Islam

Laylat al-Qadr

When is Laylat al-Qadr in 2027, the Night of Power in the last ten nights of Ramadan: the night the Qur’an began to be revealed, “better than a thousand months”, kept with prayer until dawn.

Next date

Friday, 5 March 2027

The 27th night of Ramadan, from sunset on 5 March to dawn on 6 March (Umm al-Qura calendar); it may move by a day with the sighting of the moon. Many seek it on every odd night of the last ten.

In brief

I.Laylat al-Qadr, the Night of Power or Destiny, is the night on which the Qur’an began to be revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.
II.The Qur’an calls it “better than a thousand months”, a night when angels descend and there is peace until dawn.
III.Its exact date is hidden: Muslims seek it among the odd nights of the last ten nights of Ramadan, most of all the 27th.
IV.It is spent in prayer, recitation of the Qur’an and asking forgiveness; many spend the last ten days in retreat in the mosque.

Chapter I

What it celebrates

Muslims believe that the revelation of the Qur’an began on this night, when the angel Gabriel came to Muhammad in the cave of Hira near Mecca with the first words of sura 96, “Read! In the name of your Lord who created”. The short sura 97, al-Qadr, is devoted to the night: “The Night of Glory is better than a thousand months; on that night the angels and the Spirit descend again and again with their Lord’s permission on every task; there is peace that night until the break of dawn.”

Qadr means both power and measure or decree, and many Muslims believe that on this night the affairs of the coming year are decreed.

Chapter II

How it is kept

The night is spent awake in worship: extra prayers, long recitation of the Qur’an, remembrance of God and personal prayers for forgiveness. Mosques stay open all night, and many congregations time the completion of the Qur’an, recited in the nightly tarawih prayers through Ramadan, for the 27th night. Charity is given, as good deeds done on this night are believed to be multiplied.

Many devout Muslims spend the last ten days of Ramadan in i‘tikaf, a retreat in the mosque, following the example of the Prophet, so as not to miss the night.

Chapter III

Around the world

On the 27th night the Grand Mosque in Mecca draws one of the largest congregations of the year. In Turkey, Kadir Gecesi is one of the holy nights on which mosques are lit up, and it is marked on television and in the press. In Iran and among Shia Muslims elsewhere, the nights of Shab-e Qadr are kept with vigils in which worshippers hold the Qur’an over their heads; the 19th of Ramadan is also the anniversary of the wounding of Ali, who died on the 21st.

Questions people ask

Why is the date not known for certain?

According to hadith, the Prophet told his companions to seek the night among the odd nights of the last ten of Ramadan without naming one. Scholars see the uncertainty as an encouragement to devotion on every night of the last ten. Sunni Muslims most often keep the 27th; Shia Muslims keep the 19th, 21st and 23rd, above all the 23rd.

What prayer is said on this night?

A short prayer the Prophet taught to his wife Aisha is especially associated with it: “O God, You are forgiving and love forgiveness, so forgive me.”

Sources and further reading

Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Laylat al-Qadr”
M. A. S. Abdel Haleem (trans.), The Qur’an (Oxford University Press, 2004), sura 97

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