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Laylatul Raghaaib Ibadaat (Prayer)

The Night of Granting Wishes
Laylatul Raghaaib refers to the first 'Friday night' in the month of Rajab. In the Islamic calendar, the nights come before the days; therefore, when Sayyidinah Rasulullah (SalAllahu 'Alayhi wa Alihi wa Salim) referred to Laylatul Raghaaib as the first 'Friday night' of Rajab, this time period actually falls during Thursday night starting after Maghrib. Friday nights in the Islamic calendar are the nights that begin at sunset on Thursday! (Thursday night in Gregorian calendar). There are numerous benefits to performing this prayer and ibadat. Performing this prayer will erase all sins, and the dua made at the end of the prayer will be accepted inshaAllah Ameen. (Thus, the name of the night) Please refer to the hadith at the end of the document for more benefits Alhamdulillah. Ibadat for the night of the first Friday of Rajab- after Maghrib and before Isha- in the early night:

12 Rakat of prayer total- divided into 6 units of 2 rakat each. o In the each rakah after reciting Surah al- Fatiha, recite: Surah al-Qadr (Surah 97) 3 times followed by: Surah al-Ikhlaas (Surah 112) 12 times Once the 12 rakats have been completed, recite this Salawat wa Salaam (Durood Shareef) 70 times:
o o

O Allah, best blessings and Peace upon Muhammad, The Gentle Prophet, And upon his family.

Allahumma salli 'Ala Muhammadini 'n-Nabiyyi l-Ummiyyi wa 'ala aalihi wa sallim

Then go into prostration (sajdah), and say 70 times:

o o

All-Glorious, All-Holy, Lord of the Angels and of the Spirit!

Subbuuhun Qudduusun Rabbu 'l-Malaa'ikati wa 'r-Ruuh

Then raise your head, and recite 70 times:

o o

My Lord, forgive and have mercy pardon that which You well know, for You are the Mighty, the Supreme

Rabbi' ghfir wa 'rham wa tajawaz ma ta'lam fa-innaka Anta 'l-Azizu 'l-A'zam

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Then go into prostration (sajdah) and recite 70 times [this is a repeat of step 2, except when finished, stay in prostration (sajdah) for final step]:
o o

All-Glorious, All-Holy, Lord of the Angels and of the Spirit!

Subbuuhun Qudduusun Rabbu 'l-Malaa'ikati wa 'r-Ruuh

Finally, while still in prostration (sajdah), ask Allah (Exalted is He) for your personal request, for that request will surely be fulfilled inshaAllah Ameen!

The Day of Laylatul Raghaaib (the day of Friday, the morning after Thursday night) between the time of Dhuhr (Jummah) and Asr, do the following ibadat (worship):

Pray 4 rakat Nafl prayer as one unit of 4 rakat. In each rakah after reciting surah al-Fatiha, recite: o Ayatul Kursi 7 times o Surah Ikhlaas 5 times After ending this prayer with the salaam, recite the following 25 times:
o o

La hawla wa laa quw-wata illaa billaahil- Kabiiril-Muta'aal

Then recite the following 100 times:

Astaghfirullaahal-ladhi laa ilaaha illaa Huwal-Hayyul-Qayyuumu Ghaffaaruz-zunuubi wa Sattaarul- 'uyuubi wa 'atuubu ilayhi.

