If you have been following along, you would have by now a list of goals for this Ramadan (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3) and a list of duas (Part 4) to make throughout the month. Without noticing, you have already made a subtle yet decisive shift in your mindset. You have begun using Ramadan as a springboard for the rest of your year by making lots of dua.

But how can we expect Allah to answer our dua if we do not put in any effort? We put in the effort to make them with consistency, but we need to put in the same amount of time, effort and dedication to doing the necessary actions to make each dua a reality. In this final article, we will focus on doing our part to make our 8 Ramadan duas come true, In sha Allah.

If you invested the time to make the necessary preparations for Ramadan, then what have you done about the rest of the year? I know the idea may seem overwhelming, but In sha Allah I will help break it down into simple steps. The best part is that you will, In sha Allah, be able to finish this planning during Ramadan without taking any time off work.

A Tactical Retreat

Every year, my family and I go for a retreat during the last weekend before the last ten days. During this retreat, we set our plans for the upcoming year until the next Ramadan. Believe it or not, this can be accomplished in less than one day, so it is not really a “retreat”, but you can make it into one if you like (more on that in a little). Also, if you are single or unable to make it to a family retreat, it does not need to be. But imagine how wonderful it would be to share your dreams for the next year with your family, so you are all in agreement. It is not always possible, but it is highly recommended.

I pick this time for the retreat because once the last 10 nights begin, it is time to focus on i’tikaf and increased ibadah to catch Laylatul Qadr. By finishing your planning before the last 10 nights, you get a head-start on making dua for each of your goals and also ensure you will make dua for them during Laylatul Qadr. This is the perfect time to schedule such a retreat because your Ramadan duas will invariably be the goals you plan to achieve. We have called upon Allah for His assistance and now, we must do our part. We must put in the effort.

One tip to ensure a distraction-free retreat is to eliminate as many items from your to-do list prior to the retreat as possible. For example, get shopping for Eid out of the way as early as possible. Try to complete any other tasks like food preparation, buying groceries, etc. before going on this retreat and before going into i’tikaf for the last 10 nights. Try to outsource some of these tasks by using a service like TaskRabbit.com (your mileage may vary).

What Do You Do During This Retreat?

Start the retreat by revisiting your life mission and vision. Ask yourself what you are trying to accomplish in your life and who you are trying to be. I keep a record of this in a cloud-based storage system to make sure my compass is set to the right bearing before I start planning. I also have all my old goals saved, so I can refer back to them to get some perspective. If you do not have that, do not worry. The important thing is to simply start!

Next, based on the duas you have been making in Ramadan, set your annual goals according to the methodology mentioned in Part 3. Answer questions like “Where do I want to be by next Ramadan, if Allah gives me the life?” Or fill in the blank “I would be overwhelmingly grateful to Allah if …”

Segment your goals into the nine categories listed below (in no particular order) to ensure you are maintaining a healthy balance.

Physical Well-being
Mental/Emotional Well-being
Spiritual Well-being
Marriage (even if you’re not married, trying counts)
Family
Friends/Social
Financial
Career/Business
Personal Growth

