Advice of Scholars - SACRED NIGHTS

Sacred nights are esteemed by Islam. Having great mercy upon His slaves, Allâhu ta’âlâ has made some nights valuable and has declared that He will accept the prayers and istighfârs done on these nights. He has made these nights opportunities for His slaves to worship much, to pray and ask for forgiveness. A sacred night is named after the day following it. It is the duration of time from the early afternoon prayer of the preceding daytime till the dawn following the night. Only, the night of Arafa and the three nights of Qurbân are not so. These four nights follow the daytime after which they are named. We must benefit from these nights, perform our omitted prayers of namâz, read the Qur’ân, say prayers and istighfâr, give alms, please Muslims and send the thawâb to the souls of the dead, too. We must respect these nights. To respect them means not to commit sins during them.

It is written on the hundred and seventy-second page of the book Riyâd-un-nâsikhîn, “Imâm-i Nawawî says in his book Azkâr, ‘To utilize one-twelfth of the night [about one hour] means to utilize the whole night. This is the case for summer and winter nights alike. ’ It is written in Haqâyiq-i manzûma, ‘In books of fiqh, an hour means an amount of time. ’ Imâm-i Nawawî is a mujtahid in the Shâfi’î Madhhab. It is good also for those who are Hanafî to benefit from the nights in this manner. ”

QADR NIGHT: Qadr night is a night in the blessed month of Ramadân. Imâm-i Shâfi’î noted that it was most probably the seventeenth night, while Imâm-i a’zam Abû Hanîfa said that the most probable night was the twenty-seventh. We have been told to look for it between the twentieth and the thirtieth nights. It is the most valuable night praised in the Qur’ân. The Qur’ân began to be revealed to Rasûlullah on this night.
NIGHT OF ’IYD OF FITR: Night of ’iyd of fitr is the night between the last day of the blessed month of Ramadân and the first day of the ’Iyd.
ARAFA NIGHT: Arafa night is the night between the Arafa day and the first day of the ’Iyd of Qurbân. It is the night between the ninth and the tenth days of the month of Zil-hijja.
NIGHTS OF QURBÂN: Nights of qurbân are the nights following the first, second and third days of the ’Iyd of Qurbân. These three days are called Ayyâm-i nahr.
MAWLID NIGHT: Mawlid night is the night between the eleventh and twelfth days of the month of Rabî’ulawwal. It is the birth night of Hadrat Muhammad Mustafa ‘alaihissalâm’, who was sent as the Prophet for people all over the world and who is the last and the highest of all prophets.
BARÂT NIGHT: Barât night is the fifteenth night of the month of Sha’bân. That is, it is the night between its fourteenth and fifteenth days.
MI’RAJ NIGHT: Mi’raj night is the twenty-seventh night of the month of Rajab. Mi’raj means ladder. It is the night on which Rasûlullah was made to ascend to heavens and was taken to unknown places.
THE NIGHT OF RAGHÂIB: First Friday night of the month of Rajab is called Night of Raghâib.
MUHARRAM NIGHT: The first night of the month of Muharram is the Muslim’s new year’s night. Muharram is the first month of the Islamic year.
ASHÛRA NIGHT: Ashûra night is the tenth night of Muharram.