The last ten nights
Aisha (RA) said the Prophet ﷺ tightened his waist-belt in the last ten of Ramadan. What that means, and what to do with these nights.
Outline
- 1
He tightened his waist-belt
Aisha (RA) reported: 'When the last ten of Ramadan began, the Prophet ﷺ tightened his waist-belt, stayed up the night in prayer, and woke his family' (Bukhari 2024). The waist-belt is a phrase for setting aside other preoccupations to focus on worship.
- 2
Laylat al-Qadr
Better than a thousand months. It falls on an odd night in the last ten, the 27th has the strongest support in the narrations, but the Prophet ﷺ told us to seek it across all odd nights (Bukhari 2017).
- 3
The dua of the night
Aisha (RA) asked the Prophet ﷺ what to say if she found the night. He said: Allahumma innaka 'afuwwun tuhibbu al-'afwa fa'fu 'anni, O Allah, You are the One who pardons, You love to pardon, so pardon me (Tirmidhi 3513, sahih).
Closing line
Allahumma innaka 'afuwwun karim, tuhibbu al-'afwa fa'fu 'anni.
Ammar ibn Yasir (RA) reported that the Prophet ﷺ called a man's long prayer and short khutbah a sign of his understanding (Sahih Muslim 869). Aim for fifteen to twenty minutes. Two sections separated by a brief sitting is the Sunnah pattern.