care that you do not spurn and treat one another badly and unsympathetically. Exhort people to do good and abstain them from evil, otherwise the vicious and the wicked will be your overlord and if you willingly allow such persons to be your rulers then your prayers will not be heard by God…

 This is the will of the Imam that he left to us; the will we show by committing to it that we truly love him. For he does not only want our feelings but also our deeds and behavior. Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) asks us through asking one of his companions

“Is it enough for one, to say that ‘I love ‘Ali (a.s.) and I have achieved his Wilāyat,’ whereas he does not act upon it?”  

 In his answer he says that If one does not then his love will not be of any benefit to him. When we do that (act according to the commitments of loving Ahl Al-Beit), we will be more capable of facing challenges.

We begin by Lebanon, where the Lebanese are living difficult days on all levels. These days are expected to grow more difficult and more complicated with the country about to collapse in not more than few weeks especially with the foreign reserves in the Central Bank are about to run out, knowing that they belong to the Lebanese depositors and that it is necessary to save them to keep Lebanon in the international banking system.

 Naturally , this will lead to grave consequences  which will not be restricted   to the unbearable living conditions, but also it will create  certain security trouble that might  reach a state of chaos …at a time   there  are not serious solutions or any emergency plans to save the country, but only some talk about food ration cards  as a substitute for subsidization, although there are many barriers that hinder this plan such as the lack of  enough financial  allocations  for the  rapidly increasing number of  poor families… and the favoritism in distributing these cards due  to the corruption of the state .

 We had hoped, and we still do, that what is happening will awaken the consciences of those in charge  and propel them to relinquish their  private calculations and their dependence  on domestic and foreign developments   and  drive  them to join hands  to remove all the obstacles that hinder the formation of the government  which we want to be efficient and capable of getting the country from what it has sunk in; a government that regains the Lebanese confidence in their country and opens the  doors for foreign aid.

We renew our call to all those responsible to stop playing with the fate of the country and fear God in its people who can no longer tolerate more suffering and pain as they can no longer find their daily bread, medicine and the most primary necessities of life. We still believe that reaching a solution is possible if good intentions prevail and all parties forgo their partisan interests for the sake of the interests of the people.

In the meantime, the issue of drug trafficking has once again returned to the forefront, as some Gulf states prevented the import of Lebanese products.  In this respect, We have called, the reasons behind this decision notwithstanding, to work in a responsible and affective manner to protect this country from the smugglers and drug dealers. We have hoped that the Gulf states would not have punished all the Lebanese. Instead they should work together with the Lebanese government to prevent the repetition of what happened…

 On another level, we would like to salute the Jerusalemites, men, women and children, for their heroic confrontation of the settlers and the occupation forces to prevent them from carrying on with Judaizing Jerusalem, despite all sacrifices…

 Lastly, on laborers’ day, that comes at a time many workers are losing their jobs, and as we congratulate all workers, we call on all employers and all those in charge not to leave the workers in this difficult conditions alone and help them face these heavy burdens of life.