The Holy month of Ramdhan is a blessed and unique monthbecause during this month the Muslims all over the world observe fasting. Fasting is aimed at cleansing the soul andmind of a man. It increases the power of resistance and enables a person tosubmit himself before the Will of Allah. It invigorates the conscience of a manand fills it with noble spirit. It also washes away man’s arrogance and makeshim humble and instils spirit of sympathy in his heart for the hungry. Theimmense benefits and blessings of the Ramdhan can be harvested only when it isobserved consciously and faithfully with utmost restraint from all those thingswhich obliterate the very essence of it.
In the blessed month of Ramdhan the Holy Quran was revealedto Prophet (SAW) and this month is also special because in this month duringthe last ten nights, there is a night called as Lailat al- Qadr which is betterthan one thousand months. The word Lail or Lailah means night and Qadr meansoriginally, measuring. But Lailat al- Qadre is also translated in meaning asthe night of grandeur or majesty. The angels and the inspiration (Al-Ruh)descend in it by the permission of their Lord for every decree. Also this Nightis spoken of as the Night in which Quran was revealed. The Quran says that the night is better than thenights of a thousand months. This makes explicitly clear that there issomething special and great about this Night. In Surah Ad- Dukhan, Allah says,”By the Quran that makes things clear. We sent this Quran down on a blessednight. Verily, We are ever-warning. There (in that night) it is cleared everymatter of occurrences.”
The Quran is the word of Allah, dictated through the HolySpirit or Gabriel (AS) to Mohammad (SAW). “Let none touch it but the purified”(Surah: 56: Verse: 78). It was revealedin the month of Ramdhan on a certain night which afterwards received the nameof Lailat al-Qadr or the Splendid /Grand Night. Though the Prophet (SAW) andhis Companions would remain awake and try to find out this Great Night on odd nights of 21st, 23rd, 25th and 29th of Ramdhan also but it is generallybelieved and accepted by scholars of Islam that on odd 27th night of Ramdhan,this Night occurs and the Quran wasrevealed. The Quran was revealed in Arabia and in Arabic language. “So we have made it easy in their tongue thatthey may be mindful.” The word ‘Quran’is derived from the root or Qara’a which signifies ‘he read’ or ‘recited’,because in reciting, letters and words are joined to each other in a certainorder. “The Book is so called both, because it is a collection of all the bestreligious teachings and because it is a Book that is or should be read.” TheQuran speaks of itself under various names. It is called al- Kitab, a writingwhich is complete in itself: al- Furqan,or the Distinguisher between right and wrong or the Revelation from on High: ‘al-Hukam’ or theWisdom: ‘al- Shifa’ or Healing; ‘ al- Rahmat’ or the Mercy: ‘ al- Khair’ or theGoodness: ‘al- Ruh’ or the Spirit: ‘al- Bayan’ or the Explanation: ‘ al- Burhan’ or the Argument; ‘al-Nur’ or the Light: ‘ al- Haqaq’ or theTruth: ‘Ahsan- al-Hadith’ or the Best Saying, etc.
The Arabic world was reflected bleakness of ignorance,crudity, callousness, loot, hypocrisy and ignorance of right and wrong that hadentangled the entire Arab before the coming of Islam and it was this very Quranrevealed on Prophet (SAW) purposed to illuminate the whole region of Arab inparticular and the world in general. The Arabs were living a life of violence,confusion and disorder in which there was total absence of ethical or moralvalues and as a result of which human life and dignity had no place. The Arabswere involved in feuds and squabbling and the most cruel inhuman act they would practise was buryingtheir daughters alive. The Quran came amidst this darkness and showed light tothe people who then became the most civilized people of the world due to thegreatest inspiration of the beloved Prophet (SAW). Keeping these facts in view,the Quran and the Night in which it was revealed should be taken as a gift fromAllah to mankind because after studying it the impious hearts turn into pioushearts and the dark and murky hearts turn into kind and illuminated hearts.
It is obligatory that we observe the Night of power or theSplendid Night honestly, truthfully and seriously as and when it falls. Let us pray to Allah on this Nightand seek penance of our sins and receive the full blessings of this SplendidNight.