دار بيبليون
The Night of Destiny (Laylat al-Qadr)
between Christianity and Islam
Conference by Dr. Lwiis Saliba on Zoom 12/01/2022
The Traditions of the Epiphany
The subject I will deal with in this short talk is: “The traditions of the Epiphany” compared with those of the Night of Destiny (Qadr) among Muslims. (). The traditions of this night of Epiphany are numerous, and since I am concentrating in this research on the comparative aspect, I will present two things:
A – Epiphany (Ghtass) is a purification by water.
This feast is closely linked to water, as its name testifies: Epiphany (Ghtass) which means immersion in water, in memory of the Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the Jordan. In the past, the baptized were completely immersed in water, and on this feast, Christians immersed themselves in the waters of rivers and springs, then some people replaced this rite with a bath, or a shower, or by being sprinkled with water as a blessing.
The historian Issa Iskandar Al-Maalouf (1869-1956) says about the Lebanese and their traditions in the Epiphany: “On that night, people bathe in the water of the springs and go to bed late, opening the doors until Christ passes by and says to the people: Dayem Dayem, i.e.: Permanent Permanent”.
Christians believe that anyone who bathes, or dips in water, or wets himself, will be blessed and will prolong his life, be healed of his illness and strengthen his body. They also believe that food and other materials are also blessed by immersion, or by splashing holy water on them. Perhaps the reason for preferring fried sweets on Epiphany night is that they are fried by dipping them in oil () and then dipping them in molasses or sugar syrup, which is the case with ‘floats’.
Among the Epiphany habits passed on to non-Christians is “the custom of making fried sweets on the eve of Epiphany, as among some Druze who lived next to Christians, and this was the direct effect resulting from coexistence. Indeed, some Druze celebrated the night of 6 January as a night of destiny.
Not everyone could bathe in the waters of the rivers and springs. People used to bathe with their own waters in their houses, as we have mentioned. And they used to celebrate mass in some villages on the morning of Epiphany, going to the springs, believing that prayers at the springs would expel the elves, bless its water, cure diseases and facilitate births. Nowadays, they carry water to church in containers to bless it at a ritual festival. They bathe in it in the houses and sprinkle it in the rooms to keep insects away and prevent ‘rat sickness’ () .
The village priest goes around these houses to bless them with water. People pray by holding a few clumps of sage, dipping them in holy water and sprinkling all the rooms in the house ().
Epiphany traditions and similarities in other religions
It is useful to stop and think about this phenomenon and these “watery” habits on Epiphany. It is reminiscent of many Hindu customs. Indians bathe in rivers, especially the Ganges, to seek blessings, purification and ablutions (Anecdote of Mâ Anandamayî). On certain festivals and occasions, they believe that this river bathing purifies them from their sins and even leads to the fulfilment and liberation of Moksha. The most notable of these festivals is the Kumbha-mela. It is an astronomical day that falls once in four years. Millions of people gather at the places where the sacred Ganges meets the Yamuna and immerse themselves in it for blessings.
It must be emphasised here that Christian baptism, which means immersion, is basically a form of ablution, but it is the ablution that purifies for life. So there is no need for purification before every prayer, and it even dispenses with washing the corpse of a dead person who is baptised.
As for purification with river water, this is a tradition found in most “fluvial” or riverine civilisations, and most human civilisations were born around rivers, and the running water of rivers, which does not carry “zaghal” (impurity) (), according to the popular Lebanese expression, purifies man and fertilises the earth, hence the use of immersion water among Christians to facilitate births. It is a tradition found among the ancient Egyptians, among the Hindus of today, and in many riparian civilisations.
The Night of the Epiphany
is the Night of Destiny
And the Night of Epiphany is the night of that which is permanent (al-Dayem): the watchers wait for Christ to pass over them at midnight to say: Dayem Dayem: permanent permanent. Then they leave the doors of their houses open until Christ passes by, enters and blesses them. They pray that he will remain full of people, with doors open for guests, so they leave all the rooms open. All other containers for storing grain, oil and other types of food are opened to be blessed by Christ. The women move the supplies and shake the oil containers to increase the blessings, repeating: Dayem Dayem, as they place pieces of dough in the shape of a cross for blessing.
Christians call the Night of the Epiphany “The Night of the Decree (or Destiny)”. Maroun Abboud (1886-1962) says: “The Night of the Epiphany is a fertile night when spirits are conceived by dreams and aspirations, and when they bring forth wonders and strangenesses” ().
