Why Prophet Muhammad Retreated 10 Nights

We have completed the entirety of the book of fasting from the book of Al Wajiz, which which by the way is not a small feat. That actually contains a lot of knowledge, a lot of information, a lot of evidences and texts from both the Quran and from the narrations of our prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Invaluable knowledge condensed, compressed, and made accessible thanks to Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala followed by thanks to our scholars of Islam. Now, the author goes into the book of al-i'tikaf. The book of al-i'tikaf. Al-i'tikaf in the Arabic language is taken from the root word or the root three-letter verb akefa. Akefa, which is a past tense verb. And akefa means to for something to remain at a at a particular place. Right? But it also in the Arabic language it also usually has a connotation of devoutness or religiosity to it. You say akefa fulanun it's almost as if you are saying he religiously remained at a particular place or at a particular site. And usually this word has religious or worship connotations to it, but not always. But in general, the essence of this word akefa is to remain at a particular place or to remain at a particular site or to remain around a particular thing. Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala uses this word in the Quran. He mentions the people He mentions the people of idols, the idol idolaters in the time of Musa Alayhis Salaam that Musa and Banu Israel came across after Allah had delivered them across the Red Sea. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala relates this story telling us that in Surat al-A'raf and upon delivering or after delivering Musa and Banu Israel from their enemies and across the sea, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions that in their path, they encountered a group of people that were you know, camped out, if you will, around some idols that they had. And Allah uses these words ya'kufuna 'ala asnam lahum. Ya'kufuna meaning that they were they had these idols. It was not necessarily a place that they lived, but they were all very clearly staying here around these idols in an act of devotion and worship. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also uses this word with respect to its legislative meaning al-ma'na shar'i in Surat al-Baqarah. He says So, in this near in this verse, Surat al-Baqarah, Allah prohibits sexual intercourse whilst a person is in a state of I'tikaf in the masjid. And so al-ukuf is to remain at something and to be steadfast in your remnants around this thing. And it usually has religious connotations. Now, we will get into exactly what an I'tikaf means with the author's words here. He says, "Al-I'tikaf Al-I'tikaf.

[Silence]

The author says, "An al-I'tikaf in the last 10 nights of Ramadan is considered to be a Sunnah of the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam, which is highly encouraged. And the purpose behind I'tikaf being in the last 10 nights of Ramadan is that a person in his I'tikaf is seeking out the night of al-Qadr. That the night of al-Qadr be spent in the masjid in the worship of Allah Subhana.

[Arabic recitation]

He says, "As Allah most high has said." And then he mentions the entirety of Surat al-Qadr, which translates to, "Indeed, we have sent it, the Quran, down in the night of al-Qadr. And what could make you understand or fathom just how significant and the gravity of Laylat al-Qadr, the night of al-Qadr. The night of al-Qadr is superior in its virtue than 1,000 months. In Laylatul Qadr, the angels are in constant descent by the will of their Lord along with ar-Ruh, meaning Jibreel, and also meaning the spirits of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's worship and the embodiment of his worship subhanahu wa ta'ala. by the will of their Lord, and they are descending to rectify and execute all affairs. All affairs. and this is why it is called Laylatul Qadr. Allah says, "And it is a night of great peace and a night of great virtue until break of dawn." Now, this is where Laylatul Qadr gets its name. He says, "Laylatul Qadr." The night of al-Qadr. What's that mean? Often times it's translated as the night of power. This is quite a deficient translation. Al-Qadr here, in the correct opinion, is a reference to decree, destiny. And that is that destinies are written and put into motion on Laylatul Qadr. And being that there is great amounts of du'a and supplication, those destinies, for every one of us, every one of us, every animal, every creature, every human, the wind, the rainfall, everything that has to do with our existence here on this earth, those destinies are put into motion on Laylat al-Qadr, which is why dua and supplication and worship is so important and so paramount during that time.

