Lailatul Qadr

Why is Laylat-ul-Qadr the most important night of the Islamic calendar?

Laylat-ul-Qadr

(meaning the Night of Power) is the commemoration of the initiation of the final divine revelation, the Qur'an. This event, which is annually celebrated by Muslim in the odd nights of the last ten nights of Ramadan, occurred in the 40th year of the Prophet Muhammad's life, or 610 C.E. While he was meditating in the cave of Hira near Mecca, Muhammed received, through the Archangel Gabriel, the first of a series of revelations that were to continue for 23 years. The mission of the last emissary of God was thus inaugurated on

Laylat-ul-Qadr

in the month of Ramadan, which ushered in a new and final phase in human history.

In Chapter 97 of the Qur'an, titled "

al-Qadr

," it is stated that

Laylat-ul-Qadr

is grander than a thousand months. The Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said, "The month of Ramadan is a blessed month, a month in which Allah has made fasting obligatory. This month contains a night greater than a thousand months. Whosoever deprives himself of the blessings of that night truly denies himself tremendously." (An-Nisa'iee)

Many Muslims spend these nights in prayer, thanking Allah for His bounties and beseeching His forgiveness. 

(source : http://www.beliefnet.com)