Tips to Having a Productive Retreat

1. Private Place: Go somewhere you can focus. Usually going somewhere far from home and far from day-to-day distractions is beneficial.
2. Beautiful: There is something about nature that makes it easier to focus on what is truly important. Pick a location where you can bask in the beauty of Allah’s creation. You would be surprised, but I am sure there is a beautiful place near where you live.
3. Reserve time in calendars: If you are making this a family affair (which I highly recommend), make sure you schedule time in each other’s calendars to make sure everyone is available. Talk about it way in advance and make sure everyone understands what is involved. Set aside two days of a weekend and start early on Saturday (or Friday, depending on where you live). You should be able to finish in one day, but it does not hurt to have another day as backup.
4. Be Present: Put your phone in airplane mode and shut off Wi-Fi on your computer. Bring only your best self.
5. Bring Supplies: Bring a computer, flip chart, notebooks, pens and markers. Ideally, the computer is only used for research or documenting things after they have been discussed.
6. Time to think individually: Start off with a blank sheet of paper and answer the questions above. Sit alone in nature and clear your mind.
7. Present and discuss: When you have completed your first session, present to each other what you think and discuss. If you do not have a partner, take a break! If you need a partner, send him/her this article and ask him/her to be your accountability buddy.
8. The hard part: Once you have goals in each of the categories you desire, break each of them down into their component goals, projects and tasks. For example, if your goal is to memorize 6 juz’ of Qur’an in the next 12 months, then that equates to 1/2 juz’ a month or 1/3 page every day. Or if your goal was to be a better son-in-law or daughter-in-law, you might define that as visiting your in-laws every other week.
9. Transfer to a trusted system: Have a system to track your progress. This could be as simple as a journal and as elaborate as a cloud-based app. Before you leave the retreat, be sure to put the new goals and targets into the system.
10. Celebrate – You deserve it! This is such a monumental step in taking control and directing your life with Allah’s help. How many other people go through the effort of doing all this to achieve their goals? Do you think Allah will let all this effort go to waste? Of course not! As He says: “And be patient, for indeed, Allah does not allow to be lost the reward of those who do good” [Qur’an: Chapter 11, Verse 115].

Most successful people who achieve their goals have a disciplined process for setting them and planning how they will achieve them. Now you do too!

Make it Count: Finding the Results You Seek

You have made the intentions, made the duas and created your plan. Now comes the hard part: Patience in execution. The best way to make sure you stay on track is to have periodic check-ins with your accountability partner (if available) where you revisit your plans to see if they are still valid or if they need to be tweaked. For the best results, you must do all four check-ins listed below. This is the best way to maintain momentum after Ramadan.

1. Follow-up meetings every quarter: Stay on track by meeting every three months to see if you need to make any changes to the plans and goals you have created. It is okay to change your goals as you learn new things and get more information. The fact that you are dedicating time to planning is what counts. Make sure to focus on the strategic big-picture level and stay away from the daily details.
2. Monthly reviews: Every month, check your system to see how you are doing and if you are on track. This could be a quick check to make sure all is well and remind you of your goals in case you forgot. Also, check if any new goals have come up and are due for you to begin working on them. This is the least intensive check-in.
3. Weekly reviews: Every week compare your actual performance with your ideal performance. This is the most powerful and important step to ensure accountability.
4. Daily check-in: Keep track of what you do every day toward your goals and take credit for the wins and adjust when there are gaps. Figure out what you need to do to adjust and keep moving! Here, avoid thinking too much. Just document what has happened in the past 24 hours.

If you notice any areas of weakness, there are two possibilities to make corrections: (1) Change your behavior or (2) Change your goal. Depending on the goals, you might need a higher degree of accountability, for example, to ensure you are hitting the mark. Avoid making changes to your goal unless it is a quarterly (or maybe monthly) review.

This concludes our series “Aiming for an Awesome Ramadan.” I pray that Allah grants each of you the most productive Ramadan ever and helps you to plan your year around the Ramadan season!

Have you been on a family retreat before? Are you planning one anytime soon? As the series comes to a close, please share any thoughts, experiences or questions you may have regarding the ideas discussed and tips for maintaining the same momentum after Ramadan, In sha Allah!

Read the other parts of this series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

 This article was originally published on Jun 14, 2014

P.S: Benefited from this article? Join our Productive Ramadan Online Course – a simple, practical and complete blueprint for leading a Productive Ramadan inshaAllah!

The post [Aiming for an Awesome Ramadan Series – Part 5] From Planning For Ramadan to Planning Your Entire Year appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

Some believe Ramadan is special simply because it contains a night that is greater than 1,000 months, but what makes that night so great? The truth is, during that night the qadar (decree) for the coming year is sent down from the preserved tablet. As Allah says what can be translated as: “On that night is made distinct every precise matter” [Qur’an: Chapter 44, Verse 4], and more famously: “The angels and the Spirit descend therein by permission of their Lord for every matter.” [Qur’an: Chapter 97, Verse 4].

Did you know that there is something you can do to change that qadar in its vulnerable state as it descends from the heavens?

Yes, it is the power of dua! As the Prophet mentioned: “Nothing could change the Qadar except dua” [Sahih al-Jami’].