[Silence]

He mentions an narration on the authority of Aisha who said that the messenger of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alayhi wasallam would spend his days and nights camped in the masjid during the last 10 days and nights of Ramadan. And he would say meaning often he would remind the companions radi Allah anhu seek out the night of al-Qadr, the night of destiny in the last 10 nights of Ramadan. This narration has been collected by al-Bukhari. And also on the authority of Aisha she narrates that the messenger of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alayhi wasallam said seek out Laylat al-Qadr and seek you know, the worship of the night of Laylat al-Qadr in the odd nights of the last 10 nights of Ramadan. What does that mean in the odd nights? In the odd nights. Is it not possible to make I'tikaf only on the odd nights of Laylat al-Qadr in Ramadan? Meaning that the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam would go into I'tikaf for the 21st night and then go home for the 22nd and then go in on the 23rd and then go home for the 24th and then come in at the 25th. Isn't that possible? Where was his home with respect to the masjid? Where was his home with respect to the masjid? It was almost inside of the masjid. I mean, his door opened into the masjid. All of the all of his homes, all of his buyut for his wives. So, why didn't he do that? I- I- If we are certain that the I'tikaf is for the purpose of Laylat al-Qadr and that it is only on the odd nights, then why didn't he do that? Well, the answer lies in the statement and witr. The odd nights. What does that mean? The odd odd. Meaning that one extra that comes on top of the even number. Right? Now, odd night is odd with respect to what is past or it is odd with respect to what is remaining. Correct? So, if we were to say the 21st night is an odd night, that is an odd night with respect to what is past. With respect to what is remaining, it is an even night. Correct? The 22nd night is an even night with respect to what is past of Ramadan. If we're counting from one, 22nd is an even night. But with respect to what remains, meaning if we are counting down, then the 22nd night is what? Is an odd night. And so, for this reason, the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam didn't reveal Laylatul Qadr. And it's not on any particular odd night necessarily odd with respect to what is past. It is on an odd night with respect to what is past or with respect to what is remains. If Ramadan is 30 days long, then Laylatul Qadr will be on an odd night with respect to what remains of the month. And if Laylatul Qadr is 29 days long, then Laylatul Qadr will If and if Ramadan is is 29 days long, then Laylatul Qadr will be on an odd night with respect to what is past. All right? Now, here's the thing. How do we know if a month is the month of Ramadan is going to be 30 or 29 days? Do we really know that? I mean, we have our fancy calculations now. Don't we know everything? Right? As if as if in the time of the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam calculation didn't exist. It did exist. It was arguably better than it is today. However, the issue is that The prophet Muhammad was selling didn't tie it to calculation. He tied it to what? Sighting. Yeah, the indicator. It is as if Allah is saying, "Start Ramadan now. End Ramadan now." By what? By showing us the moon. And so, we cannot know if the month is going to be 29 or 30 days. Not with any level of certainty. However, that is the point of spending the last 10 nights in the message. if we knew exactly which night it would be, we would make it give that night. Right? Or we would make we would make everything on that exact night. However, it is not something that is known to us. It moves around. And therefore, we spend extra amount of effort on every one of the nights instead of all of our efforts on one night. Because it could be on odd night with respect to what is past or it could be on an odd night with respect to what remains. And we don't know that until the month is over. And if you look at the evidences, the cues of Laylat al-Qadr, Does anyone here know some of the evidences that Laylat al-Qadr, the indicators? An indicator of Laylat al-Qadr from the Sunnah. Hm? It's about the star or about the sky the following day or something that. Hm, a little vague. Anybody have anything more specific? The sun will look the full moon. No rays. Right. So, I think that's what you're trying to say. The sun comes up a little bit dimmer than usual. You can see it as more of a disc and not as a kind of beaming light, right? You will be able to observe the sun as more of a dimmed light than it is with the rays. All right? Any anything else? The rain. That is not a general night a general sign of Laylat al-Qadr. that's a narration in Sahih Muslim that the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam told the companions tonight is Laylat al-Qadr and it happened to be raining. But, that's not something that happens every single Laylat al-Qadr. For instance, it is very calm. There's very little wind. There's very little activity, right? With with respect to the weather. Another indicator that some of the scholars mention is roosters crowing, a lack of barking dogs. These are things that But, if if we were to gather all the indicators of Laylat al-Qadr, you'll find most of them only show themselves after Laylat al-Qadr is al-already done. the sun, for instance. How am I going to see that before Laylat al-Qadr? I see that after. Right? The narration is in Jami' al-Tirmidhi. I see that the morning after. So, what was the point of that? Well, the point of that is for a person to either kick himself for missing it or to you know be happy that they may have spent their night in worship. The point is we don't know when Laylat al-Qadr is. And if it was fixed and it was the same night every single year, the prophet would have eventually told us which night it is. But we will continue this in sha Allah tomorrow. Nas'al Allah subhanahu wa.

[Arabic recitation]