By NNN-BSS,
Dhaka, Bangladesh : Thousands of Muslims on Saturday thronged Mosques and other religious places to offer special prayers in observance of the holy Lailatul Qadr, the night when the first verses of the Holy Quran were revealed to the Greatest Prophet, Hazrat Muhammad (SM).
The devout Muslims are to join milad, zikr, prayers, QuranKhwani, religious discussion in Mosques and their houses in line with the traditional practices as the night is better than 1,000 months.
This is one of the holiest and most blessed nights, which is likely to occur on one of the odd nights on the last ten days of Ramadan and most likely to be the 27th.
On this holy occasion, the Muslims also visit graveyards to seek blessings of the Almighty Allah for eternal peace of the departed souls of their near and dear ones.
Bangladesh observes the day as a national holiday with newspapers publishing special articles and the state-run Bangladesh Betar and Bangladesh Television as well as private
television channels and radios putting on air special programmes offering prayers and highlighting the significance of this holy night.
Although the literal translation of the word “Qadr” is “measure”, the day has been popularly referred to as Night of Power while it is also the anniversary of the night in which the holy Quran is believed by Muslims to have been revealed in its
entirety.
The Muslims also believe that their fate is decided on this night for the following year and hence they pray to Allah all night long mercy and salvation as well.
To the Muslims, the entire month of Ramadan is a period of spiritual training, wherein believers devote to fasting, praying, recitation from the holy Quran and offering charity.
Because of the revealed importance of this night, the Muslims strive harder in the last ten days of Ramadan since the Lailatul- Qadr could be one of the odd-numbered days in the last 10 days of this holy month.
President Professor Dr Iajuddin Ahmed and Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed issued statements greeting the countrymen and the Muslims across the world and seeking blessings of the Almighty for the peace and progress of the country on the
occasion.
“On this holy night, we seek the blessings of almighty Allah and pray for peace and progress in our life in this world and also the life thereafter,” the president said.
The chief adviser in his statement said the Holy Quran was revealed on this night to show the mankind the path of worldly and eternal emancipation.
“I pray to the Almighty Allah for the overall welfare of the country, nation and the Muslim ummah on the occasion of the Lailatul Qadr. Let this night bring for us fortune, undisrupted
peace and prosperity,” he said.