Reaping the benefits of Ramadan

TIPS

Think ahead - What are your goals and what should you do to prepare yourself? - If you don't prepare, before you know it Ramadan will be over and sometimes you may find that you did not do as much as you had liked.

The following are just examples and they should be modified according to the person’s abilities and circumstances.

Here are some examples:
1) Finishing the Qur’an at least once.
2) Start Riyaad us-Saaliheen with your family, or start teaching your family from Kitaab at-Tawheed or other beneficial books.
3) Fix that which is between you and your sister.
4) Start praying Tahajjud regularly in Ramadhaan and continue after Ramadhaan.
5) Memorize some dua’s from the Sunnah which you can continue saying even after Ramadhaan.
6) Memorize some surahs and revise the ones you have already learn't (also reading the tafseer so you may have better understanding).
7) Give as much charity as possible.
8) Learn a Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW) and practice it.

It is useful for each person to make a daily planner for Ramadhaan.
- When you are going to read Qur’an
- When you are going to learn something with the family
- The person who is at work can tell his co-workers that this is the month of Ramadhaan, so please do not curse around me. Do not make too many jokes around me. Do not listen to music at your desks when I am around, etc.
- Then when he/she is coming back home, similarly, he/she listens to the Qur’aan or listens to some beneficial lectures to use that time wisely in Ramadhaan. (Note: Even though, this should be done outside of Ramadhaan as well because free time is a blessing from Allah. It should be used for the worship of Allah or in doing actions which will increase us in knowledge of the religion and help us to do righteous actions.)
- At iftaar time, the parents can ask their kids to bring over their friends for iftaar. This will achieve several things.
1) You will gain the reward of providing food for the ones who are fasting
2) The parents will be able to know who your kids keep company with (i.e. who are their friends)
3) It can be said to the kids, “Let’s sit together since this is the month of Ramadhaan and read a book on fasting or any other beneficial book, or some ahaadiths”
This will motivate the kids to take this idea to their parents so they can implement it in their households as well. This will earn the parents the reward of helping others onto something good and earn a copy of their good deeds without their deeds being diminished in any way.
- One day, the wife can bring over the sisters for iftaar and encourage them to read from a book instead of talking about whatever the sisters talk about normally.
- Then comes time for taraweeh. If the family is accustomed to praying taraweeh at home, then they take the initiative to go and pray in the masjid. And its important to take the whole family to the masjid so everyone realizes that this is the month of Ramadhaan where we have to do extra worship to get closer to Allah and one of those extra acts of worship is praying Taraweeh.
It is important to note here that many Muslims don’t understand that worship falls into different categories. For example, there are those acts of worship which are obligatory, such as praying 5 times a day and then those which are recommended (i.e. Sunnah in the fiqh sense of the word) such as Taraweeh.
Its particularly sad to see that many of the Muslims neglect the obligatory duties such as praying in congregation for the men but they feel like they have fallen short if they don’t pray taraweeh in the month of Ramadhaan. Even though its good to see that the Muslims have zeal in the month of Ramadhaan to pray taraweeh, we need to understand that praying in congregation for the men inside and outside the month of Ramadhaan is more important and has a greater reward than praying Taraweeh. And Allah Knows Best.
- Then after Taraweeh, you come home and this is the time now when you need to work on our personal connection with Allah.
Think, o Slave of Allah, of the many blessings that Allah has bestowed upon you.
Has He not guided you to the Sunnah and has made your feet firm upon it?
Has He not chosen for you Islaam, out of so many people who are still wandering in the darkness of disbelief?
Why did Allah choose you? When in fact, He is in no need of your worship. So remind yourself that this guidance is a blessing from Allah and its a gift that He bestows upon whomever He wills.
Remind yourself that Allah has chosen for you the path of knowledge, such that He has placed the love of following the Qur’aan and the Sunnah according to the way of the Sahabah in your heart. Is this not a blessing from your Lord upon you?
Remind yourself that it could be that He wishes for the path of Jannah to become easy for you so He has made the path of knowledge open for you.
Remind yourself of all the blessings that He has given you in terms of good health.
- Then you should get some rest so that it becomes easy for you to wake up for Tahajjud inshaAllah later on in the night.
- Make lots of dua'a . Allah gives without any measures. Keep in mind the hadith of the Messenger of Allah sallalahu ‘alayhe wasallam:
It was relayed on the authority of Abu Dhar al-Ghifari, radiyallahu ‘anhu, that the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wasallam, said, of what he related from his Lord, magnified and exhalted be He, Who said:
O My servants, even if the first amongst you and the last amongst you and the whole human race of yours and that of Jinns gather together on a sector of land and all ask of Me and if I were to give everyone of them what they asked, that will not in any way decrease what I have anymore than a needle decreases what is in the ocean when it is put into it. (Taken from Nawawi Hadith 24)
- Make sure your Day in Ramadhaan is not Like the Day when you are Not Fasting.

Aside from that, there are many small and easy things which all of us can do to get more rewards in the month of Ramadhaan. Here are a few:

- Buy a few pack of water bottles and put them in the masjid so the people can have water to drink during Taraweeh
- Sponsor an iftaar at the masjid for the people
- Help out in setting up the iftaar in the masjid
- Come early and clean the masjid so the people come to a masjid which looks very clean
- Buy some air freshners or incense to be used in the masjid during Taraweeh
- Give rides to those who don’t have a means of transportation to the masjid for Taraweeh

There are many easy things that each one of us can do which we have the capability of doing in the month of Ramadhaan to achieve more good deeds for the sake of Allah alone.