When Is Laylat al-Qadr?

No question about Laylat al-Qadr is asked more often than when it falls. The sources give a precise answer and a deliberately incomplete one. They narrow the night to a span of ten, then to the odd nights within it, and they record that the Prophet ﷺ knew the exact night on one occasion and that the knowledge was withdrawn for the benefit of his community.¹

This page sets out that evidence, explains how the nights are counted, and gives the expected dates for 2027 with the caveat that moon-sighting decides the final calendar.

The last ten nights

The first narrowing places the night in the final third of Ramadan. ʿĀʾishah reported that the Prophet ﷺ spent the last ten nights in seclusion in the mosque and told his Companions to seek the night in them.² The second narrowing points to the odd nights among the ten:

تَحَرَّوْا لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ فِي الْوِتْرِ مِنَ الْعَشْرِ الأَوَاخِرِ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ

What the narrations say about particular nights

Beyond the general instruction, several authentic reports name specific nights. They are best read together, because each describes a particular year or a particular sign.

Night	Report	Source
Last ten	The Prophet ﷺ secluded himself in the mosque in the last ten nights and told his Companions to seek the night in them.	al-Bukhārī, no. 2020
Odd nights	“Seek the Night of Decree in the odd nights of the last ten of Ramadan.”	al-Bukhārī, no. 2017
The ninth, the seventh, the fifth	After the knowledge was withdrawn, the Prophet ﷺ told them to seek it on these nights.	al-Bukhārī, no. 2023
23rd	ʿAbdullāh ibn Unays reported rain on the 23rd night and the Prophet ﷺ prostrating in water and clay the next morning, the sign he had seen.	Muslim, no. 1168
27th	Ubayy ibn Kaʿb swore that it is the night preceding the 27th morning, identified by the sun rising without rays.	Muslim, no. 762a
27th	“Laylat al-Qadr is the twenty-seventh night.”	Abū Dāwūd, no. 1386 (ṣaḥīḥ, al-Albānī)

Scholars reconcile these reports in two main ways. Some hold that the night moves among the odd nights from year to year, so that each report describes the year in which it was seen. Others hold that it is fixed, most often on the 27th, citing the oath of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb and the narration of Muʿāwiyah.⁵⁶ Both views agree on the practice that follows from them: give every one of the last ten nights its due, with the odd nights foremost.

Why the exact night is hidden

ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit reported that the Prophet ﷺ came out to tell his Companions the date, found two men quarrelling, and returned to say that the knowledge had been taken away, adding that this might be better for them.⁷ The report teaches two lessons at once. Quarrelling carries a cost that can reach a whole community, and the concealment itself has a purpose: a believer who does not know the night seeks it on ten nights, and ten nights of worship are more than one.

How the nights are counted

In the Islamic calendar a day begins at sunset. The night of the 27th therefore begins on the evening that closes the 26th day of fasting and ends at dawn on the 27th day. Readers who plan by the civil calendar should look to the evening before the date they expect.

Night of Ramadan	Begins at sunset on	Ends at dawn on
21st	the 20th day of fasting	the 21st day
23rd	the 22nd day	the 23rd day
25th	the 24th day	the 25th day
27th	the 26th day	the 27th day
29th	the 28th day	the 29th day

Expected dates for Ramadan 1448 AH (2027)

Ramadan 1448 AH is expected to begin on Monday 8 February 2027 under the Umm al-Qura calendar used in Saudi Arabia; countries that rely on local sighting may begin a day later, on Tuesday 9 February 2027. On either count, the 27th night, the night of 27 Ramadan, begins at sunset on Friday 5 March 2027 or a day later, and Eid al-Fitr, 1 Shawwal 1448 AH, is expected on Tuesday 9 March 2027 or the day after.⁸ The table gives the evening on which each odd night begins under both starts. Check the announcement of your own country’s religious authority before the last ten nights begin.

