Nights of Hope

Be conscious of Allāh and obey Him, and attach your hearts to Him, and supplicate to Him plentifully and get closer to Him through righteous deeds. For we are living in blessed days in which the bestowals of Allāh Almighty abound, and His mercy descends. So race to the gifts of your Lord in the Masjeds, and seek them in the last third of the night. And purify your outsides and insides. For in these nights you are in the presence of the King of Kings. You are standing before Him in your places of prayer. You call Him through your Quranic recitations and prayers. And nothing stands between you and triumphing with His rewards, glory be to Him, except acceptance. So hang on to His door and repeatedly supplicate to Him. For the triumph is an eternal triumph that is not equaled by any worldly triumph, whatever it is. Allāh Almighty said:
Al Imran (3) 185: So he who is drawn away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has attained [his desire]. And what is the life of this world except the enjoyment of delusion.

It is befitting to call these blessed nights, Nights of Hope for what servants of Allāh hope for of forgiveness, mercy and emancipation from the fire, and for their keenness to observe Laylatul Qadr with iman (faith) and anticipating the reward. For observing night prayers on that night is superior to observing it for 1000 months. It is hope in the promise of Allāh Almighty, that was revealed in the Noble Quran. And in several hadiths, the Prophet ﷺ provided details about the blessed ten days and about Laylat al-Qadr, promising great rewards that are beyond imagination. So it is only hoped for by a believer. And only a loser is deprived of it.

Hope is a word that touches hearts and captivates the souls. For hope leads the hearts to the Beloved and it is the closeness of the heart to the kindness of the Lord, and it is the vision of majesty with the eye of beauty. It is rejoicing in the kindness of Allāh Almighty and delighting in His generosity, Glory be to Him. It is trust in the promise of Allāh Almighty. And there is no hope without righteous deeds. As for hope with laziness in doing acts of worship and transgressing into the forbidden, this is wishful thinking and delusion. And it will be said to such people on the Day of Resurrection:
Al Hadid 14: And wishful thinking deluded you until there came the command of Allāh. And the Deceiver [i.e., Satan] deceived you concerning Allāh.

And Saeed bin Jubayr, may Allāh have mercy on him, said, it is that a person performs a sin and hopes for forgiveness.

The people of hope are the people of worship and humbleness before Allāh and they check their hearts and they purify themselves through righteous deeds and they persevere in the obedience of their Lord, and their hearts rejoice with the Quran, and they shiver from the fear of their Lord, and their hearts shed tears from reverence of their Lord. They notice Allāh Almighty’s blessings upon them in all their affairs and they see their negligence in His rights no matter what they do. So gratitude is their motto and seeking forgiveness is their companion. For gratitude and remembrance do not leave their tongues. And contemplate Allāh’s description of the Companions, may Allāh be pleased with them; people of genuine hope, true to Him in their words and actions:
Al Baqarah (2) 218: Indeed, those who have believed and those who have emigrated and strived in the way of Allāh – those expect the mercy of Allāh. And Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.

As for the hope of those devoted to praying at night, Allāh Almighty said:
Az Zumar (39) 9: Is one who is devoutly obedient during periods of the night, prostrating and standing [in prayer], fearing the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord, [like one who does not]?

And regarding their supplicating, Allāh Almighty said:
As Sajdah (32) 16: Their sides part [i.e., they arise] from [their] beds; they supplicate their Lord in fear and aspiration, and from what We have provided them, they spend.

So in their night prayer is hope and in their supplication is hope and they do not have hope without deeds. And they do not perform deeds without hope.

And reflect upon the hope of Yacob regarding Yusuf, peace be upon them. For he lost Yusuf as a boy and the most likely assumption is that he met doom. Yacob lost his sight from crying out of grief over Yusuf. And he did not, for an instant, let go from having hope in Allāh Almighty, that he would find Yusuf. To the point that his sons blamed him saying:
Yusuf (12) 85: By Allāh, you will not cease remembering Joseph until you become fatally ill or become of those who perish.

Then his answer was the response of the hopeful in Allāh Almighty alone and not in any of His creation:
Yusuf (12) 86: He said, I only complain of my suffering and my grief to Allāh, and I know from Allāh that which you do not know.

Indeed, it was great hope in Allāh Almighty. Yacoob was rewarded for it in this world by being reunited with his son and the restoration of his sight and being united with his loved ones and the removal of ill feelings that some of them had. In addition to what he attained of glory in this world and the advancement of Yusuf, peace be upon him. And the reward of the hereafter is greater and more lasting.

