1) Learn HOW
You are doing just that right now MashaÁllah! Keep reading more articles and books. Start listening to informative and motivational podcasts and videos about Ramadan. This (Pre-Ramadan) is the time to broaden your knowledge so that you can start practicing from now and reminding others as well!
Another useful thing to do is to collect and arrange all the books that you plan on reading this Ramadan. Needless to say, the most important of them is The Holy Quran. Another book that’s a must-have is a good Hadith book, and a tafseer of The Quran.
2) Who are you going to tell? Others.
“And remind, for verily the reminder benefits the believer” [Quran Surah 51: Ayah 55]
As a Muslim you have the responsibility of educating others about Islam as well. You don’t have to go for the masses. Your family is a good place to start. Be the motivational driving force for your family and friends.
Educate the young ones about making the importance of preparing for Ramadan and remind the older ones about it’s true purpose.
3) Can you really move forward when you haven’t gotten over your past?
Allah says in the Quran: “And all of you beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful”
[Quran Surah al-Noor 24: Ayah 31]
Seek repentance. Ask Allah to forgive your sins so that you start with a clean slate before Ramadan. So that Allah adds even more barakah in this Ramadan for you and levels up your spirituality during Ramadan.
4) Get the tongue into practice.
While preparing for Ramadan, you must also develop the habit of making tasbeeh in your free time. Read the 3 Qul, Ayah-tul-Qursi and send Salawat (durood) upon Prophet Muhammad S.A.W in your free time instead of talking idly or gossiping.
By Ramadan, your tongue would have fallen into the habit of making tasbeeh and will become a constant source of reward while fasting. InshaÁllah!
5) Who said lists don’t work?
Make a list of all the dua’s that you plan on asking Allah. It sounds silly to think you will be reading your handwritten duas from paper but that’s not why you are making the list.
Sometimes we forget an important dua and wish we remembered it at a particular time, for eg, during tahajjud prayer.
A list will come in handy when you start jotting down whatever dua’ comes to your mind before Ramadan. If we can prepare flashcards before a viva/ exam, notes before an interview or speech then why not before asking Allah for His blessings?
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6) Three before Two?
The last thing you want this Ramadan is to struggle with praying all the 5 obligatory prayers on time while fasting.
It just doesn’t make sense y’all.
Salah is the Second Pillar of Islam after Tauheed (First). Fasting (Sawm) is the third. We all know that 1 comes before 2 and 2 comes before 3. Even a 2-year-old knows that much maths.
If your Fajar or Asr is getting missed day after day and you are fasting regularly.. you got your maths all wrong. That doesn’t imply at all that you stop fasting until you become regular in your prayers.
Nuh-uh. That’s also wrong maths.
You should start with a sincere intention to fix your prayers (ideally while preparing for Ramadan), and work on both (prayer and fasting) together. Afterall, it’s not like there’s a choice between the two. BOTH of them are obligatory upon Muslims.
7) Set achievable goals for yourself
Plan well while you are in the stage of preparing for Ramadan and set do-able targets for yourself.
For eg, don’t plan on finishing the entire tafseer of Quran if you don’t even read an ayah a day pre-Ramadan. That way you will only burn yourself out midway of Ramadan or be depressed if you can’t reach your really high-set target.
A more achievable plan would be to complete the recitation of Quran once during Ramadan and read tafseer of a short surah a day.
You can use the 3-step Ramadan Goal-setting Worksheet to fill out Ramadan-specific goals that you want to achieve this Ramadan. You will also get some extra trackers that you can fill up with your personalized goals and keep track of during Ramadan!
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8) You need the ajar and the poor need the money
Who is it that will give Allah a beautiful loan? A loan that Allah will repay after increasing it many times and grant him a generous reward.
[Quran Surah 57: Ayah 11]
Save money in a charity box to spend on the needy during Ramadan. The reward of every good deed is multiplied many times in Ramadan. And spending money as charity is a deed that is very dear to Allah. Even if it is a small amount that you can save, it will bring a load of ajar your way if spent with the right niyyah (intention).
9) Put aside all the shopping and grocery lists
While you are preparing for Ramadan, buy and store food items for the entire month of Ramadan.
Also, buy your eid clothes and anything else you need beforehand. You don’t want to spend your precious Ramadan time out in the marketplace hunting for food or clothes. You have been doing that all year.
10) Clean sweep the media
Have you got any downloaded songs in your phone or computer? Maybe some movies or seasons? If they stay there, chances are you might end up listening to or watching them even during Ramadan.
So to be safe, clean sweep your media files from before so that even when you are tempted to listen to songs or watch movies during Ramadan, you will be deterred from doing it.
11) Choose your relationship
This one is a reminder specifically for those who are in a haram relationship. You have to decide which relationship matters more to you. The spiritual relationship with your Creator, Allah, or a forbidden relationship with someone who might not even be destined for you.
If you have the capability and opportunity, then make it halal by marrying the other person. But if you don’t, then you should leave the matter to Allah and let Him decide what’s best for you.
Remember, being in a haram relationship will harm nothing more than your Taqwah (faith) and spirituality. Afterall, Ramadan is our best chance to get back our spiritual connection with Allah and level up our spirituality.
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “When the month of Ramadan starts, the gates of the heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are chained.[Sahih Bukhari 1899, Book 30, Hadith 9]
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