Lailat al Qadr

Printable Version

Lailat al Qadr (27 Ramadan) - Night of Power

Find this year's date in the multifaith calendar

Lailat al Qadr, the Night of Power, marks the night in which the Qur'an was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) by Allah.

Muslims regard this as the most important event in history, and the Qur'an says that this night is better than a thousand months (97:3), and that on this night the angels descend to earth.

This is a time that Muslims spend in study and prayer. Some will spend the whole night in prayer or in reciting the Qur'an.

Lailat al Qadr is a good time to ask for forgiveness.

Whoever establishes the prayers on the night of Qadr out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah's rewards (not to show off) then all his past sins will be forgiven.Hadith, Bukhari Vol 1, Book 2:34

Lailat al Qadr takes place during Ramadan. The date of 27 Ramadan for this day is a traditional date, as the Prophet Muhammad did not mention when the Night of Power would be, although it was suggested it was in the last 10 days of the month.

Because of this, many Muslims will treat the last 10 days of the month of Ramadan as a particularly good time for prayer and reading the Qur'an.

A discussion of forgiveness

Muslim, Buddhist and Jewish contributors discuss the religious concepts of forgiveness and atonement.