Foundational Prayers During Laylat al-Qadr

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Ya Ali Madad. In this post, I will first present two great teachings of Noor Mowlana Murtaza Ali (a.s.) which will set the stage for submissions and supplications during Laylat al-Qadr. I will then present some important activities and resources to help each one of us to design a plan for this Holy Night.

The two foundational supplications are the recitation of angelic salwat and prayers for forgiveness. For each one of this, let us read the teachings of Noor Mowlana Murtaza Ali (a.s.):

Angelic Salwat

“Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (a.s.) said: If you have a need from Allah, the Glorified One, then begin by seeking Allah’s blessing on His Messenger, may Allah bless him and his descendants, then ask your need, because Allah is too generous to accept one (seeking His blessings on His Messenger) of the two requests made to Him while denying the other.”

Quotation No. 371, Nahjul-Balagha, Sixth U.S. Edition, Reza. 1996. p. 655.

A Lesson About How to Pray for His Forgiveness

“Lord! Forgive my sins which Thou knows better than I. Lord! If I repeat these sins please let Thy forgiveness cover them again. Lord! I have always promised myself to obey Thy commands and have always broken these promises. Forgive this weakness of mine. Lord! I have always declared that I shall come near Thee but my mind (has) opposed this; forgive this fault of my mind. Lord! Forgive the sins committed by my eyes. Forgive my vicious and sinful utterances, and forgive my inability to resist temptations.” (Ameen)

Khutba 81, Nahjul-Balagha, Second U.S. Edition, 1981. p.46.

List of Esoteric Wishes

First of all, let us raise our hands and declare our intention and supplicate for the filfillment of the following items of our esoteric wish list. Ya NOOR Mowlana Hazar Imam:

1. Bless us with faith by sending the bounty of Ruhu’l-iman (i.e., spiritual and luminous particles of the soul of faith) into our personal worlds from your Pure Soul and Eternal Light;
2. Forgive our sins, mistakes and oversights and make us staunch, obedient (farman bardari) mu’mins;
3. Keep us on the Right Path, the path illuminated by the Light of Eternal Ali;
4. Purify our souls through the blessings derived from our additional dhikr ;
5. Make us regular in our morning and evening prayers and help us live a balanced life;
6. Bless us with inspiration, strength, courage and conviction to practice luminous prayer (bandagi) at the luminous time with the luminous word (bol, ism-i azam) or the ‘Ya Ali’ bandagi;
7. Bestow the blessing of higher spiritual enlightenment; and
8. Usher us in the abode of peace (Dar-as-Salaam) and grant us eternal existence. Ameen.

Angelic Salwat Supplication

Let us now start supplicating with angelic salwat, Allâhumâ salli alâ Muhammadin wa âle Muhammad (O Allah! Bestow Peace on and through Muhammad and his Descendants) to our beloved NOOR Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini Hazar Imam for mushkil aasan for material and spiritual upliftment.

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

The recitation of angelic salwat with knowledge, understanding and ardent love leads to the purification of the soul, spiritual upliftment and enlightenment. It is one of the best ways to demonstrate ardent love to our beloved NOOR Mowlana Hazar Imam. Read about “Angelic Salwat and Conditions for Harnessing its Full Potential” (14 Questions and Answers) by downloading the following file:

Supplication for Forgiveness and our Return Journey

Let us now start supplicating with at least 33 beads of Astaghafirullahi Rabbi Wa Atubu Ilayhi (Verily, I seek the forgiveness of Allah, who is my Lord and Sustainer and I turn to Him in repentance) to our beloved NOOR Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini Hazar Imam for forgiveness, material and spiritual upliftment, and for increasing our consciousness of our return journey.

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Repentance is the mechanism to return to our Creator therefore it is appropriate to use the tasbi “Astaghafirullahi Rabbi Wa Atubu Ilayhi (Verily, I seek the forgiveness of Allah, who is my Lord and Sustainer, and I turn to Him in repentance)” to implement this Divine command.

Sincere repentance is the foundation for all our religious ceremonies because it purifies our souls, stops us from sinning, and prepares us for enlightenment. Sincere repentance is also applicable to all our actions in the material and spiritual worlds because it is tied to the whole purification process. It has to be done with conviction and persistent practice.

We must also realize that the true spirit for asking for forgiveness is the intention of not committing the same sins again. This spirit should be fully respected, therefore, one has to make a list of one’s errors, omissions and sins and take a vow of not committing these acts again. Only then the act of seeking forgiveness becomes a sincere repentance. For more details, please refer to the post titled ‘True and Sincere Repentance‘.

Seek Forgiveness Through Specific Divine Names

Our Holy Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s.) has encouraged all Muslims to recite 99 Beautiful Names of Allah. The names can also be recited as tasbis, e.g., a Beautiful Name such as ‘Al-Malik’ can be recited as ‘Ya Malik’ in a tasbi form. There are four Divine names of Allah pertain to the topic of forgiveness. These are: Al-Ghaffaar (The Great forgiver), Al-Ghafuur (The Great Forgiver), Al-Tawwab (The Ever-Acceptor of Repentance) and Al-‘Afuw (The Supreme Pardoner). The four tasbis from these Divine Names are Ya Ghafuur, Ya Ghaffar, Ya Tawwab, and Ya Afuw .

