The Night of Al-Qadr
His Eminence, Sayyed Ali Fadlullah, delivered in the context of the Friday Talk, a religious speech on Ramadan 22, 1441 H. /May 15, 2020. Following is an edited text of his talk: Allah, The Most Exalted, says in His Glorious Book:
Ha, Meem ,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]
Allah, the Most Exalted says the truth.
Few hours separate us from a night that God distinguished, considering it better than the other nights of the month of Ramadan, and 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. The angels and the Spirit descend therein by permission of their Lord for every matter. Peace it is until the emergence of dawn.
This night, According to Allah, The Most Exalted, is better than a thousand months .That is reviving this night is equal to the worshipping of 83 years, which is a great reward by all standards . God pointed out to the honoring He has bestowed on His servants in this night , as the angels and the Spirit(JIbril) as the narrations have it, or a great creation who is even higher than them, descend there in to bestow on us security , peace and mercy, and to carry back the prayers and the Dua of the believers to their Creator.
In some other Ayats such as :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], God points out that in this night that fates of the Believers is determined for a whole year, including their lives and deaths, their happiness and misery , their health and sickness , their wealth and poverty …
That is why this night is very significant, for by the Dua in this night one can change what was destined to happen to him.
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]. On that night is made distinct every precise matter. [Every] matter [proceeding] from Us. Indeed, We were to send [a messenger], so that it would guide them and bring them out from the darknesses of ignorance, backwardness and fanaticism into the light of faith.
Here a question might be raised : How could the Quran be sent down in one night while we know that it was sent gradually until the Prophet departed , and he (Muhammad)used to say in answering some questions that he was waiting for the matter to settled by his Lord . 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. Others said that it began to be sent in the month of Ramadan; that is 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 Ayat “read” as , the word “Quran” can refer to a part of the Quran. 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 continued to be sent in stages for 23 years.
The Hadith, too, talked about the virtues of this night. The Messenger (p.) says: “This month has come to you, and it contains a night which is better than a thousand months. He who is deprived of it is deprived of all good, but only those who are denied prosperity are deprived of it.”…
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? There are narrations that say it is on the 19th, ,21st , 23rd and 27th . Other narrations say it should be sought in the last 10 days of the month, without pinpointing a certain day .
There might be a certain wisdom and a reason for not revealing the exact date : to make people revive all these nights , 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 .He also did not indicate which sin is the gravest so that we would not commit any sin…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 the last ten nights. Nevertheless, it is probably on the 23rd , according to one narration that says that the Messenger(p.) whispered the date to one of his companions who later showed up on the night of the 23rd.
But this night of blessings and rewards is not for free. Allah, The Most Exalted, has habituated 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.
Therefore, we should be actively present on the night of the 23rd because it is probably the Night of Al-Qadr. We should consider that every minute of this night is very precious and not be occupied by anything else. We should revive it by pure hearts and tongues; with souls that got rid of all sins and everything that constitute a barrier that prevents our Duas from reaching our Lord… We should revive it in our houses with our families, and pray to Allah, The Most Exalted, to protect us from the deadly coronavirus, as well as all the other viruses that want to spoil our minds and our relation with Allah …
In this respect, let us have a special prayer for those who are infected with the coronavirus and those who are on the front lines of fighting it…
The Night of Al-Qadr is a big opportunity that we should not miss. We should be patient and perform all its rituals, so that we will earn God’s mercy, blessings and forgiveness…
His Eminence, Sayyed Ali Fadlullah issued on Ramadan 22, 1441 H. /May 15, 2020 a press release in the context of his regular Friday talk. Following are the main points he touched upon:
The Sayyed commemorated in the beginning the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Ali (a.s.) . He emphasized the need to be committed to all the moral , social and political values that the Imam fought and was martyred for, especially the Islamic unity, enjoining good and forbidding evil, fighting corruption and social consolidation. He added that being loyal to the Imam is demonstrated by being active in defending the right, justice and freedom.
The Sayyed said that the increase in the number of those infected by the coronavirus is due to not abiding by the protection measures of some of those who came back to Lebanon, as well as some of those living in the country and the government’s leniency in implementing the safety measures. He renewed his call to the Lebanese to abide by these measures, considering it a religious, moral, national and humanitarian duty. He also asked the government to be strict in prosecuting and punishing anyone who violates them.
The Sayyed considered that the government’s measures in facing the rise in the prices of basic commodities are insufficient, as the suffering increases due to the greed of the merchants who are undeterred by any morals, religion or conscience. He demanded that the government should be stricter, both in inspection and punishment.
He added that the anger of the citizens from those who have made them suffer has aggravated, as a result of this artificial rise in the price of the dollar, that is due the manipulation practices, which the Central Bank was part of. He called on the government to respond to the people’s call to prosecute all those who are guilty and confront the vast corruption that still enjoys political protection.
Sayyed Fadlallah added that the Lebanese want the judiciary that is dealing with certain cases of corruption and currency manipulation ,tainted fuel and smuggling to pursue them to their ends. These investigations should not fall under any pressures that would lead them into the tunnels of bargaining and settlements, or deal with them on uneven basis.
He added that we heard a lot, from those inside the government and those outside it, statements that maintain that dealing with corruption requires the reform of the judiciary. But if the judiciary is the solution, we wonder why all the political powers that are concerned with ridding corruption do not speedup the measures that establish the judiciary reform including all the necessary laws and decrees that ensure judicial independence.
His Eminence expressed his regret towards the emerging political rows inside the government to settle partisan accounts, which raise doubts concerning the government’s ability to implement the reform plan and reveal that it is internallydivided. This comes at a time it direly needs political consolidation to deal with the urgent responsibilities and tasks, whether regarding the economic and financial conditions or the negotiations with the IMF, which require supporting the reform plan instead of doubting its efficiency. It also requires solidarity not only inside the government, but also among all political parties so that Lebanon would have a unified stance vis a vis the IMF, especially if it insists on its conditions which will take the country to what is against its interests and violate its sovereignty.
The Sayyed saw that we need, in these tough circumstances, the good words, and building bridges, not to irritating and tense words that will widen the rifts and blow out the dialogue. He demanded that the political parties whom the people gave them their trust would help them in solving their problems and not further complicate them.
