the twenty-seventh night for Umrah is an innovation, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not single it out by performing Umrah himself, nor did he single it out—that is, the twenty-seventh night—for Umrah in anything he said. He did not perform Umrah on the twenty-seventh night of Ramadan, even though, in the year of the Conquest, he was in Mecca on that night and did not perform Umrah. Nor did he tell the Muslim community to seek the twenty-seventh night by performing Umrah. Rather, he instructed us to seek it by standing in prayer that night, not by performing Umrah. This makes the error of many people clear. It also shows that people may simply inherit their religious practices from one generation to the next without any basis in Islamic law. Take care, therefore, to worship Allah only with clear knowledge, based on evidence from the Book of Allah, the sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), or the practice of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, whose sunnah we have been commanded to follow.
This noble surah mentions several virtues of the Night of Decree:
The first virtue is that Allah revealed the Quran during it, through which humanity receives guidance and attains happiness in this world and the Hereafter.
The second virtue is the grandeur and exalted status conveyed by the rhetorical question in His words: “And what will make you realize what the Night of Decree is?”
The third virtue is that it is better than a thousand months.
The fourth virtue is that the angels descend during it, and they descend only with goodness, blessing, and mercy.
The fifth virtue is that it is a night of peace, for there is abundant safety during it from punishment and torment because of the acts of obedience to Allah, Glorious and Exalted, that His servant performs.
The sixth virtue is that Allah revealed an entire surah concerning its merit, which will continue to be recited until the Day of Resurrection.
Among the virtues of the Night of Decree is what is authentically established in the two Sahih collections in the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever spends the Night of Decree in prayer, out of faith