Teachings and Commentary
1 Indeed We sent it (the first revelation of the Qur-aan)
down on the Magnificent Night of Decree. 2 And what
will make you comprehend what the Magnificent Night of Decree is?
Starting the statement "We sent it down" with "Indeed" is to emphasize the fact
that it had nothing to do with the desire or expectation of the recipient of the
revelation, nor was this revelation sent down by anyone other than Allaah Himself.
The pronoun "it" has been used without being preceded by the mention of “the first
revelation of the Qur-aan” to which it refers. For the listeners at the time of
its revelation, the object of the pronoun was abundantly clear because sending down
of the revelations by Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala to the Prophet sall Allaahu`alayhi
wa sallam was a hot topic. For subsequent readers, the object of "it" is clear from
the words "We sent" but additionally from its placement right after the Soorah containing
the first revelation. Thus, the context makes the word "it" point to the immediately
preceded first revelation.
The question "And what will make you comprehend what that Night is?" has been posed
to emphasize the grandeur and magnificence of that night.
3 The Magnificent Night of Decree is better than a thousand
months.
"A thousand months" does not necessarily mean 83 years and four months, but it is
a figurative expression indicating an extremely long period of time. The revelation
of the Qur-aan that happened that night was such a marvellous mercy of Allaah Subhaanahu
wa Ta`aala on the people of the world that it made that night better than thousands
of years of human history. It made that night a special occasion to become closer
to Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala. According to the Ahadeeth reported in Bukhari and
Muslim from Aboo Hurairah and in Musnad of Aĥmad from `Ubaadah ibn Saamit, whoever
spends that night standing up in Allaah’s worship, seeking His Pleasure and expecting
His rewards is forgiven all previous sins.
In Soorah Ad-Dukhaan, it has been called "Lailatum-Mubaaraka h" – the Blessed Night.
4 The angels and the Spirit (Jibreel [ ] ) descend in
it by the permission of their Lord for all decreed matters. 5
This is the night of peace and lasts until the emergence of dawn.
On this night, Jibreel (Gabriel) and other angels are given the action plan by Allaah
Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala for execution during the ensuing year. Soorah Ad-Dukhaan mentions
this fact as:
"On that night, every wise matter is set forth as a command from Our Presence…"
The question is which night of the year is this blessed and magnificent night?
There has been quite a variety of opinions in this matter. However, one thing is
certain about it: it has to be in the month of Ramadhaan because Allaah Subhaanahu
wa Ta`aala has said in the Qur-aan "Ramadhaan is the month wherein the Qur-aan was
sent down." (Al-Baqarah 2:185). The majority of the opinions suggest that it is
one of the last 10 nights of Ramadhaan. Among them, the strongest reports suggest
it to be one of the odd nights; i.e., 21st, 23rd, 25th,
27th, 29th or the last night of Ramadhaan. From among those,
the popular opinion is that it is the 27th night of Ramadhaan. The
Prophet sall Allaahu`alayhi wa sallam himself has not given a specific date for
this night so that people do not start focusing only on that night’s worship of
Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala. He has rather encouraged people to dedicate the last
ten days of Ramadhaan completely to the acts of worship of Allaah Subhaanahu wa
Ta`aala lest they miss the opportunity of this blessed night. He himself used to
stay the last ten days of Ramadhaan in the Masjid in seclusion (performing I`tikaaf).
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