Quick answer: Laylat al-Qadr, the Night of Power, is described in the Quran as better than 1,000 months. It falls within the last ten nights of Ramadan, most commonly sought on one of the odd nights, with the 27th widely observed, though the Quran doesn’t specify the exact date.
Laylat al-Qadr (لَیْلَة الْقَدْر، also called Shab-e-Qadr in Urdu) is the night the Quran began to be revealed to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. An entire chapter, Surah Al-Qadr, is named after it and describes its extraordinary status directly.
Surah Al-Qadr states plainly that this single night carries more worth than a thousand months, roughly 83 years, of worship. Angels and the Spirit (Jibreel) are described as descending during it, and the night is described as peace until the break of dawn.
The Quran and hadith don’t specify an exact date. What hadith does establish is that it falls within the last ten nights of Ramadan, with a specific hadith directing attention toward the odd-numbered nights within that window: the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th, and 29th. The 27th night is the most widely observed across many communities, including much of Pakistan, though this reflects common practice rather than a definitively confirmed date.
Scholars generally understand the ambiguity as deliberate, encouraging sincere worship across the entire last ten nights rather than concentrated effort on a single assumed date. This is part of why the Prophet ﷺ is described as increasing his worship noticeably during this specific window, beyond his practice during the rest of Ramadan.
Aisha (RA) asked the Prophet ﷺ what to say if she realized she was experiencing Laylat al-Qadr. He taught her this dua:
اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي
Transliteration: Allahumma innaka Afuwwun tuhibbul-afwa fa’fu anni
Meaning: O Allah, You are Most Forgiving, and You love forgiveness, so forgive me.
This short, specific dua is considered one of the most valuable things to recite during these nights, tying directly into the forgiveness and mercy the night is associated with.
Hadith mentions certain signs, such as a particularly calm and mild morning following the night, though scholars generally caution against fixating on trying to identify the exact night through signs rather than simply maximizing worship across the entire last ten-night window.
No. Sincere worship throughout the last ten nights allows a person to reasonably hope they’ve caught it, without needing certainty about the specific date.
It’s the most commonly observed and widely held view in many communities, but it isn’t confirmed with certainty in the Quran or authentic hadith as the definite, fixed date every year.
Yes. While prayer and fasting have specific rulings during this time, dhikr, dua, and reflection remain fully accessible acts of worship, and the reward tied to sincere seeking isn’t limited only to formal prayer.
A single night worth more than 83 years of ordinary worship, deliberately left unspecified so that the entire last ten nights of Ramadan are approached with genuine effort rather than a single guessed date. That uncertainty is the point, not an oversight.
See our related pieces on Ramadan fasting and Taraweeh, and check your local Namaz Times.