And in another hadith, he said: “Dua benefits in the things that have happened as well as the things that have not happened yet. The calamity comes down, but the Dua confronts it and they may continuously wrestle until the Day of Resurrection” [Reported by Al-Hakim].

This makes the month of Ramadan and especially the last ten nights, an exceptionally powerful time to make dua [Sunan Ibn Majah].

As we aim for a remarkably productive Ramadan, In sha Allah, it makes sense for us to prepare with deliberation and careful thought the duas we will focus on throughout the month. So ask yourself: “What are the duas that will change my life in the coming year?” and be absolutely certain that Allah will answer them In sha Allah! In the rest of this article, I will share my best tips for preparing these duas.

The 8 Duas You Must Make This Ramadan

Every Ramadan for the past several years, I decide in advance which eight duas I will focus on. I pick two duas from each of the four categories listed below. Why 8? Most masjids pray 8 raka’ahs of taraweeh (at least), so I repeat only one dua consistently in each raka’ah of taraweeh (during sujood, etc.). That way, I always remember which raka’ah I am on, which helps me focus and stay alert during the late night taraweeh of these long summer days. It doesn’t need to be specifically 8 duas, though. It could be 17 — one for every raka’ah in the fardh salah — for example, but since we are talking about Ramadan (and it is easier to remember 8 than 17) let’s just stick to the 8.

There is something more important than the number, and that is the effort you put in. Imagine the dedication and consistency you are showing to Allah by making the same duas every night for 29 or 30 nights throughout each raka’ah of taraweeh! In addition, if you are indeed that consistent, you will surely catch Laylatul Qadr! You would be displaying a level of dedication that few do: showing to Allah that you are desperate for His help. How could He possibly turn you away empty-handed?

The more thought you put into this activity, the better. However, be careful not to over think it. It is possible to complete the activity in five minutes if you are pressed for time, so complete it as quickly as you can.

Note that this list of dua does not necessarily need to match the goals we discussed in the previous articles [Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3], as they are goals for Ramadan. The dua list you are creating now is for your life in general.

While there is no guarantee your dua will come true, you must pray as if it will. Your dua might avert a calamity, an illness or some other difficulty that was destined for you, so in that sense your dua would still be answered and accepted without necessarily coming true. We never truly know what is best for us, but Allah certainly does — and He always delivers [Qur’an: Chapter 2, Verse 216].

The Four Categories

1. Deen: Since Ramadan is all about taqwa and improvement, pray and beg Allah to improve you. Pick two aspects of your deen that you would like to improve and pray earnestly that Allah helps you with them. Maybe you have not done hajj or umrah yet? Make dua that you can do so before next Ramadan! Does that sound ridiculous? It is not difficult for Allah ! Want to memorize the whole Qur’an? Or part of it? It is easy for Allah . Want to shed a bad habit? Or build a new one like praying in the masjid? This is your chance to ask Allah to your heart’s content!

2. Dunya: One of the first dua we come across during taraweeh is “rabbana aatina fil dunya hasanah” or “Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good…” [Qur’an: Chapter 2, Verse 201]. Allah teaches us to pray for the life of this world. That sounds good to me. As long as I am here, I want to get as much out of it as I can! So ask for Allah’s help from the bottom of your heart. Do you need help with marriage? Job? House? Car? Health? This is the time to ask Allah without limiting His ability .

3. Akhira: The next part of that dua is “wafee al akhirati hasanah” – ” … and in the Hereafter [that which is] good …” Since our ultimate destination is the next life, we ought to dedicate part of our prayers to having an enjoyable afterlife too! Note: putting the dua in this order does not mean one is more important than the other, but you knew that. I personally like to pray for some specific aspect of Paradise and for protection from Hellfire. Do you want to sit with the Prophet in Paradise? Or maybe see and speak to your Creator ? Is there an aspect of Hellfire that you find particularly terrifying? Seek Allah’s protection from it.

