On sincerely seeking the “Night of Decree”

The magic or Ramadan is its remarkable speed, though it seems to have begun the other day, but we have already arrived at the last phase of ten days. And for the practicing Muslim there is a special night hidden amongst the last ten days known as the night of decree or the night of power. Better than a thousand nights as mentioned in Sura Al- Qadr.
Just try to guess the profound impact of a single night--based on which an entire sura was revealed. And what a heavenly paradox, that only a few ayahs were revealed on the entire month of Ramadan, revelation of the Quran and fasting.     

What I mostly admire about the calendar date of this night: the date and the day of this Laylatul Qad'r or night of decree was not specified and our Prophet Muhammad (Be Peace upon Him) instructed the believers to seek the night in any of the odd nights of the last ten days. To add a note, he was actually informed of the night but was later made to forget.

Even though a number of schools of thought in our religion, to a certain degree, have fixed the night to be the night of the 27th of Ramadan but it's never confirmed based on authentic sources. However, thanks to the almighty, he hasn't confirmed the date, or else--all Muslims would have exclusively prayed and supplicated on that night instead of doing the same in the rest of the holy month.
 
The problem with us has been the predominant tendency for taking a shortcut for all spiritual and materialistic gains, otherwise seeking the blessings and mercy of a thousand months' in just one night. The point here, most us avail Ramadan many times in our lifetime, and attempting to avail all the advantage in one particular year is never enough , and that's why the night of decree keeps coming back in every year's Ramadan. In case a believer misses out the exceptional night in a year, he or she not needs to worry. No year is empty without it. From the perspectives of a hardworking sincere believer, every night of the Ramadan must be considered as a night of decree. Remember all the 29 or 30 days are like closely knit pearl necklace, may be the last ten pearls have a special significance, but even that special one is not marked or possible to distinguish. 

While seeking the night of decree, we must make the best out of the remaining 10 days of this Ramadan. For those who can manage to seek refuge at a mosque to do Itikaf (Temporary retreat in a mosque) please do so and the ones who are unable to do so, please engage in night prayers coupled with increasing your reading of the Quran.
Be consistent with your prayers in order to develop patience for the last third of Ramadan--remember with prayer you develop patience. With patience comes the ability to persevere in harsh realities. If you truly desire to experience god's help, make a decision and take the first step to get closer to him--the next move is his--rest assured.
'He is much closer even to our jugular veins' yet we never see him, and he has promised to respond to his believers under any circumstances in the 186 ayah of Sura Baqrah ,
�And when My servants ask you, concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me that they may be guided.�
Before I wrap up, please remember the guidance that we seek and the supplications that we make in the night of decree should never be conditions for holding to our faith. That said--we must be patient and trust in our creator and let him respond to our prayers, in the way he thinks best.

As hasty and impatient creatures, as we have been created, we all desire our prayers and supplications to be answered in our way. In that case we should pray to ourselves and not to our creator. To keep it simple and short, what happens when we supplicate is any of the three: our supplication is instantly heard and accepted in the way we desired, or the response of it is delayed and delivered in a completely different manner, and lastly it has been definitely heard and only the god knows best how to respond, when and where?

If all prayers are instantly answered, they become mere correspondence. The difficulty here is to remain steadfast and contented with all the three types of outcome in terms of God's response.  

In this year's Laylatul Qad'r let us all sincerely pray with firm conviction to earn his mercy and blessings in a consistent manner throughout our lives. Place your demands--he knows exactly, what to give, when to give and whom to give--otherwise the best of disposers.

The writer is editor--in -charge, editorial section, The Daily Observer