A lot of us yearn to prepare for Ramadan, but we have no idea how to
start. Below are a few tips to insha’Allah (Allah willing) help prepare
our minds and hearts for this upcoming Month of Mercy.
Make the Intention
Simple to do, with a powerful impact. Maybe you want to prepare for
Ramadan, but between school, work, family, and your other activities,
you just have no idea how to fit in ‘prepare for Ramadan’ time. Instead
of separating ‘prepare for Ramadan’ from your daily activities, make
your daily activities a MEANS of preparation for Ramadan.
For example, perhaps your mom asked you to pick up your brother from
school on the day you finally had time to read a few extra pages of
Qur’an. Instead of feeling upset as if you have lost a great opportunity
to prepare for Ramadan, make the intention that you are picking up your
brother to please Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala (exalted is He) and prepare
for Ramadan by obeying your mother, helping your family members,
building ties of kinship…and the list continues.
The point is that preparing for Ramadan does not have to be some
magnificent, enormous, extra-special thing that needs to be done at a
certain time of the day. Many of your daily actions can be turned into
Ramadan preparation actions with a sincere intention insha’Allah.
Do these Easy-to-Reap-Reward Actions
1. Ask Allah to forgive your brothers and sisters. “Whoever seeks
forgiveness for believing men and believing women, Allah will write for
him a good deed for each believing man and believing woman.”
[at-Tabarani, classed as hasan by al-Albani]
2. It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah radi allahu ‘anhu (may Allah be
pleased with him) said “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ [peace be upon him]
said: ‘Whoever says subhan Allah wa bi hamdih (praise and glory be to
Allah) 100 times, morning and evening, his sins will be erased even if
they are like the foam on the sea.’” [Bukhari, Muslim]
3. If a person says, “Subhan Allah (glory be to Allah),” 100 times, a
thousand good deeds are recorded for him and a thousand bad deeds are
wiped away. [Muslim 2073]
4. Remember Allah (swt) when you go shopping. “Whoever enters a
market and says: “Laa ilaha illallah wahdahu la shareeka lah, lahul
mulku wa lahul hamdu yuhyi wa yumeetu wa huwa hayyun laa yamoot, bi
yadihil khair, wa huwa ‘ala kulli shayin qadeer.” [There is nothing
worthy of worship except Allah, alone without partner, to Him belongs
dominion and praise; He causes life and death and He is the Living and
does not die; in His Hand is all the good, and He is over all things
competent], Allah will write for them a million good deeds and erase a
million bad deeds and raise him a million levels.” [at-Tirmidhi, classed
as hasan by al-Albani]
Up Your Worship
To help condition your heart for this blessed month, intensify your
worship before Ramadan begins. Just a small, consistent amount is
enough. The Prophet ﷺ told us: “The deeds most loved by Allah are those
done regularly, even if they are small.” (Bukhari, Muslim)
For example, say I always pray 2 rak’at (units )of sunnah (compulsory
prayer) after ishaa’ (the night prayer) from this day until Ramadan
begins—and even through Ramadan, let me make the intention that I will
now pray 2 extra rak’at of sunnah after ishaa’. And every time I pray
these extra 2 rak’at, which are more than what I normally pray, let me
remember that I am doing these with the intention of asking Allah (swt)
to help me be prepared to strive and exert my utmost effort during
Ramadan.
Make a Dua (prayer) List Today
This is THE MONTH to ask for EVERYTHING, both related to this life
and the Next. Let us not wait until the last 10 nights to make special
dua, and then once Eid passes realize that we completely forgot about
fifty other things we needed to make dua for. Let’s start making our
lists now, and add to it as more things come our way. Insha’Allah this
should help us remember to make constant du`a’ in this month where dua
is accepted, and help our hearts pour out to the One Who can make those
dua happen, subhanahu wa ta’ala.
Write out Your Objectives for Ramadan
Praying all of your fard (obligatory) prayers? Praying all of your
sunnahs? Reading the entire Qur’an? Giving $1 in charity a day? Making
itikaaf (a time for reflection and prayer in seclusion) in the masjid?
Leaving one serious sin that you’ve been trying to get away from for
some time now? Sincerely turning back to Allah (swt)? Write out a list,
put it somewhere you will see it, and make dua for your success in
fulfilling your objectives.
Make a Plan!
Look at your objectives and try to plan out how to realize them in
this month. For example, perhaps you are really struggling to pray your
sunnah prayers. In this month, realize the enormity of the ajr (reward)
of praying the sunnah prayers. Think that perhaps these sunnah will be
the deeds that will be heavy on your scale of good deeds when you are
intensely in need of them—on Yawm al-Qiyamah, the Day of Judgment.
Therefore, fight to keep doing them all throughout Ramadan. If you can’t
pray your 2 rak’at after dhuhr (the afternoon prayer) right away, make
sure to do them as soon as you get the chance.
Your plan might look something like this:
Objective: Pray all of my fardh prayers.
Method: Envision myself on the Day of Judgment seeing
the weight of praying my sunnah consistently during this month. Make
sure to pray sunnah immediately after salah (prayer). If I cannot, do it
as soon as the opportunity arises—don’t let myself put it off!
Another example is that of finishing the Qur’an:
Objective: Finish the entire Qur’an in this month.
Method: Read 4 pages of the Qur’an after every salah. 5
prayers X 4 pages = 20 pages. 20 pages= about 1 juz. 1 juz X 30= the
entire Qur’an.
So many Muslims have passed away since last month. So many people
have not made it to Ramadan this year. Last year was their very last
Ramadan. Will you make it to this Ramadan? Will this be your last
Ramadan?
Aim to strive this Ramadan. With a very small amount of effort, such
as just making a small intention or adding a few extra acts of worship,
we pray that Allah (swt) will help our hearts soften and honor us with
making it easy to turn to Him and open up to Him.
May Allah (swt) make us of the successful in Ramadan, and make it easy for us to turn to Him completely and perpetually. Ameen.