4. Others: Ramadan is not a time to be selfish. This is why Allah requires us to give zakat al-fitr and helps us unite our community during taraweeh and Eid. So when you are planning your dua for Ramadan, it is critical you remember others. There are so many causes, so many people going through difficulty: Make a conscious effort to keep their plight on your mind. Think of your family and friends, the community and our ummah at large. By praying for them, we will also get the added blessings of having the angels say ‘ameen’ to those duas and praying for us as well. [Sunan Abi Dawud]

With so much to pray for, how do you possibly select only two duas per category? Again, try to make your list as simple and comprehensive as possible. And remember, you can always make more duas outside this list!

Action Steps

1. Write down your 8 duas on this worksheet along with your Ramadan goals and keep them in your pocket or wallet at all times.
2. If you are the digital type, put them in your note-taking app or create an image of both lists and put the image as the background for your smart phone and computer’s desktop as a consistent reminder.
3. Refer to this document/image every day, especially between taraweeh prayers.

Now, please share with us your thoughts on this action plan, and what dua you recommend for your brothers and sisters.

Read the other parts of this series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 5

This article was originally published on Jun 9, 2014

The post [Aiming for an Awesome Ramadan Series – Part 4] Awesome Duas For an Awesome Year appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

Thus far in our series [Part 1 | Part 2], we have discussed how to properly plan for Ramadan. Now it is time to shift gears and focus on how to achieve the goals you have spent so long diligently designing!

I have developed a 5-step solution to help you achieve your goals. If you stick to them, these 5 S’s will help make this Ramadan your best ever, In sha Allah.

1. Seek Allah :

No action can be successful without the will and aid of Allah , therefore for each and every goal you must start with the proper intention. You cannot achieve your goals without Allah’s help, so ask Him for His help and He will give it to you. Start with a humble admission that no matter how much effort you put into planning and execution, you are still in desperate need of Allah’s help. This admission will demonstrate to Allah what is in your heart and He will not return you empty-handed, In sha Allah.

2. Start:

Do not wait until Ramadan to start working on achieving those goals. Once you have sought the help of Allah , there is nothing between you and success besides your own hesitation. Now is the time to build momentum, even before Ramadan begins. Imagine running through quicksand and suddenly the quicksand disappears. You will suddenly start running incredibly quickly. In the same way, going for your goals before the start of Ramadan will give you a running start after the devils have been chained. While others will just start making progress on the first day of Ramadan, you will already have a head start! The Prophet said: “The most beloved deed to Allah is the most regular and constant even though it were little” [Sahih al-Bukhari]. So start small and stay consistent to maximize your effectiveness this Ramadan.

3. System:

As the saying goes, “That which is measured improves.” All businesses have reliable systems to track and measure performance of key aspects of the company. In the same way, each one of us needs a system to review our performance every single day to see how we are doing and what corrections we need to make for the next day. In addition, I highly recommend tracking your progress and comparing yourself this week to yourself last week to see if you have improved or changed in any way. Sometimes, just because you know you will be forced to record the fact that you did not do your dua for the day (for example), you will do it. That may not be the perfect intention, but it is certainly better done than not! I personally use an Excel spreadsheet to track my performance and have done so for years. I can compare myself today to myself five years ago (believe me, it is not pretty!). But you do not need to make it too complicated. Any spreadsheet like Google Docs or even a journal like Evernote or OneNote would be very good at tracking your success.

4. Sahib:

A sahib is a companion who will help you achieve your goals. Specifically, he is a companion whose sole purpose is to keep you accountable on your journey. He could be someone you agree to meet every night after taraweeh at the masjid. Each of you should recap your days together or, alternatively, give each other access to the system I mentioned above. That way, you keep each other accountable to a third party. While other people are sharing gossip and chatting away, you are focusing on making each other’s Ramadan as productive as possible. What a dramatic difference one small decision can make!

5. Sign:

Last but certainly not least, write down all of your goals on a sheet of paper and sign a statement saying you will do your utmost to achieve these goals this Ramadan. There is something magical about putting your goals into writing as we discussed previously: Your mind begins to conspire to make these things a reality. There is no escaping the fact that these are your goals now. In fact, this contract should be witnessed by your sahib. Even more important than that, by putting it into writing, it is as if the contract was also witnessed by Allah and His angels. Doing this makes you part of a very special group of people: A group of people that is striving to have their most awesome Ramadan ever. I pray that Allah makes us all successful!

Action Steps:

1. Make the right intention.
2. Start working on your goals today.
3. Quickly decide on a way to record your progress.
4. Identify a friend who will help keep you accountable.
5. Print and sign your goals and post them prominently in your home and workplace.

Now, I would like everyone to post below as you get started on and eventually complete the 5 S’s described above! Which one did you find most difficult to achieve? Which was the easiest? I’m interested to hear from you!

Read the other parts of this series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4 | Part 5

This post was originally published on June 7, 2014.

The post [Aiming for an Awesome Ramadan Series – Part 3] 5 Ways to Achieve Your Goals This Ramadan appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

In Part 1, we created our own list of goals to focus on achieving this Ramadan. Today, I will go on to share the 4 P’s to properly document your goals and my RAMADAN framework to help you design them, In sha Allah.

The 4 P’s of Goal Documentation

It is surprising, but the way you document your goals can have a dramatic effect on the likelihood of your success in achieving them. Some do not bother with documentation and instead opt to rely on their memory.

The truth is, the very fact that you have written your goals down, can dramatically improve your chances of achieving them, according to this study. But writing those goals is not enough; you must make sure to document them correctly. Since you are taking the time and putting in the effort to write them down, you might as well do it right! Here are 4 P’s that will help you make sure you document your goals correctly.

1. Positive: Lots of people want to eliminate something negative from their lives. It could be a bad habit like smoking, poor spending habits, eating behaviors, etc. So their goal is to stop doing something negative. Instead of focusing on what you do not want, or what you want to change, focus on what you do want. Your mind automatically attracts what you focus on. If the target of your goal is something negative, you will continue to attract it! This explains why so many just cannot seem to eliminate their bad habits. So for example, do not say “lose 20 lbs.” Rather, say “weigh 175 lbs.” Instead of saying “do not fail to complete the Qur’an again”, say “complete the Qur’an”.
2. Person: The trick here is to write your goals out as a sentence and make yourself the subject of that sentence. In other words, write the goal as a sentence in the first person. This forces your mind to associate your identity with your goals, which leads to the subconscious mind calculating the many ways to make this happen. For example, do not compile a list of goals like “weigh 175 lbs”. Instead, say “I want to weigh 175 lbs”. Instead of “Complete the Qur’an”, say “I want to complete the Qur’an”.
3. Present Tense: Many people put off their goals to some time in the future. For example, in Ramadan, they say “I want to read the entire Qur’an.” Instead of that wishful thinking, fast-forward your life to that point in time when you feel the sensation of having completed the Qur’an and making sincere dua to Allah in gratitude upon completion. Feel the gratitude to Allah in your heart for the tawfiq (aid and success) to reach this goal. Feel the happiness and fulfillment for finally reaching this monumental goal. When you truly feel the sensations and emotions attached to achieving your goal, tie the words on the page to those feelings. This attaches your goals to something pleasurable instead of something painful. In practical terms, it becomes “I am grateful that I have completed the Qur’an”.

4. Picture: Once you have the words and the feeling, you need to attach them to a picture, since the mind does not think in words; it thinks in pictures. This makes the goal more concrete and completes the connection between your entire mind and the goal. So if your goal is weight loss, for example, imagine the scale reading 175.0 lbs and the feelings that come with it. If it’s Qur’an, imagine looking at the last page and closing it for the last time (in this reading).

The RAMADAN Goal-Setting Framework

Knowing how to properly document your goals is one thing, but knowing what types of goals to set is something completely different! To make this as easy and as simple as possible, I have created a framework to help us formulate the goals that we are targeting. It is fitting that since Ramadan is all about transforming our behavior, that the proper method for setting our goals comes from the word RAMADAN. Your goals must meet these criteria to have the maximum possible impact.

R for Relevant: When setting goals for Ramadan, remember this is the month of getting close to Allah by ibadah, Qur’an, etc. Do not go out of your way to set 20 goals about da’wah. Even the scholars used to close their books of fiqh and hadith during the month of Ramadan and focus exclusively on the Book of Allah . In the same way, make sure the goals you set for yourself this Ramadan are relevant to the month of Ramadan.

