Ramadan is the sacred month for Muslims in the Islamic calendar. It is a time of reflection, spiritual growth, and charity. Every year millions of Muslims strive to become better versions of themselves in Ramadan by developing new habits, increasing their worship, and doing acts of kindness during these blessed thirty days.
Looking ahead to Ramadan 2023, it is time to start preparing to make changes within ourselves and our communities.
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How To Change In Ramadan?
It is crucial to set and follow specific rules during Ramadan that will impact you positively:
1. Develop a Positive Attitude during Ramadan
Start by adopting a positive attitude towards yourself, your faith, and the world around you. Let go of any negative thoughts and focus on the present moment.
Negative thoughts will only hold you back from achieving the spiritual transformation that Ramadan offers.
2. Follow a Daily Plan during Ramadan
Set up a daily plan wherein you establish things like when you will pray, how often you will read the Quran, creative projects you can do, or even set aside time to meditate or contemplate each day.
Having a plan gives structure, allows you to maintain Ramadan rules, and track your progress during the month so that you stay motivated.
3. Develop good habits during Ramadan
Ramadan offers numerous opportunities daily whereby believers may attain significant rewards due to their closeness with God.
Many virtues stand alongside these times, such as increased prayer recitation and reading Quran each night alongside praying Taraweeh prayers at the mosque and keeping family ties close by visiting each other.
All these actions contribute significantly towards building appreciable character traits and forming personal relationships. But what else might we seek out in achieving this holy season? Temporal rewards are fine, but lasting benefits should always take priority.
How about introducing some simple good habits which could benefit us long after? Some practical suggestions could involve joining classes on teaching Islam and regular discussion circles. In addition to reading the Quran regularly, try memorizing ayahs and hadiths.
4. Dispose of bad habits During Ramadan
Reviewing our past behavior can help us identify areas we need to work on and develop better habits in the future. Ask yourself questions such as where I am right now compared to where I want to be.
What can I do differently this month? How have my behaviors been impacting me? How has my faith been impacted?
5. Connect with Your Community During Ramadan
Ramadan is an excellent opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals dedicated to better transformation throughout the Holy Month.
Connect with friends and family members for support, encouragement, and motivation on your spiritual journey!
6. Attend Quran, Arabic, and Islamic sessions:
Try to get connected with the Quran and Arabic language in Ramadan as well as any Islamic topic you feel yourself connected with. Try to attend your Masjid’s Duroos.
You can also attend online Quran and Arabic Classes with Bayan al-Quran with Native Arab tutors. There are also several courses that can help you in this regard:
- Learn Quran Online With Tajweed For Kids And Adults
- Learn Arabic Online Course
- Islamic Studies Online Course
- Noorani Qaida Online Course For Kids And Adults
See you there!
7. Always give charity and donations during Ramadan
Charity plays a hugely important role during Ramadan since being kind-hearted creates numerous rewards for yourself too! Each act gives you a double reward so, give whatever you can no matter large or small: His acceptance will always remain open!
There are many ways in which you may give donations; think about donating clothes, buying food packs for families in need, or even just visiting an orphanage, etc… whatever you feel most passionate about doing yourself and benefiting others too!
Alongside donations, we must remember that even sharing kindness without expecting anything back, like offering kind advice or smiling more often, are counted as acts of charity too.
As Prophet Muhammad (puh) once said: Charity is one thing that never decreases; increase its flow regardless of how little it may be! So it is best not to underestimate any good behavior or use petty excuses.
8. Give yourself a break at the Suhoor time for better influence on you
Suhoor is an especially wonderful part of Ramadan that you should not skip. This pre-dawn meal sets you up for a successful day whether you are awake early or late. It provides energy for both physical and mental tasks throughout the day.
Additionally, having early suhoor helps people develop good habits that can eventually pave the way for more meaningful activities such as increased worship and good deeds.
9. Get Enough Sleep
Staying up late for prayer or long qiyam sessions can help raise one’s spiritual performance. However, getting enough rest is also very important as our bodies require energy to perform all functions properly.
Make sure to set reasonable schedules that allow you some sleep every night and have enough energy during daylight hours.
10. Avoid any forms of intolerance and arguing
All believers must avoid any forms of intolerance and arguing during Ramadan when interacting with others to maintain peace within their communities.
But one cannot highlight this rule enough, as intolerance and arguments between people tend to increase during the holy month. It is strongly inconsistent with Ramadan rules.
There are steps that you can follow to stop intolerance and reduce arguing during Ramadan:
- It is necessary to remember that just because someone has a different opinion does not make him wrong.
- Respect everyone regardless of religion, beliefs, or race.
- Individuals must practice effective communication to resolve any possible conflicts.
- It is best for you to try to listen more than talk and think before speaking if you are involved in an argumentative condition.
- Maintain a calming voice and avoid blaming others for any mistakes.
- It also aids if individuals concentrate on commonalities rather than differences when debating differences of thought.
- Take some time away from the situation to recover your calm. It benefits to take deep breaths and count slowly up until ten before speaking again.
Remember, everyone deserves respect regardless of faith, so don’t use this glorious month to suppress anyone.
11. Make a lot of Dua during Ramadan
To truly benefit from the blessings that come with Ramadan, it is crucial to make dua (supplicate) continually all around the holy month. The best way to do dua in Ramadan is through fasting, saying dua after each prayer, and saying dua for iftar (breaking fast).
Saying special supplications before breaking your fast can increase your reward tremendously and should be done throughout each day in every moment available. Additionally, dua should be said during suhoor (pre-dawn meal), again showing gratitude to Allah for all his blessings.
In the end, the internal change is the actual change that Ramadan demands. It is about patience, feeling gratitude, self-reflection, and leaving all desires for a month, so don’t miss that chance and make Ramadan 2023 a new start.
Written By Dr. Asmaa Rabea.