Christians believe that the heavens open on this night and that angels descend from them. This belief is echoed in Islam at the ‘Night of Destiny’. This is based on what the Gospel says about the baptism of Christ: “And the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove” (Matthew 3:16).
Therefore, it is a blessed night in which invocations are answered, so that adults and children turn to praying to God and making requests for themselves and their loved ones.
Maroun Abboud reports that the people of his village say, “Blessed is he who kneels on the roof [of his house] tonight [and prays] that Christ may bless him as he passes by” ().
The similarities between the Christian Night of Epiphany (Immersion: Ghtass) and the Muslim Night of Destiny are numerous, and lead us to conclude that it is not just a resemblance, but rather an interaction and influence.
The name is ‘one’: Laylat al-Qadr in Muslims and Laylat al-Taqdîr in Christians.
A night in which the angels and the spirit descend from heaven, as mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew. And the same expression has been mentioned about the Night of Decree in the Qur’an: “The angels and the Spirit descend on this Night with the permission of their Lord for every command” (97/4) ( )
Laylat al-Qadr is for Muslims the best and happiest of nights: one of their beliefs is that the requests of the believer are answered on this night. Therefore, many address their invocations to God to help them and their loved ones in business matters, and to protect them from evil, cure them of diseases and give them satisfaction in all their desires and wishes. They say about the fortunate person: “His mother prayed for him on Laylat al-Qadr*.
The beliefs of Muslims and Christians regarding the Night of Destiny and the Night of Epiphany are the same. So is the name.
In the Syriac tradition, and according to the research of the scholar Christoph Luxenberg, a specialist in Qur’anic studies, the Night of Destiny in the Qur’an is the night of celebration of the birth and baptism of Christ in Jordan. Christians celebrated both occasions in one day, as we shall see. And some interpret the verse: {We sent him down on the Night of Destiny} (Al-Qadr97/1), i.e. We sent down the Spirit, as indicated in the Gospel of Matthew (3/16), the verse mentioned above. So it is a night better than a thousand months and his invocation is answered: {What will teach you what the Night of Destiny is? The Night of Destiny is better than a thousand months. The angels and the Spirit descend therein with the permission of their Lord for every order” (97-2-4), (Blachère, Op. cit, p659)
As for the verse {it is Peace and Salvation until the dawn} (97/5). This is a reference to the Gospel verse: {Then the angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord was illuminated (…) and suddenly he appeared with the angel of the host of heaven, praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth and goodwill among men” (Luke 2/9-14).
Thus we find in the hadith of the Prophet what confirms that the Night of Destiny is the night of the birth of Jesus. Ibn Manzur (d. 711 AH) mentions in the lisân al-‘arab: “In the hadith of Aisha, she said: The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, would stay awake all night and recite Surah Al-Baqarah, Al Imran and Surah Al-Nisâ’, and would not pass a verse without invoking God”.
Ibn Shumail said: “The perfect night is the longest of the night, and every star has a downward spiral from the night until they all rise. (…) Al-‘Asma’i said: “The perfect night in winter is the longest of the night”. He also says: “The whole night will be long until all the stars rise, and that was the night of the birth of ‘Issa (Jesus)”.
Some explain that what descends on the Night of Destiny is the star that falls, and that is the star of the birth: the star that the Magi saw, and they came to prostrate before the Christ who was born, as Matthew says: “We saw his star in the east” (Matthew 2:2). ) {And when the star which they saw in the east went before them until it reached the place where the child was, it stood over him} (Matthew 2:9).
We are content to refer to this remarkable explanation in view of its direct relation to our subject, and we shall not enter into its discussion. Rather, we point out, since there is a correlation between Christ’s birth and transfiguration before the Magi, and his Baptism and Transfiguration before men, that the ancient Christians combined the two feasts of Epiphany and the Nativity on one day, i.e., in the month of January, on the 6th, and remained so until 562 A.D., when the Emperor Justinian I transferred Christmas to December 25. He celebrated the feast of Epiphany in his time, so Christians adopted it, except for some Eastern sects such as the Copts and Syriac Orthodox. Thus, the Islamic Night of Destiny is reminiscent of the Syriac Epiphany (Ghtass: Immersion), which unites the Epiphany and the Nativity.