By: Shah S.
Ramadan is the most awaited month in Islam. We feel excited knowing that Ramadan will come again this year. But… what are the reason behind this feeling? What makes us feel excited to celebrate and embrace this month?
Ramadan is a month full of blessings and rewards. However, we should not only focus on calculating the rewards by forgetting the main purpose of good deeds that we do, which is to please Allah. We need to keep asking ourselves ‘WHY?’
Why we fast? Why we read Al-Quran? Why we wake up for Sahor and perform night prayer? Why we give charity? Why we study and work even though we feel tired and hungry for not eating for 8-10 hours a day?
These questions will help us to renew our intention in anything that we do. It will also help us to crystallize our vision for Ramadan.
Allah S.W.T mentions in Surah Al-Baqarah verse 183:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
(O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous -taqwa-). Ustaz Hasrizal in his book, Reviving the Spirit of Ramadan explained that this verse tells us fasting is a process that will result in someone be a righteous person -taqwa- is a complex journey. The word (لعل) in this verse suggests ‘perhaps’, implying that not everyone will achieve taqwa at the end of Ramadan.
Taqwa teaches us about having good self-control and stepping cautiously with iman in life by saying NO to our desires. Ramadan reaches us by providing fasting as training in abstaining to be righteous people. The fast of Ramadan is not just about refraining ourselves from eating and drinking but, it is a process that trains us to control ourselves and, to learn appropriate attitudes.
Anyone who decided to be indifferent about Ramadan shows that he or she does not want anything that Allah has to offer. Dr. Yasir Qadhi said in one of his lectures: “We need to revive the spirit of Ramadan by shackling all laziness. It needs a great effort to make this Ramadan the best Ramadan in our whole life”.
We need to try to withdraw ourselves from bad habits and beware of things that can make us waste our precious time. Take this Ramadan as your chance to be a righteous person by planning your day wisely throughout Ramadan so, that we can extract all the benefits and blessings of Ramadan.
We all have the potential to make this Ramadan the best in our whole life and we are the one who decides to make this Ramadan the best or worse than before. Plan your Ramadan from now.
Here are some tips for you on how to make this Ramadan the best:
1. Manage your time wisely.
If you let Ramadan pass without a plan, you will fail to grab all opportunities and blessings that Allah gives throughout this month. Make a proper plan on how you will start and end your day, and what you want to do throughout the day. List your goals for Ramadan, make a timeline for each goal and separate your time between work and study with ibadah. Decide estimated time you want to spend on each activity as it will help you to be productive all day. Be sincere in everything you do, and may Allah ease our way.
2. Read Al-Quran and use your free time to read it.
Al-Quran plays a central role in our life and Ramadan is a month of Al-Quran. Let us create a close relationship with Al-Quran by reading, understanding the contents, and applying its principles in our life. Set your goal and make it realistic.
3. Plan a healthy meal throughout Ramadan; Sahor and Iftar.
Eat healthily, exercise at night cut, back on the quantity of food, do not overeat, and splurge all night. Be attentive to yourselves, maintain or reduce your weight. Take care of your body as your body has rights on you. Try this! You will feel spiritually and physically better which will help you to worship in a better manner.
4. Ultimate Qiyam (perform night prayers)
Choose the dua that you want to recite, choose the surah that you want to recite, Qiyam in intimate and sets a privacy moment and space with Allah so, that it will develop humility and sincerity in your Qiyam. Wake up 2 or 1 hour before Sahor to begin your day with a conversation with Allah. May you discover the sweetness and gain Allah’s mercy and forgiveness. Remember, Ramadan is a month to create a relationship with Allah!
5. Be good to your family.
Spend time with your family members. Sit together, read Al-Quran together, read few pages or a chapter from any religious book, and try to inculcate Islamic values in your family. Spending the precious time of Ramadan with your family will be a nostalgic moment for you to create a closer kinship. Take part in doing the house chores by helping your mother, your wife, or your sister. Make them work less in doing the house chores this Ramadan.
6. Give food to others.
Do charity by treating others for iftar. Find those who are underprivileged from all over the world and sponsor their iftar. With technology around us, it is much easier for us to find them.
7. Makes dua to Allah.
List the dua that you want to ask from Allah. Makes dua during the time which Allah will not refuse. Be it in the morning when you are having your Sahor, or in the evening while waiting for Maghrib to break your fast, or in the night before you go to bed and on the last third of the night when you wake up for Qiyam.
Raise your hand to Allah, sincerely asking for His forgiveness, His guidance, and His blessings. Ask Allah to increase you in knowledge, to save you from haram things, and all the things that you want to achieve in this world, even the smallest thing. Makes dua for yourselves, for your parents, for your family, for your friends, for your teachers, for your neighbors, and all Muslims.
Read this dua every day and every time,
اﻟﻠﻬُﻢَّ ﺇِﻧَّﻚَ ﻋَﻔُﻮٌّ ﺗُﺤِﺐُّ اﻟْﻌَﻔْﻮَ ﻓَﺎﻋْﻒُ ﻋَﻨِّﻲْ
Umm al-Mu'minin, the mother of the believers `Aisha [may Allah be pleased with her] was asked what the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ supplicated during the last ten days of Ramadan.
She replied:
اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي
(Allahumma innaka `Afuwwun TuHibbul `Afwa Fa`fu `Annii)
'O Allah, you are the Forgiver, you love to forgive, so forgive me.
[Musnad Ahmad, Sunan ibn Majah and at-Tirmidhi]
May this Ramadan be the best Ramadan for us and may Allah accept our good deeds and grant us Jannah... Ameen...
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