I live near a mosque and during Ramadhan, there’s a trend.

The first 3 days: The roads are full of cars! There are absolutely NO parking spaces in the mosque and if you’re late, you will have to park by the roadside and walk quite a bit to the mosque.

The next few weeks: *cricket sound* a bit…

The last 10 days: Even MORE cars than before that I suddenly think a whole other village is living here.

But we all know why. We’re all chasing for that one night, Lailatul Qadar. I mean…you must be a pretty silly Muslim if you’re not taking advantage of this time.

Our Imam had buka puasa with my family at home and we talked about Lailatul Qadar (LQ).

The history goes like this….The umats (societies) before Prophet Muhammad’s (s.a.w) umat (i.e. us) had really long lives, we’re talking thousands of years. Whereas we’d probably be scratching our heads if we’re still around at 150 years old. Probably asking God if he forgot about us!

So clearly, we could never do as much ibadah as those other umats did as we have shorter lives. Because of that, Allah (s.w.t.) granted Prophet Muhammad’s (s.a.w.) umat this one night.

Malam Lailatul Qadar.

It is a night most sought after by Muslims that happens once only in the last 10 days of Ramadhan. We don’t know which day, all we know is it happens on an odd numbered day.

A night when Malaikat Jibrail (Allah’s Angel) comes down to Earth, watches us and reports back to God. For my non-Muslim friends, this is basically the Good/Naughty list.

On this night, the doors of heavens open and the doors of hells are closed shut. The person who gets the gift of LQ is the person who religiously prays to Allah s.w.t. and does good to others and basically does all that Islam asks of us. And whoever is the chosen one….his and her prayers are answered and their ibadah is treated to an equivalent of 83 years. And all their sins are forgiven (!!!! I WANT THAT!!!)

When someone asked Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. what to ask for, he simply said, “Only 2 things; to keep hell far away, and to enter heaven for eternity. That’s it.” And whoever gets LQ, God automatically grants the person this. You think the luckiest person is the one whose closet is full of Chanel bags?!! You’re wrong.

THE LUCKIEST PERSON IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE is the one who gets LQ.

Sounds good doesn’t it?

THAT is why people swarm into Makkah during the last 10 days. To be near the Kaabah, Allah’s house. And because the ibadah you do in Makkah is many many times better than anywhere else. THAT is why you’ll find soooooo many people cramping in the Masjidil Haram mosque. THAT is why hotel prices in Makkah during the last 10 days of Ramadhan are many times the usual and a few days trip to Makkah during this period can cost you hundreds of thousands.

The last time I went to Makkah was in 2008 and I took these pictures.

Isn’t it just beautiful?

I asked the Imam, “Is there any quota for LQ?” Hehe. Because SERIOUSLY, I’m wayyyyyyyy behind if it’s a competition. He laughed and answered no. Anyone who genuinely works for it can get it.

Mom said to me that if you get LQ, you will know it.

“If Malaikat Jibrail enters your house, you’ll feel berdebar-debar and you’ll cry”

This got me so excited!! I felt that! I wanted to cry yesterday because I was having the worst stomachache…and I did feel a bit nervous when I went downstairs in the dark to get a drink.

…they rained on my parade because apparently, that isn’t LQ. (Honestly, how do they know?! Pfttt…)

The real LQ is that something weird will happen. If you get it, you will feel something out of the ordinary. Like you feel that it’s bright even though you’re in the dark. You smell something extremely beautiful for a few seconds and then it’s gone. Your heart suddenly beats faster.

Basically, you’ll feel weird.

Don’t panic and don’t be scared. Prophet said at that special moment, just doa… not for Cameron Diaz’s legs, or a rich husband or that latest Alexa bag!! Forget all that nonsense!! At that special moment, doa for heaven to be given to you. Insyaallah. (if you have extra time, can you slot me in too?)

Of course, Mom expertly squeezed in some tudung talk since the Imam was around. The Imam just smiled.

“Actually, I’ve thought about you…,” He looked at me with the kindest eyes. “Insyaallah, it will come. But all I can say is two things… You have a wonderful mom, and you have a wonderful dad.”

He stopped at that. He didn’t say anything more.

Great!! He knows my weakest points!! My parents!

I don’t know how he did it, but I wanted to cry immediately. No one has made me feel this way. He really made me think…with only a few words.

My blog reader informed me that this post was copied and re-written by this person here. Hahahah. Hurry before she takes it down.