Laylatul Qadr (according to ‘Ibn Abbas)

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatu,

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم

Although we do not know exactly when Laylatul Qadr is, ‘Ibn ‘Abbas (ra) has given an opinion as to why he “thinks” Laylatul Qadr is on the 27th night of Ramadan. He has not said it is on the 27th, it is what he thinks. These opinions can be found in Tafseer Al-Kabeer of Imaam Fakhruddin Razi.

1. The word Laylatul Qadr (in Arabic) contains 9 letter and appears 3 times in surah Qadr. The product of this (3*9) gives 27. 
2. Surah Qadr contains 30 words in total and the word which gives us information about this night is “hiya (meaning it which is referring to Laylatul Qadr)” is the 27th word of the Surah
3. Umar (ra) asked Abdullah ‘ibn ‘Abbas (ra) about the timing of Laylatul Qadr. He was given the following rely: “Allah the Almighty likes odd numbers and of these, the number 7 in particular. We can see this in his creation; for example He created 7 skies, seven worlds, 7 days in a week, 7 circuits around the Ka’ba to make one Tawaf and so on.”

‘Ibn ‘Abbas’s reasoning makes a lot of sense but again, he has said that is the reason why he thinks Laylatul Qadr is on the 27th. At the end, Allah knows best.