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:: Candle Post #123 :: How to Harness Special Blessings on Laylat al-Qadr

Ya Ali Madad. Laylat al-Qadr is the twenty third night of Holy Ramadan and will start on Tuesday evening, July 30, 2013 in Canada. Ismailis will congregate and pray from dusk to dawn and an extensive program of prayers and supplications will be implemented. In this posting, I would like present additional knowledge which, I hope, will augment our activities during this bountiful night which comes only once every year.

Table of Contents:

1. Declare Intention and Supplicate for the Fulfillment of Esoteric Wishes
2. Recite Angelic Salwat Abundantly
3. Realize Our Weakness and Seek Forgiveness
4. Recite Yâ Ghafuur, Yâ Ghaffâr, Yâ Tawwâb, Yâ Afuw Tasbi
5. Recite Astaghafirullahi Rabbi Wa Atubu Ilayhi Tasbi
6. Perform Abundant Dhikr of 99 Beautiful Names of Allah
7. Perform Abundant Dhikr of Selected Beautiful Names of Allah
8. Perform Bandagi (Mediatation) and Morning Prayers Regularly
9. Links

Part 1. Declare Intention and Supplicate for the Fulfillment 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 Mowla, Ya Wali, Ya Karim, Ya Ali, 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 and help us live a balanced life;
5. Make us regular in our morning and evening prayers;
6. Bless us with inspiration, strength, courage and conviction to practice luminous prayer (bandagi) at the luminous time (small watches of the night) with the luminious word (bol, ism-i azam) or the 'Ya Ali' bandagi;
7. Bestow the blessing of higher spiritual enlightenment;
8. Usher us in the abode of peace (Dar-as-Salaam) and grant us eternal existence. Ameen.

Part 2: Recite Angelic Salwat Abundantly

The second most important activity is the recitation of angelic salwat as per the following guidance of Noor Mowlana Murtaza Ali (a.s.):

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. Click here to download a PDF document entitled "Angelic Salwat and Conditions for Harnessing its Full Potential" (14 Questions and Answers).

Let us offer gratitude to the present and living Holy Imam and recite a bouquet of salwats to strengthen our knowledge (ilm) and faith (iman). May NOOR Mowlana increase our conviction to become true Ismaili Muslims! Real Audio and mp3 sound tracks are available for your convenience.

Part 3: Realize Our Weakness and Seek Forgiveness

A question arises, what should be the third activity that we should perform to prepare for the bountiful Night of Power, i.e., Laylat al-Qadr. The answer is that we should increase the intensity of sincere repentance in all matters pertaining to religion and pay great attention to the excerpt of the Khutba of Noor Mowlana Murtaza Ali (a.s.) which is presented at the end of this section.

For example, we have to do sincere tauba (repentance) before performing Dua Karavi or taking chaanta, before starting to recite our Holy Dua or before starting bandagi or any other type of dhikr.

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 commiting these acts again. Only then the act of seeking forgiveness becomes a sincere repentance.

The second thing that we can do is to reflect and internalize the following supplication of Amir al-mu'minin, NOOR Mowlana Murtaza Ali (a.s.) from Khutba 81 of Nahjul-Balagha (page 46):

My suggestion is to read the above excerpt at least 10 times in order to fully identify one's own weaknesses so that one can develop a strategy to overcome these and become stauch, obedient mu'mins!

Part 4: Recite Yâ Ghafuur, Yâ Ghaffâr, Yâ Tawwâb, Yâ Afuw Tasbi

The fourth activity that we could perform is to recite Yâ Ghafuur, Yâ Ghaffâr, Yâ Tawwâb, and Yâ Afuw Tasbis in order to clear the path of our return journey to our Creator.

Part 5: Recite Astaghafirullahi Rabbi Wa Atubu Ilayhi Tasbi

The fifth activity is to reflect upon the concept of sincere repentance and Allah's mercy from the following ayats of the Holy Qur'an (39:53-54) and to recite the tasbi of Astaghafirullahi Rabbi Wa Atubu Ilayhi:

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

With this understanding, let us start to recite the Astaghafirullahi Rabbi Wa Atubu Ilayhi tasbi.

Part 6: Perform Abundant Dhikr of 99 Beautiful Names of Allah

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, the sixth activity is to recite tasbis derived from the 99 Divine Names.

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

1. List of Divine Names and Derived Prayers with a brief explanation of each Divine Name. Download PDF document (6 pages)
    
   
2. 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. Download PDF document (2 pages)
    
   

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.

Part 7: Perform Abundant Dhikr of Selected Beautiful Names of Allah

The seventh activity is to recite selected tasbis derived from Allah's beautiful names with humility, courage and conviction:

Part 8: Perform Bandagi (Meditation) and Morning Prayers Regularly

The eighth activity that we should perfom is bandagi, i.e., meditation, between 4 and 5 am. This will be followed by the reciatation of the morning prayers.

Here are some insights into the practice of bandagi, especially on Laitul Qadr:

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), has a spiritual army which is used to build the personal spiritual world of mumins. However, this grace is given to only those who are blessed with special knowledge, perform good deeds, have the permission through ism-i azam and practice bandagi regularly.
    
   
4. The fundamental message for this Laylat al-Qadr is to make a commitment to perform bandagi regularly. In this way every night becomes a Laylat al-Qadr. Then with the power of bandagi, we would have the strength to tirelessly serve the Imam of the time and meet his expectations.

Part 9: Links:

1. Download to the PDF version of Candle Posting 123 :: How to Harness Special Blessings on Laylat al-Qadr—The Night of Power and Majesty ::
2. Download to the PDF version of Candle Posting 122 ::
   What is the Status of Your Spiritual House? ::
3. True and Sincere Repentance :: Teaching of NOOR Mowlana Murtaza Ali (a.s.)
4. MP3 and Real Streaming Audio Files on Audio.SalmanSpiritual.com

Ardent Supplications:

Ya Ali, Ya NOOR Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini Hazar Imam, create Sunshine in our hearts, light in our foreheads, and bless us all with the inner vision of the Truth!

Ya Ali, Ya NOOR Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini Hazar Imam, grant the global Jamat luminous (noorani) and spiritual (ruhani) tayid (help) to advance materially, spiritually and intellectually. Ameen.

Rakh Mowla je Noor te Yaqeen (Certainly, we trust in Mowla's Light only),
Noorallah Juma
SalmanSpiritual.com
Monday, July 29, 2013

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Article by Dr. Noorallah Juma