Editorial
Lailat-ul-Qadr
A glorious night
THE Holy Prophet (PBUH) has enjoined upon us to seek Lail-at-ul Qadr, Night of Power, in the last ten nights of Ramadan and says that he who spends the Night in worship, with a pure motive of faith and devotion, will have all his past sins forgiven.
Last night, the 27th of Ramadan is generally accepted by the Muslim scholars as the night of the revelation of the Holy Quran. This is the night when Allah (SWT) sent down his message to mankind through His last Prophet as a redeemer for not only the Muslims but for the entire mankind. But for the Muslims this night has a special significance, for not only as marking the beginning of the revelation of Holy Book but also for the fact that Allah has called this night as better than a thousand months. For all the prayers and supplications of only one night of Qadr is equal to that of a thousand months.
For the Muslims it is a time to both supplicate and introspect. While most Muslims spend the night seeking penance, forgiveness and Allah's Blessing through prayers and recitation of the Quran, equally of importance for them is to spend sometime in introspection, if for nothing else than only to assess how much we have been able to internalise the teaching of the Quran and the Prophet (PBUH) and reflect those in our daily lives.
One must admit that we as Muslims have not fully lived up to the teaching of the Quran and the Holy Prophet (PBUH), either in letter or in spirit. If as Muslims we find ourselves maligned and at the receiving end of the critics' tirade, than we are the ones who must take the major blame for it. Islam is a religion of peace, equality and tolerance and yet we are projected as quite the opposite. And that is mainly because of the very miniscule minority amongst the followers of the faith that have distorted its teaching, for narrow convoluted purposes.
There is a need for the Ummah to act unitedly against those in the community whose extremist and violent tendencies have tarnished the image of Islam. That should be our resolve while we seek mercy of the Almighty on this auspicious occasion.
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