Preparing for Ramadan
If life in general is a test of our Taqwah (God-consciousness), Ramadan is the annual exam…The most unique championship for Muslims. As thought-provoking as that is, how comforting is it that while the success in this world is only gauged by results, Allah judges us entirely on our efforts. With Ramadan less than three months away, any preparation we do for the month of Rahma from now on, can be vital to our Ramadan experience. ‘Life happens’, so whatever we work on consciously from now on will be crucial for healthy habit building and true facilitation for Ramadan.
As every individual, family situation and dynamics are uniquely different, what works for one cannot work for the other. Hence, we must improve and work on our Ramadan action plan based on the individual and combined needs and requirements.
When we look at the life stories of the Sahabahs, they were always in awe of each other and trying to compete with each in gaining good deeds, but only and only to raise themselves in the eyes of Allah. Practicing “Fastabiqil Khairaat” (race towards good deeds) so that not only it becomes a no brainer, but like an athlete, we actually feel the adrenaline pumping at every opportunity to do some khair, purely for the sake of Allah. So our job is to wholly and solely work on our efforts, with pure intentions. An intention to worship this Ramadan sincerely.
With that intention, here’s a list of things to consider while preparing for Ramadan:
Preparing the Mind for Ramadan
The first step to prepare for Ramadan is to prepare our mind. Closeness to Allah is all about a clutter free mind that can focus on Allah swt without much distraction. That means let the mind not wonder much about food, kids, gifts for family, friends and neighbors, the cluttered home and more.
- Make the intention to have a productive and spiritual Ramadan experience.
- Do a brain dump and list everything clogging the mind.
- Take care of long standing commitments and plan to fulfill them.
- List and plan all that needs to be done before Ramadan, during and shortly after Ramadan. Plan on doing majority of these tasks before Ramadan.
- Plan life events such as exams, house moves, family wedding, vacation, etc. taking place right after Ramadan. Plan accordingly so that you are prepared for
- these events before Ramadan starts and they don’t take time away from your worship.
- Start working on your patience.
- Do breathing exercises before every recitation and during adhkar during the day.
- Ensure you are not backbiting, slandering or talking about useless things.
- Develop a maintenance cycle of house chores.
- Practice delegating and not feeling guilty about asking for other’s help.
- Cut down social media time and slow it down.
- Take mental notes of all necessary Ramadan and Eid shopping.
- Ramadan preparation - mind, body, soul
- Preparing the Soul for Ramadan
The ruh, our soul is satisfied and fed through something that Allah specifically sent – the Quran. The food for the soul is Dhikr, the remembrance of Allah. Dhikr, reading the Quran, worshiping and the constant remembrance of Allah enriches and gives life to our soul. There is no better time to nourish and start feeding the soul than now as you prepare for of Ramadan.
- Pray Salah, on time
- Beautify your salah, with more masnoon adhkar, longer ruku, and sujood
- Learn about the fiqh of fasting through books, articles and lectures.
- Work on fixing and improving the quality of salah, recitation of the Quran, increasing dhikr and other nafl ibadah. Doing so will not only help us to enter into
- Ramadan better equipped and prepared, but also act as a pillar to hold on to in the event of any unforeseen circumstances.
- Pray all sunnah moaqqidah and other sunnah prayers
- Try to pray extra nafl after salah and/or in Tahajjud. Rasulallah Sallallaahu 'alyhi wa sallam said "Whoever stands (in the voluntary night prayer of) Ramadan out of faith and in hope of reward, his previous sins will be forgiven." (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
- Work on Recitation and review tajweed (with a teacher/friend/family member)
- Practice diligence in morning and evening adhkar.
- Practice charity with money, service or even just a smile.
- Practice restraint in speech and control the tongue, tone and voice. "If a person does not avoid false talk and false conduct during Siyam, then Allah does not care if he abstains from food and drink" (Bukhari, Muslim).
Preparing the Body for Ramadan
Ramadan brings major changes in our daily routine. If we don’t prepare beforehand, some may find it difficult to settle in and get used to fasting in the first few days. We really need to be physically fit in order to fast during Ramadan or else our body may not be able to take the sudden change. Pay close attention and work on following the sunnah of Rasulallah(pbuh) in Shabaan in preparation to Ramadan.
Usama ibn Zaid, reports that he asked Prophet Muhammad Sallallaahu 'alyhi wa sallam : "Oh Messenger of Allah, I have seen you fasting in the month of Shabaan so frequently that I have never seen you fasting in any other month.” Prophet Muhammad, replied: “That (shabaan) is a month between Rajab and Ramadan which is neglected by many people. And it is a month in which an account of the deeds (of human beings) is presented before the Lord of the universe, so, I wish that my deeds be presented at a time when I am in a state of fasting."
- Start fasting now and make up the missed fasts. Also try fasting on Ayam ul Bayd (the white days – 13th, 14th and 15th of each Islamic month) and the Sunnah fasting of every Monday and Thursday.
- Work on being energized with healthier eating habits. Eat a healthy breakfast and eliminate snacks slowly leading to the month of Ramadan.
- Get some form of physical exercise. Even if it’s only walking just 3 times a week, do it as our body is an amanah and taking care of it with gratitude in itself is a form of ibadah.
- If you are on any medication, check with your doctor and find out if you can take your doses after breaking your fast.
- Be regular with the sunnah of the bedtime. Adjust sleeping pattern to get used to the Ramadan sleep routine. Sleep immediately after Isha and wake up few minutes before fajr.
- Reduce your caffeine intake so that the lack of your morning coffee or afternoon tea doesn’t make you slugish during the first few days of Ramadan.
The above list is just a hint of suggestions to help us truly think of ourselves as Ramadan athletes, racing towards goodness, working hard on sticking to the strict regime of staying on Siraat ul Mustaqeem. Let’s us all renew and purify our intentions to commit to train rigorously and extensively to become physically, mentally and spiritually fit. To build stamina, strength, endurance and agility to maximize our Ramadan experience. Consistency in performance is the pinnacle of a well trained and well prepared athlete.
In another hadith Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The five (daily) prayers, and from one Friday prayer to the next, and from Ramadan to Ramadan are expiation for sins committed in between provided one stays away from the major sins." (Al-Bukhari)
Motivation is what gets us started and habit is what keeps us going. Let’s all commit to start early and put the best of our efforts to welcome this Ramadan prepared and continue throughout the rest of the year.
Ramadan journals at shop.withaspin.com Source: http://www.withaspin.com/2018/03/07/preprare-mind-body-soul-for-ramadan/
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Umm Umamah is a Mom of 4 with 15 + years of homeschooling experience. She is also an artist, a teacher and a blogger. She runs two blogs – Umamah Learning Academy on homeschooling and Awaken n Rise about her own self development journey. She loves to share her passion and experiences with others. She is currently working on a few books on self reflection and Islamic books for kids. She will be releasing her unique and special course on Ramadan prep with kids in April to help you all prepare in advance and be organized ahead of time inshaAllah.
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