Wednesday, January 16, 2013

To Muslims, Ramadan is a month of acceptance, forgiveness, and deliverance. Muslims believe that Allah (SWT) bestowed the month for them as a bonus to exonerate a sinful soul. That's why you need to work and pray harder to be delivered during this month. But it's easier said than done. Years upon years you keep making promises -- to complete the recitation of the holy Quran (from Baqara to Naas) or to always observe tahajjud at night or to never miss taraweeh prayer, but you just can't live up to your promises -- you keep failing. What you need are some simple steps to help you improve on your daily ibadah during the month of Ramadan. Here are the steps:

Be Dedicated

You have to be committed to doing your best in the holy month of Ramadan. You can't afford to slacken on your ibadah, knowing fully the reward that's in the month in which the holy Quran was revealed.

Stay Organize

Organize yourself. Make a To-Do list of your activities. If you have 10-hours free, you could organize yourself as follows:

2-hours: for Qiyam-al-Layl
2-hours: for Quranic recitation
2-hours: for Quranic studies
1-hour: for supplications
2-hours: for attending tafseer
1-hour: for socializing with friends and neighbors

The month of Ramadan is too valuable; you can't afford to waste a second of your time without any zikr. It's also good to set some goals (of what milestone of ibadah you want to achieve) during the month of Ramadan, and record your progress as you move ahead. This will give you the zeal to worship harder in order to attain your goals.

Stick to Your Schedules

Stick to your To-Do list. Don't just devise a good plan on how to run your day during the sacred month of remission; by all means, stick to your plan. Plan only for what you can do; don't plan a task you can't undertake. Draft a simple, easy plan, and follow every bit of it.

Listen to Tafseer

List "listening to tafseer" as a priority in your program. Attending tafseer in your local mosque is very important. Aside from keeping you up-to-date of the prize and profit of the Month, attending to tafseer also teaches you more about the bonuses and blessings of Ramadan. You don't want to miss an afternoon or evening tafseer in the holy month of Ramadan.

Drop Your Gadgets Aside

Okay this might be hard for you, but that iPhone or iPad of yours might cause you big reward. Therefore, drop those MP Players, CDs, Play Stations, and tablets away and set your focus straight on your Merciful Lord. If your cable satellite or Blackberry subscription expires, don't worry to subscribe back. Those movies and BB chats are distractions to your ibadah efforts. Avoid such entertainments in the holy month and other months!

The month of Ramadan is the holiest month for Muslims. It's the month of blessings and deliverance where doors of rahma are kept wide open to deliver anyone who seeks for it. Ibadah is our key to these doors, and that is why we need to strategize hard and sacrifice our blackberries for spiritual berries, and while the month of Ramadan is wrapped with Laylat-al-Qadr, we have to improve on our ibadah to witness it. May Allah help us. Amen.

Suhaib Mohammed is a freelance writer who writes on different niche. You can browse through his blog: http://www.suhaib7.wordpress.com to read on similar topic or on a totally different one.

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