Preparing For Ramadan

With Ramadhan approximately days away; now more than ever, it is down to us to prepare ourselves to make this Ramadhan the best Ramadhan of our lives in sha Allah. As we know, fasting is more than just abstaining from food but from indecent speech and lustful desires as well. Fasting pushes us to be cognizant of our actions, to be patient and to be moral individuals, thereby increasing our taqwa (God-consciousness). Here are five ways we can improve in different aspects of our life, so we can fully benefit from Ramadhan.

1. Start Reciting the Qur’an Daily: Get into the habit now of reciting the Qur’an daily and even take things further by reflecting on portions of the Qur’an, in order to get closer to Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala; May He be glorified and exalted) and understand your responsibilities. Schedule various acts of worship around prayer times, for example recite 2 pages of Qur’an before and after each fardh prayer which would equal to 1 juz (section) a day resulting in a completion of all 30 juz (sections) within Ramadhan.

2. Start Praying the Extra Prayers: ‘Aisha (radiAllahu ‘anha; may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ; peace be upon him) said: “Whoever is regular with twelve rak’ah of Sunnah (prayer), Allah will build a house for him in Paradise: Four rak’ah before Zuhr, two rak’ah after it, two rak’ah after Maghrib, two rak’ah after Isha, and two rak’ah before Fajr.” [Tirmidhi]

3. Follow the Sunnah: Learn more about the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ; peace be upon him) and follow him by emulating his actions. Allah (‘azza wa jal; The Possessor of Complete Glory and Majesty) says in His perfect words: “Say, (Oh Muhammad), If you should love Allah, then follow me, (so) Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” [Surah al-‘Imran 3:31]

4. Repent and Make Dua: We all make mistakes, but Alhamdulillah we can always repent. You may want to start preparing a list of duas not only for yourself, but for your loved ones, the oppressed and all our brothers and sisters around the world facing various difficulties.

5. Focus on your Character: Imam al-Ghazali (rahimahullah; may Allah have mercy on him) discusses the inner dimensions of the fast in his ‘Revival of the Religious Sciences’. He mentioned that one must learn to fast with all the limbs, from all that harms the heart. You can, for example, avoid certain television shows to keep the eyes from seeing nudity, leave particular conversations to keep the ears from hearing foul language, and control the ego to keep the tongue from argument or backbiting. The inner fast is among the most important aspects of fasting in Ramadhan and is often more difficult than the physical fast.

We should ask Allah to let us live until Ramadhan with a strong religious commitment and good physical health – and we should ask Him to help us obey Him during the month, as well as asking Him to accept our good deeds from Him. May Allah enable us all to reach Ramadhan (Allahumma ballighnaa Ramadhan) and capitalise on the virtues of this blessed month, Ameen!