So how much we are in need in the nights of hope to have hope like the hope of Yaboob, peace be upon him.

If someone anticipates meeting the greatest of the kings of this world, to sit with him alone, to talk to him alone, and to obtain his greatest rewards, they would forgo food and sleep out of their extreme joy. And they would have counted down the days, minutes and seconds to the time of meeting the king and talking to him. And in these blessed nights, our Lord has promised us a special connection unlike the rest of year. And the rewards are unlike the rewards the rest the year.

We hope that our Lord Almighty grants us the blessing of these blessed nights. The blessing of fasting in its day, and the blessing of praying in its night. Because our Prophet ﷺ informed us that whoever fasts Ramadan out of faith and in anticipation of the reward will have his previous sins forgiven. And whoever prays during the nights out of faith and in anticipation of the reward will have his previous sins forgiven. And whoever observes the night of Laylatul Qadr out of faith and in anticipation of the reward will have his previous sins forgiven. And that Allāh Almighty emancipates people from the fire each of the nights of Ramadan. So what about the virtuous last ten nights?!

Just as our Prophet ﷺ informed us that our Lord, Glory be to Him, descends during the last third of the night and says:
Who will ask of Me, that I may give him? Who will call upon Me, that I may answer him? Who will ask My forgiveness, that I may forgive him? [Bukhari 1145, Muslim 758a]

So what about during the best nights of the whole year?!

Indeed, this great generosity from our Lord, Glory be to Him, in the month of generosity and giving necessitates that our hearts be filled with hope in Him. So perform night prayers while you have your hopes in Him, and recite His Book while you while have your hopes in Him, and seeking His forgiveness while you have your hopes in Him, and ask Him while you have your hopes in Him and supplicate to Him while you have your hopes in Him. For you are addressing The Most Rich, Generous, Beneficent, Bestowing and Merciful. Allāh Almighty is more merciful to you than you are with yourselves. Allāh Almighty said:
Fatir (35) 2: Whatever Allāh grants to people of mercy – none can withhold it; and whatever He withholds – none can release it thereafter. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

Oh Muslims: Let us make the most out of the latter part of this Noble month. For perhaps some of us may not reach the next Ramadan. So let us make the most out of what remains of its nights. And as the month concludes, let us plentifully seek forgiveness and repeatedly ask Allāh Almighty for acceptance.

Part of perfecting the conclusion of the month is to pay Zakatul-Fitr. To address the defects in our fasting and benefit our needy brothers. And it is obligatory for us. It is a purification for our bodies just as Ibn Abbas, may Allāh be pleased with him, said:
The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ enjoined Zakatul-Fitr as a purification for the fasting person from idle talk and obscenities, and to feed the poor. Whoever pays it before the (Eid) prayer, it is an accepted Zakah, and whoever pays it after the prayer, it is (ordinary) charity.” [Sunan Abu Dawood 1609, Sunan Ibn Majah 1827, Grade: Hasan]

Its amount is a Sāʿ(unit of measure) of food, which is given before the Eid prayer. And it is possible to give it one or two days before Eid as the companions, may Allāh be pleased with them, did. And Ibn Omar, may Allāh be pleased with him, said:
The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ enjoined Zakatul-Fitr at the end of Ramadan upon the people; a Sa’ of dates or a Sa’ of barley, upon everyone, free or bonded, male or female, of the Muslims. And he commanded that it is given before the people go out to the prayer. [Bukhari 1503, Muslim 984]

And in a version from Al Bukhari, Nafi’, may Allāh have mercy on him, said:
So Ibn Omar used to give on the behalf of the young and old. He even used to give on behalf of my children. And Ibn Omar used to give to those who accept it. And they used to offer it one or two days before Eid al Fitr. [Bukhari 1511]

So purify your fasting by paying it, desiring to follow the Prophet ﷺ and to obtain the great reward. And perfect it, and pay it from the best of your wealth. For Allāh Almighty said:
Al Imran 92: Never will you attain the good [reward] until you spend [in the way of Allāh] from that which you love. Oh Allāh attach our hearts to You. Oh Allāh help us in doing what pleases You and avoiding what displeases you. Oh Allāh accept our deeds and forgive us our sins. Indeed Allāh is All Hearing, Answering.

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