What is Laylat al-Qadr and how should I seek it?
A night better than a thousand months, hidden in the odd nights of the last ten of Ramadan. The Prophet ﷺ taught a specific duʿāʾ for it, and the scholars taught how to search for it.
10 passages from 5 books in the library
Laylat al-Qadr, the Night of Decree, is the holiest night of Ramadan — Ibn Kathir, in The Story of Adam, calls it "the best of nights." Al-Ghazali, in The Book of Fasting, describes it as the night "when something of the dominion is unveiled" and notes it is "most likely on odd" nights. To seek it, he teaches in The Mysteries of Zakat that "the best days of Ramadan are the last ten nights," and that Ramadan carries the merit of Laylat al-Qadr, being the month in which the Qurʾān was revealed.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 5 books by Imam al-Ghazali, Ibn Kathir, and Ibn Battuta — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"The best days of Ramadan are the last ten nights, and the best days in Dhu al-Hijjah are the first ten days."
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"Ramadan holds the merit of Laylat al-Qadr and is the month in which the Quran was revealed."
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"Do not call it Ramadan, for it is one of the names of Allah, but say the month of Ramadan."
14th century · Bosra, Syria
Monumental history Al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, the world's most widely read Qurʾanic commentary, and the classical Stories of the Prophets.
More on Ibn Kathir →
· Provenance →
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"best of months, Ramadan, and the best of nights, the night of decree, and the best of women,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Laylat al-Qadr, the night of decree, is when something of the dominion is unveiled, as"
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"the presence of Laylat al-Qadr, the night of decree, which is most likely on odd"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"The hadith, prayer to prayer is expiation, Ramadan to Ramadan is expiation, except for"
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"Ramadan to Ramadan is expiation, except for three, associating partners with Allah,"
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
· Provenance →
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"During the night of the 27th of Ramadan, I saw nearly a hundred servant girls leaving his palace with food, all naked,"
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"I completed the fast of the month of Ramadan in Mecca and performed Umrah every day following the Shafi'i school."
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