The last ten nights are the part of Ramaḍān the narrations single out: the Prophet ﷺ spent them in the masjid in iʿtikāf, strove in them more than at any other time, and told his Companions to seek Laylat al-Qadr in them. This page explains what the Sabīl library says of those nights, where it comes from, and the du‘ā the library gives for the night itself. Each entry is shown from the library with the source and grade the library gives; the narrations are listed by number at the end. Questions about your own iʿtikāf are for a scholar.
The night the Qur’ān was sent down
Sūrah al-Qadr is about this night. It opens by saying that the Qur’ān was sent down on the Night of Decree, and its third verse, which the library’s cards cite, says what the night is worth:
The sūrah goes on to say that the angels and the Spirit descend on that night by their Lord’s permission, and that it is peace until the break of dawn.
“The last ten”, a card of the Ramaḍān cards
The Ramaḍān cards have one headed “The last ten”, in two parts: iʿtikāf, and Laylat al-Qadr. The library’s own checking has an open question about one of its lines on iʿtikāf, so the card is linked here and not shown. What follows describes its other lines.
Iʿtikāf
The card defines iʿtikāf as seclusion in the masjid for worship, and says that the Prophet ﷺ kept it every Ramaḍān, and for twenty days in the year he died. That is the narration of Abū Hurayrah in al-Bukhārī. ʿĀ’ishah reports that he kept it in the last ten days of Ramaḍān until he died, and that his wives kept it after him; and that while in iʿtikāf he did not enter the house except for a need. The card’s line on leaving only for necessity is in the same sense; its examples are the card’s own.
The card also gives when iʿtikāf is entered and left. Its line on fasting names the schools by letter: Ḥ and M require fasting with iʿtikāf, S and Ḥb do not. The first card of the title spells the letters out as Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī and Ḥanbalī. The card reports both positions and so does this page; which applies to you is a question for a scholar. The card has one source line for these lines: al-Bukhārī and Muslim, with the grade ṣaḥīḥ.
Laylat al-Qadr
Under its second label the card says that the night is better than a thousand months, the words of 97:3, and that it is sought in the odd nights of the last ten. Its source line gives Q 97:3, then al-Bukhārī and Muslim with the grade ṣaḥīḥ. In al-Bukhārī, ʿĀ’ishah reports the instruction to seek it in the odd nights of the last ten, and Ibn ʿAbbās reports it as the nights when nine, seven or five remain. The card adds that it is most often found on the 27th; that is the card’s own line, and this page does not add to it.
In al-Bukhārī, Abū Hurayrah reports that whoever stands in prayer on Laylat al-Qadr out of faith and in hope of reward has his previous sins forgiven.
The du‘ā for that night
Beneath the line on the night the card gives a du‘ā, calling on Allah as the One who pardons and loves to pardon, and asking for pardon. The library cites it to at-Tirmidhī and Ibn Mājah with the grade ṣaḥīḥ, and says it was taught to ʿĀ’ishah when she asked what to say if she found the night: in both books she asks the Prophet ﷺ what she should say in it, and he teaches her the du‘ā; Ibn Mājah’s wording is the card’s, and at-Tirmidhī’s has one word more. At-Tirmidhī calls his narration ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ. Of the later scholars the app’s ḥadīth dataset names, three grade each of the two narrations ṣaḥīḥ or ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ, and one, Zubayr ʿAlī Zaʾī, grades both weak.
The same du‘ā is shown, with no open question, on the Hijri Companion’s card headed “Ramaḍān” in the Pocket Companion, whose first line also names seeking Laylat al-Qadr and iʿtikāf among the things of the month.
How the Prophet ﷺ spent the last ten
The library’s Ramaḍān poster has the same du‘ā in the row “The last ten nights”, with a sentence on seeking the night in the odd nights and one on what he ﷺ would do: tighten his belt, wake his family and stay awake. ʿĀ’ishah reports this in al-Bukhārī: when the last ten began, he would tighten his waist-wrapper, pray through the night and keep his family awake. In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim she says that he strove in the last ten more than at any other time. The row’s source line gives at-Tirmidhī with the grade ṣaḥīḥ, and Q 97:3; the library’s own checking has an open question about that source line, so the row is linked and not shown.
Iʿtikāf on the poster
The poster also has a row headed “Iʿtikāf — retreat in the masjid”. It says that he ﷺ kept to the masjid for the last ten nights every year, and for twenty in the year he died, gives when one enters and leaves, says that one leaves only for necessity, and ends with a sentence on how short a retreat may be. The poster cites the row to al-Bukhārī and Muslim with the grade ṣaḥīḥ. What applies to your own iʿtikāf is a question for a scholar.
References
Verses of the Qur’ān, by sūrah and verse: 97:3, shown above; 97:1, 97:4 and 97:5, described from the sūrah, which is in the Qur’ān reader.
Narrations, by collection and number as sunnah.com numbers them: al-Bukhārī by the numbering of Fatḥ al-Bārī; Muslim by Muḥammad Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī’s numbers, with the letter sunnah.com adds where it divides one; at-Tirmidhī and Ibn Mājah by sunnah.com’s numbering. The library names the collection under each entry; the numbers are the narrations described above.
- Iʿtikāf every Ramaḍān, and twenty days in the year he died: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2044.
- Iʿtikāf in the last ten until he died, and his wives after him: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2026.
- Not entering the house in iʿtikāf except for a need: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2029.
- Seeking Laylat al-Qadr in the odd nights of the last ten: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2017; the nights when nine, seven or five remain: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2021.
- Standing in prayer on Laylat al-Qadr: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1901.
- Tightening the waist-wrapper, praying through the night and waking the family: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2024.
- Striving in the last ten more than at any other time: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1175.
- The du‘ā for the night: Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 3513 (at-Tirmidhī: ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ); Sunan Ibn Mājah 3850; one later grader calls both weak.
From the Sabīl library: the Ramaḍān cards, the card “The last ten”, linked, not quoted, and “The Month of Fasting”; the Ramaḍān poster, the row “Iʿtikāf — retreat in the masjid”, and the row “The last ten nights”, linked; the Pocket Companion, the card “Ramaḍān”, linked.
Where to go next
- The Ramaḍān screen has the month’s suḥūr and ifṭār times and the thirty-days tracker in one table. A heavier line and the words “Odd night” mark the odd nights of the last ten there. The nights are counted by the app’s calculated dates, and the screen itself notes that the day is confirmed by the sighting of the moon where you live. “The last ten” card is shown beneath the table.
- The same table has a column for the day’s portion of Qur’ān, and the khatm planner splits the muṣḥaf over the days you choose.
- The Ramaḍān cards and the Ramaḍān poster can be printed.
- The du‘ā for breaking the fast and Ramaḍān 2027 are two other pages of this set.