Laylatul Qadr, also known as the Night of Decree or Power is a night when Allah showers His Mercy and Blessings on His sincere and faithful servants. It is a night, when Allah looks down at His servants in a special way. And we (the servants) are more inclined to worship Him and seek forgiveness from Him, in these last ten days as well.

Surely, We sent it down on the Night of Destiny. [97:2]

And what should make thee know what the Night of Destiny is? [97:3]

The Night of Destiny is better than a thousand months. [97:4]

Therein descend angels and the Spirit by the command of their Lord - with every matter. [97:5]

It is all peace till the rising of the dawn. [97:6]

From the above verses we are told that this night is greater than a thousand months. Although it doesn't say greater than, we know that 1000 is the highest numerical figure in Arabic, thus signifying greater than 1000 months. On this night, angels descend upon the Earth. 

This concept can be understood better through the words of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) who writes in Tafseer-e-Kabeer that [97:5] means:

"...the Angels of God descend to meet and satisfy every religious need and to remove all obstacles and impediments from the way of the expansion and spread of the new Message." [Tafseer-e-Kabeer, Page 2856]

The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said that an important point found in Surah Al-Qadr is that Laylatul Qadr could also mean that when mankind is in severe need of Allah, He responds to this need by sending a new reformer. This can be linked to the following saying of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him):

"Verily God will continue for ever to raise for this Ummat in the beginning of every century one who Will restore for it its faith." [Abu Dawud, Kitabul Fitan]

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) has also stated:

"Whosoever establishes the prayer on the night of Qadr out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah's rewards then all his past sins will be forgiven." [Bukhari]

and:

"Search for the Night of Qadr in the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadan." [Bukhari]

It is necessary for each and every believer to increase his/her worship during the last ten days of Ramadan and pray sincerely to benefit from the night of Laylatul Qadr. The reason that we are not told which night Laylatul Qadr falls on, is simply so that we worship Allah all of the ten days, rather than just the one night (Laylatul Qadr). We must also remember that we should worship Allah all through Ramadan and not only the last ten days in order to experience Laylatul Qadr.

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) would spend the last ten days striving hard in the worship of Allah with an unimaginable effort. He directed his family to do the same. This was the model he established for us, and we must strive to do the same in our homes.

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) told Hadhrat Aisha (ra) to recite the following prayer on Laylatul Qadr:

We must remember that the concentration on worship in search of Laylatul Qadr in the last ten days of Ramadan to make up for a lifetime worth of worship takes away from the objective of our creation (to worship Allah). Also, if one believes that he has experienced Laylatul Qadr, and therefore does not need to worship Allah anymore is misled. In fact, experiencing this night makes one an even more committed servant of Allah.

Allah reminds us each year in Ramadan to seek beneficence from this new day and to continue to raise our levels of spirituality. May we each engage in the sincerest worship of Allah during these last ten days of Ramadan to gain utmost blessings, Ameen!