Assalamu alaykum and Ramadan Kareem
Suratul Qadr says that the Qur’an was sent down in one night, LaylatulQadr, while Suratul Baqarah says in Ramadan. There is no contradiction since the night is in Ramadan. However, in the Prophet’s Seerah ﷺ we learn that the Qur’an took twenty-three years to be completed. Thus, many scholars hold that what was sent down in Ramadan was the first revelation, i.e. the first five verses of Suratul ‘Alaq. But there is also the report from Ibn ‘Abbas that the entire Qur’an was sent down in Laylatul Qadr from “the Preserved Tablet” in the highest heaven to “the House of Honor” in the lowest, from where it came down in twenty-three years to the Prophet ﷺ. This is an acceptable explanation since Ibn ‘Abbas would have heard it from the Prophet ﷺ and it does not contradict the previous explanation.
Qadr means decree among other things. Ibn ‘Abbas says that the angels descend with Allah’s decrees regarding life spans, creation and sustenance for the year ahead until the next Ramadan. This gives us a glimpse into the greatness of the night. In one year we see so many changes and upheavals in human life and society. How many new births take place? How many deaths occur? How many powerful nations fall and how many weak ones rise to power? How many evil-doers have their reckoning? how many oppressed find relief? It is possible that this year the fortunes of the Ummah will change. O Allah, let it be so.
