We are now in the 9th month of the Hijri Calendar meaning that Ramadan has officially started. Within this month important historical events took place, such as the revelation of the Quran and the Battle of Badr. Besides the historical aspects of such a sacred month, it also holds great significance and importance to muslims today. Ramadan is well known for being the month in which fasting is obligatory. What is often overlooked by the term fasting is that it is not just from food and water, but also from anything that creates a barrier between us and our deen. This includes aspects such as bad behavior, habits, distractions, and anything that disconnects us from the right path. This Ramadan we should strive to shape ourselves into better people. The good we do in this month should not just be done during Ramadan, but it should be carried on with us for the rest of our lives.
Ramadan is most well known and loved for the last 10 nights. Otherwise known to be the most blessed nights especially Layalatul Qadr, but we will go more into that in a later blog. As we approach this time, we need to start asking ourselves important questions. Questions such as what habits do I want to work on building during Ramadan, or what goals do I plan on reaching during Ramadan? This is the month where it is said for the Shayateen to be locked up, meaning that there is nothing blocking our path to Allah (s.w.t). This is the time where our productivity must flourish and good habits will be built and bad habits will be broken, and inshallah it will continue to be like that for the rest of our lives.
One of the many remarkable things about Ramadan is that this is the time in which many are saved from Jahanam. To take full advantage of this month, we should strive to be of the people who are saved from a devastating fate in the akhirah. So how can we be of those people? We need to figure out what our priorities are for this special month. We need to read more Quran than we normally do during the year in order to have a stronger relationship with the book of Allah (swt). When reading it, we should also try to understand what we are reading, meaning that we should read the translation and look into tafsir and inshallah carry that on for the rest of our lives. Building a relationship with the Quran requires understanding of what is being said along with understanding why it is being said. By holding the Quran and its true depth close to our heart we now have an established understanding of Allah (swt) and inshallah that guidance we find from the Quran will carry on throughout our lives and all the Ramadans that are to come.
We need to remember that Allah (swt) is the most generous. We see this when we are rewarded during Ramadan for simple tasks such as setting up and preparing iftar and multiple other simple actions. The reward that can be gained during Ramadan is endless and we must try to do as much good as possible. No matter how simple of an action we do, there is plentiful reward and it would be a shame to miss on so much barakat due to overlooking what seems to us as the smaller things. We can do this by respecting our parents, siblings, and various family members. We must control ourselves, what we do, and what we say. Learning self control is very hard, especially when you go a long time without monitoring yourself. So during Ramadan take the time to analyze yourself and see where improvement can be made in order to become a better person.
One of the main things that cannot be stressed enough during this month is to make dua constantly. Especially for forgiveness one of the most remarkable and well known duas to make during Ramadan is “الْلَّهُمَّ اِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي” “O Allah, You are the Most forgiving, and You love to forgive, so forgive me.” This dua erases our sins, so what better time to ask such a powerful dua than the blessed month of Ramadan. We should also keep in mind and make dua for our brothers and sisters who are suffering during this time. We should keep our brothers and sisters in Palestine, Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, China, Sudan, Kashmir, and so many other places in our duas. For these people have suffered through so much for the sake of their religion and we need to remember that their pain and suffering is our pain and suffering and that we have a responsibility to speak up for those who are unable to for themselves.
There is so much more improvement that can be done, but one of the last things that will be mentioned here is prioritize your prayers. Make sure you have your fard prayers down because in the end if we do not do what is and has always been obligatory there is no meaning in fasting if we are not doing the bare minimum. So during Ramadan take the time to make Salah a habit. If you have your fard prayers down then work on having full focus during salah. We can work on this by understanding what خشوع (humility) is and how the sahabah could barely lift their heads from salah due to awe, fear, and respect of Allah (swt). If you have this quality then work on implementing more sunnah than you already do constantly, Take the time to participate in taraweeh and attempt and try to do Qiyam and pray Tahajjud. Last but not least, make sure that every action you perform is done with pure intentions. Every action we must do should be for the sake of Allah and on the Day of Judgement we will be judged for the reasoning behind our actions. So remember this Ramadan to prioritize your intentions, consistency, turning back to Allah (swt), and asking Allah (swt) for forgiveness.