French Muslims Mark Laylat Al-Qadr

Asalaamu alaikum and Ramadan Mubarak:
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French Muslims Mark Laylat Al-Qadr

By  Hadi Yahmid, IOL Correspondent


French Muslims pray devoutly at Omar Ibn Al-Khattab mosque.
PARIS � In an awe-aspiring scene, thousands of Muslims huddled together at Paris mosques praying devoutly and supplicating heartily on Laylat Al-Qadr, the most virtuous night which Muslims worldwide observed on Monday, October 8, the 26th day of Ramadan.

"We spent the night praying and supplicating to God," Anis, 30, old IslamOnline.net.

"It is not like other nights," he added energetically.

"The heavens are open to prayers than on other nights."

Laylat Al-Qadr (the night of the power) is the most virtuous night in the whole year for Muslims as the first verses of Qur'an were revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

It falls on the last ten days of Ramadan and is better than a thousand months.

Several Muslim scholars believe it is the 27th night of Ramadan as mentioned in the Prophetic hadiths.

It is customary for Muslims during the last ten days of Ramadan to spend most of the day studying the Qur'an and perform i`tikaf (spiritual retreat in mosques).

The good deeds of the faithful in Laylat Al-Qadr are highly rewarded.

"It crowns our celebration of Ramadan," said Rauf, 23, holding a French translation of the meaning of the Qur'an.

"It is another `Eid before `Eid Al-Fitr."

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The Villepinte Mosque in northern Paris was bursting at the seams with worshipers, many of whom had to pray in the open.

"It is a phenomenon that mosques nowadays are teeming with young Muslims," Sheikh Fargani Dakhman, the mosque's imam, told IOL.

"They come here to pray devoutly, hoping that God would accept their prayers, supplication and supererogatory acts."

He said many worshipers prayed late into the night.

"They performed late night prayers until Fajr (dawn), read the Qur'an and mentioned God a lot," added Dakhman.

Other mosques were also complete on Laylat Al-Qadr like Al-Fath Mosque in Paris's 18th district and Khaled Ibn Al-Walid Mosque with latecomers having to pray in the streets under electricity pylons.

French Muslims' complaints of lacking stately and spacious mosques to accommodate the faithful becomes self-evident during Ramadan and `Eid when worshipers are forced to pray outside in the streets.

Muslims have only 1,500 prayer houses, most of which housed in small, modest halls, often described as "basement mosques."

France is home to some 5-6 million Muslims, the biggest Muslim minority in Europe.