—which shows that knowing its precise date and pinpointing it holds no benefit for us. Laylat al-Qadr, however, is a different matter, for Allah has informed us that it lies in Ramadan. He, the Exalted, says, “The month of Ramadan in which the Qur’an was sent down” (al-Baqarah 2:185), and He also says, “Indeed, We sent it down on the Night of Decree” (al-Qadr 97:1). These two verses together prove that Laylat al-Qadr occurs in Ramadan. Although it is not confined to one specific night of the month, the stronger opinion is that it falls within the last ten nights, and—according to Imām Aḥmad and a number of other scholars—the night most emphatically stressed is the twenty-seventh. Scholars hold various views and employ differing methods in searching for it, yet it is unquestionably in Ramadan. Hence, whoever fasts the entire month and stands in prayer on whatever nights he is able has without doubt lived through Laylat al-Qadr. Likewise, anyone who is granted to witness it will earn reward in proportion to his intention, his diligence, and the divine enablement granted to him.

Laylat al-Qadr therefore possesses a distinctive merit: we have been instructed to exert ourselves on that night in worship, supplication, remembrance, and in seeking it out. Laylat al-Isrāʾ, by contrast, was never meant to be searched for, nor to be singled out with any act of devotion. This clarifies that those who mark the night of the Isrāʾ and Miʿrāj with celebrations are innovators; they have introduced into the religion what neither Allah nor His Messenger ﷺ legislated. The Prophet ﷺ did not commemorate that night each year saying, “This is the night of the Isrāʾ and Miʿrāj,” as these deluded innovators do—people who have turned their religion into hollow rituals and baseless anniversaries, abandoning the sunnahs and the established rulings of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. This point must be made clear to the people: Allah has legislated that we strive during Laylat al-Qadr, seek it out, and draw near to Him every year, whereas He did not legislate that we look for the night of the Isrāʾ and Miʿrāj or devote anything particular to it. Moreover, that night has not even been clearly identified in