We’re into the home stretch. The last week of Ramadan. Everything else has been a ‘gentle’ warm up. This is where the spiritual champions are made.
These last few days (and especially nights) of Ramadan are the most important because of ‘The Night of Power’, (Laylat al Qadr), the night in which the Quran was first revealed and which is, “better than 1,000 months”, as the Quran puts it.
I like to take this verse quite literally.
Time is not linear.
It can ‘bend’. There are some moments that are worth a whole life time. There are some mornings that are more productive that some days – even entire weeks.
The last third of the night is like that on any day of the year.
In fact, the 3 hours, including the hour before the pre-dawn prayer all the way up to the sun having fully risen are, spiritually speaking, the most valuable part of the day – by far.
It is said that angels descend from the heavens to distribute ‘khair’ (goodness) and ‘rizq’ (provision) for anyone who is awake and active during this time – whether they’re engaged in worship or not. It is also said that Allah (the Transcendent, beyond time, space and matter), “descends” to the lowest Heaven during the last third of the night to forgive and answer the prayers of anyone who is asking for it.
But all of this pales in comparison to The Night Of Power, which has a lifetime’s worth of all of these blessings condensed into one night.
There’s only one catch: we weren’t told which night of Ramadan it is. It has been intentionally hidden among the last 10 nights.
To make it easier on weaker worshippers, we’re given the ‘tip’ that it’s in the last 10 odd nights. The trouble is, in the UK and other Muslim-minority countries, because we don’t have our own official moon-sighting institutionalised… we don’t know for certain which night Ramadan really began on. (Technically Ramadan would have started on Tuesday, even though most people in the UK started fasting on Monday).
This all serves to deepen the mystery of not knowing which of these nights is the most blessed. The simple solution is: treat every night this week as if it’s the Night of Power and as if you won’t live to see another one. Last Ramadan, that was the case for two dear, close relatives of mine – may they be eternally rewarded.
If you were planning to rock up to the mosque on the 27th night only… I advise against that. Instead, here are my tips:
- Be militantly consistent about your plan of worship in these last few precious nights. This all-but guarantees that on the Night of Power you’ll be well in the flow of connecting with Allah.
- The primary part of that plan: be awake before Fajr (the pre-dawn prayer) and pray, as if Allah really is right in front of you (in reality, Allah is much closer to you than that and still transcendent far beyond that).
- Have a set list of things to pray for – keep the list short (and ideally have one primary prayer) so that when Allah makes it happen, you KNOW it was because of prayer and are super-grateful for the blessing of having it. Some of the biggest blessings in my life (attracting my wife, bestselling book, business successes, etc.) all came through Ramadan prayers on the Night of Power.
- If you only give £1 to charity each night this week, one of those nights it will be rewarded as if you gave £30,000 (actually more like £2.1 Million, if you 70x for Ramadan). Give a little each night – and ideally automate payments to happen nightly, in case it slips your mind one night.
- Make up your missed Essential (Fard) Prayers – if you had a phase of life where you didn’t keep up with your 5 daily essential prayers, it’s more important to make up these prayers than doing extra ‘bonus’ prayers. Good job a prayer on one of these nights is worth a life-time, eh. I would pray 1 day’s worth of Qada (delayed) prayers all at once during the last hour of the night. (Note: technically you still need to make up for each missed prayer individually… but if you’re looking for a ‘Hail Mary’ pass, I’d split my hopes between this and sending “salawat” blessings on the Prophet)
- Everyone can play. If you’re not Muslim, you can still tap into the power of these nights. Allah, the Source of the Universe, loves you more than you can even fathom… and is ready to bless you beyond your wildest dreams… especially if you ask them only from Allah.
- Book A Sparring Session. Whatever you’re praying for – from finding a partner to improving your marriage, to losing weight, to starting a business – you’ll likely get there a lot faster with a lot more ease and joy with me in your corner. You know, “tie your camel” and all that…
You can check out the details and book a 1-to-1 “Sparring” session with me. To apply for a “Session” with me, the first step is to sign up for the Switch Masterclass and watch it carefully:
