Ramdan Daily Reminders

Control your Tongue
The Prophet (saw) said: “A person utters a word thoughtlessly (i.e., without thinking about its being good or not) and, as a result of this, he will fall down into the fire of Hell deeper than the distance between the east and the west.” The tongue is one of the main causes of sin, whether through slander, lying, abuse, foul language or other ills. Make it an absolute priority in Ramadan to change your habits of speaking. Start with knowing that if you have nothing good to say, then remain silent.

Reflect Upon the Quran
The Quran is the central foundation of belief for any Muslim. A Muslim must rely on it, and have it be the guidance for our hearts and actions. Ramadan is the best time to increase your relationship with the Quran, through reading it, one should be able to marvel and its linguistic miracles, its description of scientific realities, its telling of the stories of the Prophets and historical events. Through reflecting on the miracle of the Quran, we can improve our relationship with Allah, strengthen our faith, and be unwavering in our conviction that this religion is the true religion of God.

Monitor your Food and Drink
In Ramadan, Allah shows us that eating twice a day (iftar and suhur) is enough for us to sustain ourselves. This fast should show us to return to what is essential, rather than chasing excess. This is particularly relevant to food – we should not be eating so much for iftar that we find ourselves falling asleep and neglecting the benefits of Ramadan such as taraweeh! If we intend to follow the sunnah of the Prophet (saw), then we should never bloat ourselves, as the Prophet (saw) said about our stomachs, “if he (a son of Adam) must eat, then a third for his food, a third for his drink, and a third for his breath.”

Follow the Sunnah

Allah says “Indeed, you have in the Messenger of Allah, the best example to follow those who seek Allah and the Final Day.” We have from the sunnah the best example of fasting, we should stick closely to it. The Prophet (saw) would:

• hasten in breaking the fast
• break his fast on three dates
• he would delay his suhur to make it as close as possible to fajr
• pray taraweeh at night

The Month of Charity
The Prophet (saw) was the most generous of people, and Ramadan is one of the best times to increase your charity to others. Giving to charity, when done with sincere intentions, cleanses the soul of vices such as greed, arrogance and selfishness. Through this, charity is one of the best ways to get closer to Allah (swt). Allah says (translated),

“By no means shall you attain righteousness unless you give (freely) of that which you love. And whatever you spend, indeed, Allah is knowing of it.”

Time is Running Out
Our time is one of our most valuable possessions and blessings from Allah. Our time on earth is limited and fleeting, as is our time in Ramadan. It is of the utmost importance that we take advantage of our time. We must ensure we stick to a schedule, complete our tasks on time, and look back on every day thinking we have utilised our time wisely. As a reminder to the importance of prioritising time, Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra) said: “account yourselves before you will be accounted. And weigh your actions before they will be weighed for you.”

The Month of Spirituality
A focus in Ramadan should be to increase our spirituality, meaning our iman, our taqwa, and cleanliness of the heart and. This can be done through doing good deeds solely for the sake of Allah and removing ourselves from situations that would bring us further away from Allah. If we are able to refrain from food all day long, inshallah we can also focus on ridding our soul of any blotches of fasad. This is a noble goal, as the Allah (SWT) said: “Truly, he has succeeded, who purifies his soul.” (Quran, 91:9)

Rid yourself of Bad Habits

Unfortunately, many habits and customs can distract us from ibadah (worship) and building a better relationship with Allah. While this doesn’t mean we should leave all our customs, such as cooking certain foods, we cannot allow Ramadan to be a month of relaxation and leave the primary focus of the month – worshipping Allah. We should assess how much time we are dedicating to ibadah – Ramadan will go quickly, you do not want to regret wasting your time!

Connect with the Quran

Ramadan is the month of the Quran. Scholars and ulama of the past and present would leave their focus on subjects such as hadith, seerah and others and focus solely on the Quran in this month. You should take advantage of this time to vitalise your connection with the Quran. A practical tip is to divide each juz into 5 parts, and read a part of the juz after each salah. This way, you can easily finish the Quran before Ramadan finishes.

What Really Matters to You?
Every Muslim’s priority in life should be seeking the pleasure of Allah. Seeking the pleasure of Allah can lead to true happiness and contentment in life. Ramadan is the best time of year to focus on this goal of ensuring your actions and objectives in life are focused on pleasing Allah. Through fasting and focusing on good habits, you can bring yourself closer to the state of mind that the Prophet (saw) had, which is shown when he said “oh Allah, as long as you are not angry with me, I do not care (about calamities).”