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

it is well known that God Himself has established various means by which He is to be approached, as described in the following ayat: ‘seek unto Him a means of recourse (wasila)‘ (5:35). In the Ismaili Tariqah, the centrality of the present and living Imam is of paramount importance. In the firman made on December 13, 1964 in Karachi, Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam said that ‘his Noor has indicated to you where and in which direction you must turn, so as to obtain spiritual and material satisfaction’. I have taken this firman to my heart and am now doing dhikrs which call on the Noor directly because in my heart, Noor Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini (a.s.) is the pillar of Light and is represented by the words ‘Noore Karim’ in the dhikrs. I firmly hold on to this luminous pillar in my dhikr of the four tasbis for forgiveness from the 99 Beautiful Names .

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Dhikr of Ninety-Nine Divine Names

Divine Remembrance (dhikr) heals the soul and brings enlightenment. Our Holy Prophet (s.a.s) has taught us to recite the 99 Divine Names of God. Each Divine name has its own luminosity, power, blessing and tayid (spiritual help) for believers. Therefore, it is important to recite tasbis derived from some or all of the 99 Divine Names.

The following resources have been developed for the recitation of the 99 Divine Names and derived tasbis::

List of Divine Names and Derived Prayers with a brief explanation of each Divine Name:

List of Divine Names and Derived Prayers. This document does not have a brief explanation of each Divine Name. It is specifically designed to be carried in a purse or a jacket pocket. In this way, you have a list of these tasbis wherever you go.

The best way to recite silent dhikr is to say the tasbi with your internal tongue, listen to what you are saying with your internal ear and focus your internal eye on your forehead.

Perform Dhikr Tasbis for the Satisfaction of Heart

The single remedy for every kind of false fear, every kind of perplexity, inferiority complex, worldly greed, embarrassment, torment of bad or disturbing thoughts, sadness, restlessness, disappointment, unwanted anger, indignity, slip of tongue, lack of courage, malice, pride, vanity, ignorance, negligence, laziness, meanness, uneasiness, oblivion, obtuseness, mental confusion and other such ethical and spiritual diseases, is the satisfaction of heart which is attained from the blessings of Divine remembrance as is said in verse (13:28): “Verily in the remembrance of God do the hearts find satisfaction (gradually).” It should be remembered that, from the remembrance of God, the hearts find satisfaction gradually. Since the hearts are in different ranks, therefore, from the beginning to the end, the satisfaction depends on the knowledge and good deeds of each individual.

Spiritual Healing, p. 11

Below is a link to a collection of 36 Dhikr tasbis. This collection is in mp3 format and can be downloaded to your device. After this, you do not need a live internet connection to listen to these tracks. You can even make a play list on your device and listen to the tracks of your choice.

Perform Bandagi for Higher Spiritual Enlightenment

During Laylat al-Qadr, in the small watches of night just before dawn, bandagi (meditation) is performed followed by morning prayers. e are some insights into the practice of bandagi:

1. In order to understand the Holy Qur’an, it is first necessary to study it externally. However, in order to understand the wisdom of the Holy Qur’an, the only door is bandagi. There is no other short cut.
   
2. An assessment of what can be learned with ism-i azam is given in the first few ayats of Surah ‘Alaq: The Clot (Surah No. 96):
   
   “Proclaim! (or read!) in the name (ism-i azam) of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created -Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful, He Who taught (the use of) the pen, Taught man that which he knew not.”
    
3. The Holy Imam, the Lord of present (zaman) and eternal time (asr), guides his followers and illuminates their path of enlightenment. The grace of Ism-i Azam is given to those who are searching for special knowledge through regular practice of bandagi.
   
4. The fundamental message for this Laylat al-Qadr is to make a commitment to perform bandagi regularly. In this way, after significant spiritual progress, every night becomes a Laylat al-Qadr. Then the blessed mumin, through the power of bandagi, tirelessly serves the Imam of the time and meets his expectations.

Ardent Prayers

May our beloved NOOR Mowlana Hazar Imam, through the knowledge and barakat of the Holy Qur'an, Holy Ginans & Qasidas, Ayatul Kursi and Angelic Salwat, grant the global Jamat luminous (noorani) and spiritual (ruhani) tayid (help) to advance materially, spiritually and intellectually. May Mowla bestow Sunshine in our hearts, light in our foreheads, and the inner vision of the Truth in our intellects. Ameen.

May Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam fill our spiritual hearts with his NOOR and nothing else, and empower us to overcome fear, anxiety and uncertainty as we pass through this calamity! Ameen.

May the Almighty Creator help the whole humanity because we are all created from a Single Soul! Ameen.

Rakh Mowla je Noor te Yaqeen (Certainly, we trust in Mowla's Light only)

Haizinda — Qayampaya
(Our Present Imam is Living and His NOOR is Eternal)