The Night of Special Status [i] and Virtue, is a significant night during the month of Ramadan for Muslims all over the world. For it was on this blessed night that the Quran’s revelation commenced over 1400 years ago, as a guidance and mercy.
God describes this Night by dedicating a whole chapter in the Quran to it # 97
“We sent it down on the Night of Special Status. What will explain to you what the Night of Special Status is? The Night of Special Status is better than a thousand months: on that night the angels and the Spirit (Angle Gabriel) descend again and again with their Lord’s permission on every task. Protections and wellbeing it is until the rising of dawn.”
These verses teach us, the Night of Special Status, is a night that is better and higher in rank than 1,000 months. When calculated into years, this adds up to over 83 years! Most people do not even live past the age of 83 and yet God Almighty has gifted mankind with a single night of innumerable blessings, a night worth more than a lifetime!
It is a night in which Angel Gabriel along with all the other angels descends from the Heavens to the Earth. A night abundant with blessings and mercy showered down upon believers by God, as each of them turn sincerely to Him, seeking His Forgiveness and Guidance. The pages of their records are opened and their destinies are decreed for the coming year.
God Almighty speaks about this in the Quran when he says: “A night where every matter of wisdom was made distinct at our command.” (44: 4).
Meaning the matters of deaths, births, provisions and calamities for the whole (coming) year are decreed by God.
This night, according to the Prophet Muhammad, is to be found and searched for during the last ten nights of Ramadan and will most likely fall on an odd-numbered night.
Thus, during these last ten nights, Muslims from all over the world, in groups and in solitude, in public and in private, in every language known to exist, strive to worship God ardently and sincerely, seeking entrance into Paradise and protection from Hell.
It is these nights in which the essence of the belief in Divine Unity is revived and rekindled in the hearts of Muslims, as the realization that their fates ultimately and completely lie with their Lord.
Night-long prayers are established, and fervent supplications are made. Every tongue is active with the remembrance of God and every heart is yearning to seek His pleasure. Hands are raised, eyes are overflowing with tears, knees are bent, and foreheads are bowed out of sheer humility, in complete submission to the Creator. It is a night on which Muslims are reminded of the simple fact that they are slaves, that their Creator is the Almighty and All-Powerful, that this world is perishable, that the Hereafter is everlasting and that every beat of their heart is bringing them closer to their final End.
So look out for the Night of Special Status and increase your worship on this night; a night on which wellbeing will descend on the world, your every supplication will be answered, and your sins will be forgiven.
We ask God Almighty to allow us to reach the night of Special Status, to grant us the amazing opportunity of drawing closer to Him on this great night, and to accept and bless all our worship to Him on this night and all others.
Practical tips:
- Boost your worship to a higher level and spend the whole night in worship. Aim to excel! These are the best nights!
2. Plan your worship beforehand so you do not waste any precious time on those nights.
3. Make heartfelt supplications to God Almighty and open up your heart to Him. Indeed He is the Hearer of supplications.
4. Connect to the Quran during these nights and read it with understanding and meaning. 5. Strive in worship and devotion in the last 10 nights. Then increase in worship and devotion in the last odd nights of the last ten. Then strive even more on the 25th night. Then increase further on the 27th night. And carry on worshipping and seeking forgiveness on the 29th night.
[1] An earlier version of this blog appeared last year with the title ‘The Night of Power’ and has since been edited. The night of power is an incorrect/inaccurate translation that is unfortunately very popular in English speaking communities. The statement does not mean Night of Decree either. The Quranic word and title of the chapter is neither القُدرَة nor القَدَر rather it is القَدْر with a Sukoon ْ.The more accurate translation is Night of Special Status/Virtue.