A Maldivian discovers Ramadan's Laylat Al Qadr?

Why are some Muslims so eager to uncover a secret that Allah (SWT) has chosen to be kept as confidential?

I was disturbed when I came across this meme (pictured)  yesterday attributed to a certain "Nafaa Naseem" who purportedly discovered the Muslim fasting month's Night of Power to be the night of the 26th (last night) - or as generally known to Maldivians as the eve of the 27th dubbed "27 viley rey".

It is the night when Allah first revealed Islam's holy scripture Quran to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) through the angel Jibreel.

So, what's wrong with the meme, you might ask. Well, everything.

Allah has stated that that night is a secret. He has said that that night occurs some time in Ramadan and did not give any further details. Hence, there is no room to wonder that He has revealed hints or clues as to the Night of Power.

However, against Allah's explicit declaration that the Night of Power is a secret, which could amount to challenging Allah Himself, over the centuries, overzealous and wayward Muslim scholars started trying to pinpoint the exact date of Laylat Al Qadr. Quoting Hadith, Sunnah, and even the unique weather, etc., they started narrowing down the nights - first to the last 10 days of Ramadan and then to the "odd" number days within those 10 days. And finally, they declared that it is the 26th night which is Laylat Al Qadr.

Now the meme I saw yesterday on social media quoted a person, who is allegedly a certain “Nafaa Naseem”, to have discovered the Night of Power through what I would call "arithmetic gymnastics" because the person or persons who created the meme try to pinpoint the night through alleged mathematical indicators.

I asked some of my friends what they thought of this outrageous meme and here are some of the views they expressed with regard to this matter:

1) Humans desire holy knowledge; that's why they were expelled from Paradise;

2) Humans like shortcuts, put in the least effort, and reap maximum rewards;

3) Could be simple curiosity;

4) They just feel too lazy to worship so much every night and just want to worship more only that one night;

5) May be someone wants to be that special person who finally solved such a big mystery;

6) Allah has said that no one can know what's hidden in the Al Ghaib;

7) Khidr was an exception because Allah chose to give him special knowledge; and

8) We should not obsess to know about the Al Ghaib because we might become like Shia Imams who claim to know more about the Al Ghaib than others.

You might ask what’s the point of Allah keeping secrets from his creatures. The truth is that Allah will definitely give clear answers if we are meant to know, but that, knowing the weaknesses and laziness of humans, it is not surprising that he is enticing humans to worship him by keeping the Laylat Al Qadr a secret.

If you visited a mosque last night, you would have noticed that there were many faithful attending Isha prayer, Tarawih prayer, and Witr prayer congregation in great numbers.

“But that’s it. For many Muslims, Ramadan practically ended last night. There will be no filling of mosques from now on,” one of my friends said to me during an early morning online chat today.

And if you thought that Allah meant Ramadan to be a month of doing good and refraining from doing bad, just skim through the headlines of any Maldivian news website where you will find Maldivian politicians and political activists still backbiting, bickering, and protesting in the name of their political “rights”. It’s as if they are totally unaware that this is Ramadan, the holy month of fasting and extra worship for all Muslims.