Qiyamullail in Ramadan… The Experience and the Lessons…

Alhamdulillah infinitely; all praises are due to Allah. All thanks are for Allah. All good are in the Good Hands of Allah. All affairs shall be returned to Allah. No god but Allah. We seek His Forgiveness at all time, and to Him, alone, we repent. May His Peace and Blessings be upon Habibi Muhammad, his family members, his companions, and all those who follow his guided path.

This article comes as part of living the Ramadhan spirit till the next Ramadhan. In this article, I'm going to share with you, readers of GSalam.Net, my experience in the Qiyam(s) I was honoured to enjoy, together with the Jama'ah (congregation) who selflessly joined us in Masjid Al Abdul Razak, at Jalan Ismail, Singapore.

The beginning.. Being humble at the wrong time…

It didn't take me long, nor difficult time, to accept the offer of Ustaz Amirullah to lead the Qiyam in Masjid Al Abdul Razak. It could be easier to be “humble”; by simply declining the offer and “keep low profile” at the wrong time. But I ‘quick-thought' it was wise to come forward and accept the offer. If I declined, there're many who could have come forward, but I couldn't have had any right to give negative feedback or comments, even if it's an honest one, if the person(s) were incompetent in delivering. I could better blamed myself, should that had happened by saying to myself “You declined the offer, and hence, it's [just] wise to keep your input (negative feedback and comments) to yourself.

The first two mornings of the Qiyam

Although I’ve been leading in Taraweeh prayers for 10 years or so, this was my first time to lead Qiyamullail in a mosque (since I became a Hafiz). Therefore, I thought everyone does Qiyamullail the way I do it, or the way (I thought) I know it's righteously done. I didn’t know that some of the Jama'ah expected to perform things like Solatul Hajah, or Solatul Tasabeeh and the likes, during their Qiyamullail instead of the standard Tahajjud.

So, after a brother (Zainal) announced the beginning of the Qiyam by saying, “Solatul Qiyami; Jaami’atan Rahimakumullah!” I led them in 8 Raka’ahs, two after another, followed by Shaf’ and Witr. All summed up to 11 Raka'ahs, performed in one and a half hours. The Ruku’s were obviously, longer than usual. The same thing happened to the Sujuds and all the other forms of the prayers.

The remaining mornings of the Qiyam

Just before the Qiyam of the third morning was about to start, the brother hinted to me; if I could explain to the Jama’ah what they could expect to pray. Some need to make special intentions. I was pleased to announce to the Jama'ah the following:

Dear Blessed Jama’ah,

Our Solat this morning is going to be like the usual Tahajjud, which Rasulullah s.a.w. did. It will be 8 Raka’ahs, two after another, followed by Witr (3+1). The Ruku’ and Sujud will be slightly longer than the usual Ruku’ and Sujud. In addition to the respective du’as which we recite in our Ruku’ and Sujud, one can repeatedly say the du’a which Rasulullah taught Sayyidatuna Aishah (since we were in Ramadhan) to recite in case she coincides with Lailatul-Qadr:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ العَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي

It means, “O Allah, You are Most Forgiving, You love forgiveness; so forgive me.”

I also added, “In addition to that, one can present their needs before Allah, while being in the “long” Ruku’ or Sujud.”

When I explained it that way to the congregation, the psychological pressure on them dropped, I assume. One could see how comfortable the Jama’ah became after the whole prayers was over.

So, I made it a point to repeat the same announcement every other morning, before the Qiyam started.

When it came to the Qunout, I would say to them (right from the first morning) just before the last Raka'ah (Witr), the following:

Dear Blessed Jama'ah:

The Qunout will be 10-15 minutes long. In case anyone is unable to stand for that period, due to sickness or some personal reasons, they may simply be seated, and carry on with their solat. It's permissible to do so.

Despite giving the Jama'ah this option, I remember, it was only at one time, that I saw one of the (male) Jama'ah seated during the Qunout.

Those were the experience. Keep reading to know the lessons.

The lessons

One of the many good things about Ramadhan is that, it brings along different lessons for us to learn from; and such lessons are lifetime relevant. Here, I highlight some of the lessons I've learnt from the Qiyam.

Lesson 1

Unless we explain to them, beforehand, the step by step (how-to-do) of what we are doing or going to do, some people won't understand them, automatically. They perhaps will never understand, even after seeing us doing it, or even after joining us in doing it.

So, it's important, when we lead people, be it in the mosque or outside the mosque (in religious and non-religious activities) to make it clear to the followers what we are doing.

Lesson 2

On average, the amount of attendance in the first two nights, compared to the remaining eight nights were the same, but the Jama'ah have developed, in a way or another, the feeling that, they are always in the mind of the Imam, starting from the morning I started to explain what we were doing. They had the feeling that they were treated with respect. This is although they didn't dictate what the Imam should do, as far as the entire Qiyam is concerned.

Lesson 3

The announcement I made before every Qiyam (from the 3rd morning onwards, thanks to the feedback), had helped to create a new and a better perception of Qiyamullail in the knowledgebase of some of the congregation. Every announcement on any other morning had made the Jama'ah who joined us for the first time, felt comfortable. As for the regular Jama'ah of the Qiyam, it created a re-enforcement of what they already knew, with regards to Qiyamullail.

Lesson 4

The Qunout used to be 10 minutes long (or longer). I was, honestly, concerned about the Jama'ah finding it long (and indeed, it was, based on the Singapore “context”), but apparently, I was pleased to know that (some of) the Jama'ah were looking forward to the longer Qunout. This mindset was developed, after they were psychologically prepared for longer Qunout.

Lesson 5

In return for the longer Qunout, we had a very short du'a (less than a minute) after the Qiyam was over. Usually, it “culturally” takes 10-15 minutes for the Imam to make du'a after the Qiyam or Taraweeh, whilst spending 1 minute or less in the Qunout.

Conclusion

Thanks to Ustaz Amirullah and Brother Zainal; I was able to learn more lessons from this Ramadhan. All that come additionally to the allowance I earned for volunteering in the Qiyam.

In my next article, insha Allah, we'll take a look at Qiyamullail from an authentically academic perspective. We'll also discuss its importance, how it's sometimes done, and how it should be done. We'll also, insha Allah share some related stories of ‘People of Qiyamullail”.

Until then, remember to share with us, readers of GSalam.Net, your experience of Qiyamullail, this year, in the comment area below.

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Allah knows best.

Allahu Hafiz 🙂