Finally, recite Holy Durood Sharif 100 times

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3 The 'ibadat outlined above for the night prayer was taken and organized from the following long hadith written in the third volume of al-Ghunya li Talibi Tariqal Haqq written by Hadrat Sultan Shaykh Syed Abul Qadir al-Jilani [al Ghawth al Azam]. This hadith is reported by Shaykh Imam Abu'l-Barakat ['Father of Blessings'] Hibatu'llah ibn al-Mubarak as-Saqati (may Allah bestow His mercy upon him), who cites good traditional authority in support of its authenticity: Sayyidinah Rasulullah (SalAllahu 'Alayhi wa Alihi wa Salim) once said: "Rajab is Allah's month, Sha'ban is my month, and Ramadan is the month of my community [Ummati]." Someone then asked him: "O Messenger of Allah, what do you mean exactly, when you say that Rajab is Allah's month?" So he explained (SalAllahu 'Alayhi wa Alihi wa Salim): "[I call it Allah's month] because it is specifically associated with forgiveness, because in it the shedding of blood is brought to a halt, because in it Allah (Exalted is He) relents towards His Prophets [anbiya], because in it He rescues His saints [awliya] from the hands of their enemies, and because anyone who fasts during this month becomes entitled to receive three things from Allah (Exalted is He). The first and second of these are forgiveness for all the sins he has previously committed, and impregnable virtue ['isma] for the remainder of his life. As for the third, he will be safe from thirst on the Day of the Greatest Review [Yawm al-'Ard al-Akbar]." At this point a feeble old man stood up and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I am physically incapable of fasting through the whole of the month," so Sayyidinah Rasulullah (SalAllahu 'Alayhi wa Alihi wa Salim) went on to say: "Fast during the first day of the month and during the day that comes in the middle of it, and also during the very last day of the month, for then you will be given the same reward as someone who has fasted throughout the whole of the month, since one good deed is equal in value to ten of the same kind." "It is most important, however, that none of you should neglect the first Friday night in Rajab [remember this is the night that begins at sunset on Thursday], for it is the night that the angels call the Night of [the Granting of] Wishes [Laylatul ar-Raghaaib]. This is because, by the time the first third of the night has elapsed, there will not be a single angel still at large in the heavens, nor in any region of the Earth bar one. They will all be gathered together in the Ka'bah and the area immediately surrounding it. Allah (Exalted is He) will condescend to notice that they have assembled there, and He will say: "My angels, ask Me for whatever you wish!" Their response to this will be: "Our Lord, the request we wish to make is that You grant forgiveness to those who faithfully keep the fast in Rajab," whereupon Allah (Exalted is He) will tell them: "That I have already done!"" Then Sayyidinah Rasulullah (SalAllahu 'Alayhi wa Alihi wa Salim) said, "No one will go unrewarded if he fasts during the daytime on Thursday, the first Thursday in Rajab, and if he then performs twelve extra cycles of salaat (prayer) during the period between sunset [Maghrib] and late evening [Isha], i.e., during the first segment ['atama] of the night of Friday. In each cycle [ra'ka] he must recite the Opening Surah of the Book [Fatihat al-Kitab] one time only, then the Surah that begins with "Behold, We sent it down on the Night of Power" [Sura 97] three times, and the Surah that begins with "Say: He is Allah, One" [Surah 112] twelve times. The twelve cycles of prayer must be divided into sets of two, with a salutation [taslima] to mark the conclusion of each pair.

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4 When he has completed this salat [prayer], he must invoke blessings upon me, by repeating seventy times: O Allah, best blessings and Peace upon Muhammad, The Gentle Prophet, And upon his family. Allahumma salli 'Ala Muhammadini 'n-Nabiyyi l-Ummiyyi wa 'ala aalihi wa sallim

He must then bow down low in an act of prostration [sajda], repeating seventy times while he is in the posture of prostration [sujuud]: All-Glorious, All-Holy, Lord of the Angels and of the Spirit! Subbuuhun Qudduusun Rabbu 'l-Malaa'ikati wa 'r-Ruuh

Then he must raise his head and repeat seventy times: My Lord, forgive and have mercy pardon that which You well know, for You are the Mighty, the Supreme Rabbi' ghfir wa 'rham wa tajawaz ma ta'lam fa-innaka Anta 'l-Azizu 'l-A'zam

Then he must bow down low for the second time and repeat the words he uttered during the first prostration [sajda]. Finally, while he is still in the posture of prostration [sujuud], he should ask Allah to grant his personal request, for that request will surely be fulfilled." Sayyidinah Rasulullah (SalAllahu 'Alayhi wa Alihi wa Salim) also said: "By Him in whose Hand is my soul [wa 'lladhi nafsi bi-yadih], I assure that no servant [of His], whether manservant ['abd] or maidservant [ama], will ever perform this particular salat [prayer] without Allah forgiving all the sins of which that individual has ever been guilty, even if they are like the flecks of foam upon the ocean, as numerous as all the grains of sand, as heavy as the mountains, and as many as the drops of rain and the leaves on all the trees. On the Day of Resurrection [Yawm alQiyama], he will be allowed to intercede on behalf of seven hundred members of his family. On the first night that worshipful servant spends in his rave, the reward for this salat [prayer] will come to visit him [in the shape of a human being], with a cheerful face and an eloquent tongue. "O my dear QadriInstitute.com|SunniAhleBaytSociety|Jilani.org

5 friend," it will say to him "rejoice in the good tidings, for I am here to tell you that you have been delivered form every severe affliction!" This will prompt the servant to exclaim: "Who are you? By Allah, I swear that I have never seen a man with a better-looking face than yours. Never have I heard a form of speech more charming than your way of speaking, and never have I smelled a fragrance more delightful than that of your perfume." So then it will tell him: "O my dear friend, I am the reward for that salat [prayer], the one you performed on whichever night it was, in whichever month it was, in whichever year it was. I have come here tonight in order to fulfill your request, to entertain you in your solitary state, and to banish your loneliness from you. Later on, when the trumpet is sounded, I shall provide you with shade to protect your head from the scorching heat on the Fields of the Resurrection ['Arasat al-Qiyama]. So rejoice in the good tidings, for you will never be deprived of the blessing that comes from your Master [Mawla]."

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