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 help prepare our minds and hearts for this upcoming Month of Mercy.
Ramadan Self Improvement Checklist is for those who wish to increase their good deeds and piety during the month of Ramadan.
1. MAKING THE INTENTION
Simple to do and has a powerful impact.
Maybe you want to prepare for Ramadan, but between school, work, family, and any other activities, you just have no idea how to fit in ‘Preparing for Ramadan’ time.
Instead of making ‘preparing for Ramadan’ something separate 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 Al Qur’an.
Instead of feeling upset and feeling like you have lost a great preparation for Ramadan opportunity, make the intention that you are picking up your brother to please Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala 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.
2. DO THESE EASY-TO-REAP-REWARDS ACTIONS:
Asking Allah SWT to forgive your brothers and sisters.
“Whoever seeks forgiveness for believing men and believing woman, Allah SWT will write for him a good deed for each believing man and believing woman.”
[at-Tabarani, classed as hasan by al-Albani]
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (r.a) said
“The Messenger of Allah SWT said:
‘Whoever says subhanAllah 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.
” Narrated by al-Bukhari, 6042; Muslim 2691
If a person says “SubhanAllah” (glory be to Allah) 100 times, a thousand good deeds are recorded for him and a thousand bad deeds are wiped away.
Narrated by Muslim 2073
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 SWT, 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 SWT will write for him/her a million good deeds and erase a million bad deeds and raise him a million levels.”
[at-Tirmidhi, classed as hasan by al-Albani]
3. 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 SAW told us:
“The deeds most loved by Allah are those done regularly, even if they are small.”
For example, if I always pray 2 rakaats of sunnah after ishaa, from this day until Ramadan begins- and even through Ramadan, let me make the intention that I will now pray 2 extra rakaats of sunnah after ishaa.
And every time I pray these extra 2 rakaats, 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.
4. MAKE A DOA 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 doas, and then once Eid passes realize that we had completely forgotten about fifty other things we needed to make doa for.
Let us 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 doa in this month where doa is accepted, and help our hearts pour out to the One Who can make those doa happen, subhanahu wa ta’ala.
5. WRITE OUT YOUR OBJECTIVES FOR RAMADHAN
Praying all of your fardhu prayers?
Praying all of your sunnahs?
Reading the entire Qur’an?
Giving $1 charity a day?
Making itikaaf in the masjid?
Leaving one serious sin that you’ve been trying to get away from for some time now?
Sincerely turning completely back to Allah?
Write out a list, put them somewhere you will see them, and make doa for your success in fulfilling these objectives.
6. MAKE A PLAN!
Look at your objectives, and try to make a plan on how to actualize those objectives in this month.
For example, perhaps you are really struggling to pray your sunnah prayers. In this month, realize the enormity of the ajr of praying the sunnah prayers… think that perhaps these sunnahs will be the deeds that will be so heavy on your scale of good deeds when you are intense need of them- on yowm al qiyamah (day of judgement).
Therefore, fight to keep doing them all throughout Ramadan. If you can’t pray your 2 rakaats after dhur right away, make sure to do them as soon as you get a chance.
Thus, your plan might look something like this:
Objective: Pray all of my fardhu prayers.
Method: Envision myself on the day of judgment seeing the insha’Allah weight of praying my sunnah consistently during this month.
Make sure to pray sunnah salah immediately after salah. 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 [with Understanding]:
Objective: Finishing the entire Qur’an in this month.
Method: Read 4 pages of the Qur’an after every salah.
Make sure you understand it.
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 in 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.
Compiled by Shadman Saquib
