Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn (رحمه الله) said:¹

Indeed, many of the general folk think that Laylah al-Qadr [i.e.the Night of Decree] is on the fifteenth of Shaʿbān, and what will occur in the upcoming year is written in it; however, it is known that Laylah al-Qadr is in Ramaḍān. The proof for that is His statement:

إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ ﴿١﴾
‘Verily, We have sent it [this Qurʾān] down in the night of al-Qadr [Decree],’
[al-Qadr, 97:1]

And His statement:

حم ﴿١﴾ وَالْكِتَابِ الْمُبِينِ ﴿٢﴾ إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةٍ مُّبَارَكَةٍ ۚ إِنَّا كُنَّا مُنذِرِينَ ﴿٣﴾ فِيهَا يُفْرَقُ كُلُّ أَمْرٍ حَكِيمٍ ﴿٤﴾

‘Ḥā-Mīm. By the manifest Book [this Qur’ān] that makes things clear, We sent it [this Qur’ān] down on a blessed night. Verily, We are ever warning [mankind that Our torment will reach those who disbelieve in Our oneness of lordship and worship]. Therein [that night] is decreed every matter of ordainments.’
[al-Dukhān, 44:1-4]

Therefore, this is explicit in stating that the Qurʾān was revealed on the Night of al-Qadr, in which every matter is decreed and ordained. He then said:

شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِّنَ الْهُدَى وَالْفُرْقَانِ ﴿١٨٥﴾

‘The month of Ramaḍān in which the Qurʾān was revealed, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion [between right and wrong].’
[Sūrah al-Baqarah, 2:185]

This clearly states that Laylah al-Qadr is in Ramaḍān; rather, it is in the last ten days of it.

 
Translator’s note:

The logic behind the conclusion that Laylah al-Qadr is in Ramaḍān requires some clarification and it is as follows: Allāh, The Most High, mentioned explicitly that the Qurʾān was revealed on Laylah al-Qadr; for example, He said:

إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ ﴿١﴾

‘Verily, We have sent it [this Qurʾān] down in the night of al-Qadr [Decree].’
[Sūrah al-Qadr, 97:1]

He also mentioned that it was revealed in the month of Ramaḍān, when He said:

شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِّنَ الْهُدَى وَالْفُرْقَانِ ﴿١٨٥﴾

‘The month of Ramaḍān in which the Qurʾān was revealed, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion [between right and wrong].’
[Sūrah al-Baqarah, 2:185]

Therefore, when He, The Most High, explicitly mentioned in one place that His Book was revealed on Laylah al-Qadr, and in another place, that it was revealed in the month of Ramaḍān, it was safe to concluded that Laylah al-Qadr is in Ramaḍān, since the only way that it could have been revealed both on Laylah al-Qadr and in the month of Ramaḍān, was if Laylah al-Qadr was in Ramaḍān.

Without a doubt, this conclusion is sound, since it is supported by many Aḥādīth, from them is the Prophet’s statement (ﷺ): “Search for Laylah al-Qadr in the last ten days of Ramaḍān.” (Reported by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.)

Endnotes:

1. Majmūʿ Fatāwá wā Rasāʾil al-ʿUthaymīn, vol. 7, pg. 280.

Translated by: Abū Wāʾil Musa Shaleem