‘Aa’ishah RAA said:“When the last ten days (of Ramadaan) would come, the Prophet
(sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) would spend his night in worship, wake his family (at night), exert himself
and tighten his Izaar (waistcloth).” [1]This hadeeth is
proof that the last ten days of Ramadaan have a special virtue over any other
(set of days), in which one should increase in obedience and acts of worship,
such as prayer, making dhikr (remembrance) and reciting the
Qur’aan.
‘Aa’ishah RAA has described our Prophet and role model,
Muhammad (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam), with four attributes:
1. He (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam)
would "spend his night in worship", meaning he would not sleep
during it. Thus, he (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) would remain awake throughout it in worship and
he would liven his soul by spending the night in sleeplessness. This is
since sleep is the brother of death. The meaning of "spend his
night" is that he (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) would spend all of it in the state of qiyaam
(night prayer) and performing acts of worship that are done for the sake of
Allaah, Lord of the worlds. We must remember that the last ten days of
Ramadaan are fixed and numbered.
As for what has been
reported concerning the forbiddance of spending the entire night in prayer,
which has been mentioned in the hadeeth of 'Abdullaah Ibn 'Amr RAA, then it is
in regards to someone who does that consistently throughout every night of the
year.
2. He (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) would "wake up his family"
meaning his (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) pure wives, the Mothers of the Believers, so that they may take
part in the profiting of good, the dhikr (remembrance) and the acts of worship
during these blessed times.
3. He (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) would
"exert himself", meaning he (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) would persevere and struggle
in worship, adding more to his deeds than what he had done in the first twenty
days (of Ramadaan). He only did this because the night of Al-Qadr occurs
during one of these (last ten) days.
4. He (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam)
would "tighten his Izaar (waistcloth)" meaning he would exert
himself and struggle intensely in worship. It is also said that it means
he (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) would withdraw from women. This seems to be more correct since it
inclines with what was mentioned previously and with the hadeeth of Anas RAA:
"He (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) would rollup his bed and withdraw from women (i.e. his
wives)." [2]
Also, he (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) would observe 'Itikaaf in the
last ten days of Ramadaan and the person who is in the state of 'Itikaaf is
restricted from interacting (sexually) with women.
So, O Muslim
brother, strive to characterize yourself with these attributes. And guard
the prayer you make in the depths of the night (tahajjud) with the Imaam in
addition to the Taraaweeh prayer (which is prayed in the early parts of the
night), so that your exertion in these last ten days may go beyond that of the
first twenty. And so that you may achieve the attribute of
"spending the night in worship" by praying.
And
you must be patient in your obedience to Allaah, for indeed, the tahajjud
(night) prayer is difficult, but its reward is great. By Allaah, it is a
great opportunity in ones life and a profitable thing to take advantage of, for
the one whom Allaah grants it to. And a person does not know if perhaps he
will encounter one of Allaah's many rewards during the night prayer, thus
serving as assistance for him in this world and in the
Hereafter.
The righteous predecessors of this ummah would lengthen
the prayer at night, exerting themselves. As-Saa'ib Ibn Yazeed said:
"'Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab ordered Ubay Bin Ka'ab and Tameem Ad-Daaree to
lead the people in prayer with eleven raka'aat. The reciter would recite
one hundred verses, to the point that we had to lean upon wooden staffs due to
the long standing. And we would not stop until the early parts of
Fajr." [3]
'Abdullaah Ibn Abee Bakr reported: "I
heard my father (i.e. Abu Bakr) say: 'During Ramadaan, we would finish (the
night prayer) late and we would hurry the servants to present the food (of
suhoor) for fear that Fajr (morning) would come upon us."
[4]
There are two struggles of the soul that the believer faces
during Ramadaan: the struggle by day with fasting and the struggle by night with
qiyaam (night prayer). So whosoever combines these two and fulfills their
rights, then he is amongst the patient -- those who will "be given their
reward in full without any reckoning." [5]
These ten days
are the last part of the month and a person's actions are based on his last
ones. So perhaps, he will encounter the night of Al-Qadr, while standing
in prayer for Allaah and thus have all his past sins forgiven.
The Last Ten Days of Ramadaan