Assalamoalekum (may peace and blessings be upon you).
We've been waiting for Ramadan for so long now, right? Preparatory activities on productive youth websites have been stirring the spirits for quite a while now. We've all been making plans, written or mental, as to how we would commemorate the blessed 30 days and nights that have been gifted to us. But now that I think of it, some of us (the one's who've been desperately needy) have been waiting for Ramadan all year long. Some, who haven't yet had the chance to benefit from the blessings of it, have been waiting for it for a lifetime!
I feel I am always at a loss of the "right" words when I am asked to answer that question because Ramadan's a very extensive system of blessings that has been designed by our Lord (swt) to help us in this world and the next. There are countless benefits that scholars have summed up and countless remain unexplored. Each person who submits to prayer and worship in Ramadan experiences unique miracles.
The latest definition that I wrote of Ramadan was in an article I wrote for a website. I wrote in my introductory paragraph:
"Globally acclaimed companies like Unilever, Procter and Gamble, Coca-Cola Company, and etc. all have a secret formula for corporate success: “Quality Control.” The quality of who they are and what they deliver is what wins them awards for pride of performance. Similarly, a Muslim must function like the global best, the Ashraful Makhluqaat (Best of All Creation). Ramadan is a month of quality control for a Muslim which allows one to polish his/her character, realize and revise his/her virtues, and inculcate good manners into his/her personality. Ramadan is the Muslim’s quality control, a formula to success and winning the award for pride of performance in the Hereafter, inshAllah."
Getting Ready to Greet the Savior
Usually, there is so much information overload that we experience during Ramadan. Websites, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and email feeds are all bombarding us with what to do and what not to do. They're all very useful as a "secondary struggle." The primary struggle is our own because Ramadan is a savior that has been sent to us and we are supposed to benefit from it on a personal level. We are to assess our own self and find out what we should be begging repentance for to save our souls from the burns of Hell fire.
I have some goals set up for myself because I know where have I gone wrong and I am ready to work on them. Some that are non-personal, I shall share:
Prayer is the shield of a believer against the Hell fire and there can be no better opportunity to perfect it than in Ramadan when the Devil is chained and the chaos and evil and its spell is minimized. I have been moderately successful in developing dedicated concentration in my prayers and have been able to pray with meaning. However, the longest prayer i.e. Isha usually is a challenge because after a hard day of work I am too exhausted. I do realize that I procrastinate and if I offer it in the early hours of the night it would be easier, inshAllah.
Quran is my top priority this Ramadan. If you have been born as a believer of a religion and you have no clue what the word of Allah (swt) is in His divine book, then your life is a waste. If I die without having read the whole of the scripture in its true meaning - the exegesis (the tafsir) then I won't be at ease. So I'd be taking my daily free time to read more and more of the stories, morals, and philosophies mentioned by Allah (swt) in the Quran.
Gossip is an inevitable part of our lives and same is for me. I find myself talking about the flaws in other people, repeating the stories of their evil doings to myself and to my family, cursing them in anger, and ranting about how wrong they are. I shall be trying to eliminate the habit completely. Silence would be the best remedy but it doesn't come easy does it?
Negative thinking is almost a concern of the past now, alhamdulillah. I am a more positive person now, after my conscious effort towards self-improvement last Ramadan. But amidst the positivity their are the negative breakouts of emotional chaos. Of course these are the whispers of the Devil. Since he is chained for the next 30 days, I can work on minimizing those.
Edgar Allan Poe said that the morals of a writer do not necessarily remain the same in their writing. This implies that writers tend to write the most absurd and most immoral of things in their poetry and prose. I seek to differ. This Ramadan I shall be engaging in dedicated writing towards self-improvement and religious reflection via The Ramadan Diaries 2011 blog series.
Since long I have been willing to read about the divine messengers, the Prophets of Allah (swt). InshAllah, I'd be reading and sharing stories.
Laziness, commonly during night hours, makes me compromise my ablution rituals. I need to perfect those because they wash sins away!
