A Blessed and Meaningful Ramadan Starts With Me

Alḥamdulillah… All praise and thanks are due to the Almighty Allah. May His Peace and Blessings be upon the best of His creations, Ḥabībī Muḥammad, his household, companions and all those who follow his guided path till judgement day.

The holy month that Muslims from all backgrounds and walks eagerly await is arriving – only 1 or 2 days set us apart from the special season, the special feelings and the month of forgivenss; the month of Ramaḍān!

This Ramaḍān is definitely going to be different from any other Ramaḍān that you and I have ever experienced. This is because every Ramaḍān is different from any other; each Ramadan has its own unique sets of record in the records of Allah, subḥānahū wa ta'ālā, The previous Ramaḍāns were labelled against their according years of occurrence. Therefore, this Ramaḍān is going to be labelled against the year 1431H or 2010AD or its equivalent.

Before Ramaḍān dawns, we should take advantage of the opportunities left to clean up our records as far as possible, and score higher rewards. No one can assure us that we will live till the following Ramadan; so we should not take anything for granted.

Allah subḥānahū wa ta'ālā, says in Surah Luqmān: 34:

“…No person knows what he will earn tomorrow, and no person knows in what land he will die. Verily, Allah is All-Knower, All-Aware (of things).”

It is also reported in Musnad Ahmad that the Holy Prophet ṣallā Allāhu ‘alaihi wa sallam said:

“Make good use of five before five: Your life before your death, your good health before illness, your youth age before your old age, your good riches before poverty, and your spare time before you pre-occupation.”

My beloved brothers and sisters in Islam, let us consider the following guidelines, which can make our fast during the month of Ramaḍān more meaningful, satisfying and, inshā Allah, more likely to be accepted by Allahsubḥānahū wa ta'ālā:

1. We must ensure our intention for fasting is solely for the sake of Allah subḥānahū wa ta'ālā.
2. We must fast because it is our duty to do so. Every matured, healthy and non-travelling Muslim is obliged to fast during the month of Ramaḍān; an order from Allah subḥānahū wa ta'ālā that is to be obeyed regardless of whether the positive gains such as losing weight or retrieving better digestion system are reaped.
3. Although we are living in very busy Singapore (same goes to those who live in “non-Islamic” countries), we must reserve some time for Allah subḥānahū wa ta'ālā by reading the Qur'an as many times as possible, making Dhikr/Zikr and salawāt as possible, and purifying our hearts and minds from all evil thoughts.
4. We should double the number of our jama’ah (congregational) prayers as possible, especially tarāwīḥ and tahajjud.
5. We should be able to notice some lost in our body weight at the end of the month. Therefore, there is no need for us to double the amount of food during breakfast time, although there will be only two meals daily instead of the normal three (or four, or even five for some people =D) throughout the holy month of Ramaḍān insha Allah.

Last but not the least,

Yaa Allah! Assist us in remembering You, in thanking You and in properly worshipping You…

Yaa Allah! Please bless us in the month of Ramaḍān…Help us to be able to fast it effectively… Keep us awake in it, so we can worship You… Help us to lower our gaze from forbidden sights… Protect us from falsehoo and from transgression… Yaa Rabbal ‘Alamīn…

Amīn!

Allah knows best.
Allahu Ḥāfiẓ 🙂