Night (Hijri)	If 1 Ramadan falls on Mon 8 Feb 2027	If 1 Ramadan falls on Tue 9 Feb 2027
Night of 21 Ramadan 1448 AH	Evening of Sat 27 Feb	Evening of Sun 28 Feb
Night of 23 Ramadan 1448 AH	Evening of Mon 1 Mar	Evening of Tue 2 Mar
Night of 25 Ramadan 1448 AH	Evening of Wed 3 Mar	Evening of Thu 4 Mar
Night of 27 Ramadan 1448 AH	Evening of Fri 5 Mar	Evening of Sat 6 Mar
Night of 29 Ramadan 1448 AH	Evening of Sun 7 Mar	Evening of Mon 8 Mar

Different countries, different nights

Because Ramadan may begin on different days in different countries, the odd nights do not fall on the same calendar evening everywhere. A believer follows the Ramadan his own community observes and counts the nights from its first day. Differences of time zone do not change this: the night runs from sunset to dawn wherever one is.

Practice also differs between the main branches of Islam. Sunni Muslims most commonly observe the 27th night, while Shiʿi Muslims give particular weight to the 23rd.⁹ Both traditions treat the last ten nights as the season of search.

Is tonight Laylat al-Qadr?

No one can say with certainty on the night itself. The signs recorded in the hadith, such as the sun rising without rays, are mostly seen the following morning, so they confirm a night once it has passed. The sound course is to treat every night of the last ten as the one, and to leave the certainty to Allah. The page on the signs of Laylat al-Qadr sets out each sign with its source.

Common questions

Does Laylat al-Qadr change every year?

The reports that name different nights in different years lead many scholars to hold that it moves among the odd nights. Others hold it fixed on the 27th. Either way, the practice is the same.

What if Ramadan has only twenty-nine days?

The 29th night still occurs, because it precedes the 29th day. Only the 30th night is lost in a twenty-nine-day month.

Could the night fall outside Ramadan?

ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd once remarked that whoever prays at night throughout the year will come upon it. Ubayy ibn Kaʿb answered with an oath that the night is in Ramadan, and named the 27th.¹⁰ The Qurʾān settles the month: the Qurʾān was sent down in Ramadan, and it was sent down on the Night of Decree, so the night lies within Ramadan.

Should I stay awake only on the odd nights?

The odd nights carry the strongest indication, and a believer with limited strength may reasonably concentrate on them. The Prophet ﷺ himself gave all ten nights his effort, and whoever can follow that example gains the night wherever it falls.

Preparing before the tenth night ends

The last ten nights begin at sunset on the twentieth day of fasting, and they are easy to reach unprepared. A few decisions made in the first two thirds of Ramadan make the difference: arranging work and family commitments so that late nights are possible, learning the supplication taught for the night, choosing the chapters to recite in voluntary prayer, and setting aside what one intends to give in charity. The night planner on this site turns those decisions into a checklist for each of the ten nights.

1. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 2023. VERIFIED on sunnah.com/bukhari:2023, 25 September 2026. ↩︎
2. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 2020. VERIFIED on sunnah.com/bukhari:2020, 25 September 2026. ↩︎
3. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 2017. VERIFIED on sunnah.com/bukhari:2017, 25 September 2026. ↩︎
4. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 1168. VERIFIED on sunnah.com/muslim:1168, 25 September 2026. ↩︎
5. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 762a. VERIFIED on sunnah.com/muslim:762a, 25 September 2026. ↩︎
6. Sunan Abī Dāwūd, no. 1386, graded ṣaḥīḥ by al-Albānī. VERIFIED on sunnah.com/abudawud:1386, 25 September 2026. ↩︎
7. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 2023. VERIFIED on sunnah.com/bukhari:2023, 25 September 2026. ↩︎
8. Dates follow the Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia, as encoded in the Unicode CLDR calendar “islamic-umalqura”; they update automatically each year. ↩︎
9. “Laylat al-Qadr,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, britannica.com/topic/Laylat-al-Qadr, VERIFIED 25 September 2026. ↩︎
10. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 762a. VERIFIED on sunnah.com/muslim:762a, 25 September 2026. ↩︎