Practicing simple Sunnahs (lifestyle routines of the Prophet Mohammad (saww)) earn great rewards and I shall be looking up simple Sunnahs that I can practice to make my Hereafter better.
Seeking repentance was my prime goal last year. This year as well I shall pray hard and sincere to connect with Allah (swt) and ask Him to forgive my sins (intentional/unintentional) because repentance is a continuous process.
The first 10 days are called the Ashra of Mercy (Rahmat) and we have a simple task at hand i.e. to seek Allah (swt)'s mercy. Him being the Most Merciful shall grant us if we're sincere.
Tomorrow's the 1st fast of the month of Ramadan inshAllah. Stay with Sisterly Yours and keep reading the Ramadan Diaries.
Getting Ready to Greet the Savior
Usually, there is so much information overload that we experience during Ramadan. Websites, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and email feeds are all bombarding us with what to do and what not to do. They're all very useful as a "secondary struggle." The primary struggle is our own because Ramadan is a savior that has been sent to us and we are supposed to benefit from it on a personal level. We are to assess our own self and find out what we should be begging repentance for to save our souls from the burns of Hell fire.
I have some goals set up for myself because I know where have I gone wrong and I am ready to work on them. Some that are non-personal, I shall share:
Prayer is the shield of a believer against the Hell fire and there can be no better opportunity to perfect it than in Ramadan when the Devil is chained and the chaos and evil and its spell is minimized. I have been moderately successful in developing dedicated concentration in my prayers and have been able to pray with meaning. However, the longest prayer i.e. Isha usually is a challenge because after a hard day of work I am too exhausted. I do realize that I procrastinate and if I offer it in the early hours of the night it would be easier, inshAllah.
Quran is my top priority this Ramadan. If you have been born as a believer of a religion and you have no clue what the word of Allah (swt) is in His divine book, then your life is a waste. If I die without having read the whole of the scripture in its true meaning - the exegesis (the tafsir) then I won't be at ease. So I'd be taking my daily free time to read more and more of the stories, morals, and philosophies mentioned by Allah (swt) in the Quran.
Gossip is an inevitable part of our lives and same is for me. I find myself talking about the flaws in other people, repeating the stories of their evil doings to myself and to my family, cursing them in anger, and ranting about how wrong they are. I shall be trying to eliminate the habit completely. Silence would be the best remedy but it doesn't come easy does it?
Negative thinking is almost a concern of the past now, alhamdulillah. I am a more positive person now, after my conscious effort towards self-improvement last Ramadan. But amidst the positivity their are the negative breakouts of emotional chaos. Of course these are the whispers of the Devil. Since he is chained for the next 30 days, I can work on minimizing those.
Edgar Allan Poe said that the morals of a writer do not necessarily remain the same in their writing. This implies that writers tend to write the most absurd and most immoral of things in their poetry and prose. I seek to differ. This Ramadan I shall be engaging in dedicated writing towards self-improvement and religious reflection via The Ramadan Diaries 2011 blog series.
Since long I have been willing to read about the divine messengers, the Prophets of Allah (swt). InshAllah, I'd be reading and sharing stories.
Laziness, commonly during night hours, makes me compromise my ablution rituals. I need to perfect those because they wash sins away!
Practicing simple Sunnahs (lifestyle routines of the Prophet Mohammad (saww)) earn great rewards and I shall be looking up simple Sunnahs that I can practice to make my Hereafter better.
Seeking repentance was my prime goal last year. This year as well I shall pray hard and sincere to connect with Allah (swt) and ask Him to forgive my sins (intentional/unintentional) because repentance is a continuous process.
The first 10 days are called the Ashra of Mercy (Rahmat) and we have a simple task at hand i.e. to seek Allah (swt)'s mercy. Him being the Most Merciful shall grant us if we're sincere.
Tomorrow's the 1st fast of the month of Ramadan inshAllah. Stay with Sisterly Yours and keep reading the Ramadan Diaries.
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