Another consideration is the goal must be relevant to YOU. Is this something you genuinely want or is it something being forced upon you? Is your wife hinting that you should lose 10 lbs this Ramadan? Do not agree to it, unless it is something you genuinely want to achieve from the bottom of your heart. Otherwise, you simply will not be successful. And I do not want you to start off in a losing battle!

A for Aspirational: In my corporate training and consulting experience, I commonly hear the expression and acronym “SMART goals” when companies and organizations are trying to create their strategic plans. It is that acronym that forced me to create the RAMADAN goals framework. The A in SMART stands for “achievable”. I don’t believe in setting achievable goals and neither should you! 

The point of Ramadan is to expand your capacity and step outside your comfort zone, to aspire to something greater! When setting your goals this Ramadan, pick something that makes you a little nervous. Never prayed taraweeh every day in Ramadan? I challenge you to do it this year! As we discussed last time, Allah has given you a chance to show your potential and has made it so much easier for you by chaining the devils.

This is a chance to set a new standard for yourself and build new habits. Maybe after Ramadan, you will continue going to the masjid for Isha throughout the year. Even the Prophet used to tighten his waist belt (i.e. work hard) with the start of the last ten days, meaning he would go over and above what was normal for him to do during the rest of the month. If even he could do more, so can we!

M for Measurable: As an engineer, I know all about metrics and they truly do help us improve. By phrasing your goal as something that is quantifiable and measurable, it creates clarity whether or not you have succeeded in achieving your goal. So instead of saying you want to read more Qur’an, how much do you plan on reading? If your goal is to read the whole book in the month once, that is one juz’ or roughly 20 pages per day. Can you divide this into 10 pages before work and 10 pages after? Or maybe 5 before work, 5 during lunch break, and 10 after? Putting numbers on it makes it real, and helps you come up with a plan for how to begin achieving these goals. We will go into this in greater detail in the next article, In sha Allah.

A for Assess: You need to have a system to keep track of how you are doing with your goals from day to day. This assessment goes hand-in-hand with redefining your goals as measurable. The process of reviewing a system to assess your performance is called muhasabah, or holding yourself accountable. Omar said: “Bring yourself to account before you are taken to account and weigh your deeds before your deeds are weighed” [Ibnul-Qayyim, Ighathat al-lahfan].

I believe every Muslim should have his own system to keep track of his deeds on a daily basis. For example, I have created a spreadsheet in Excel I use to track certain daily behaviors like prayers, sunnahs, exercise, sleep, etc. Alternatively, it could be as simple as a special journal you keep next to your bed. Every night before sleeping, you should review your actions of the day and see what corrections you need to make for tomorrow. Then, using that information, every week you should review your progress toward your goals and determine what corrections need to be made for this week. We will discuss this more in the next article, In sha Allah.

D for Definite: When setting goals, you need a clear, unambiguous target. Just like making the goal measurable helps give you a criterion for success, making your goal definite will do the same. “I need to be a better person this Ramadan” just will not work. Be specific. How will you improve? With your parents? With your neighbors? With your salah? Maybe you will be more truthful? How will you know you succeeded? Will a third party be able to verify if you have succeeded? If not, keep trying to make it more definite so anyone else can determine if you have been successful or not.

A for Appointment/Agenda: Having 100 goals is great, but if you do not set the time aside to complete them, they will never be accomplished. That is why you need to set an appointment with yourself in your agenda or your calendar. Let’s go back to the Qur’an example. If you set the goal to read 20 pages a day, how long does it take for you to read a page? If it takes several minutes since Arabic is not your native language, you need to plan accordingly. That might mean it will take you one hour or more every day to read Qur’an. When will you make the time to do that? It may interfere with your other goal of being more charitable and volunteering in the neighborhood soup kitchen. Which of these two noble efforts will get that precious hour of your time? You need to make that decision in advance so you do not feel bad for doing one or the other.

There is also a practical benefit to putting it in your calendar: You can set up automatic reminders on your computer and smartphone. If you prefer a paper solution, you can print out your daily agenda and review it the night before to ensure each appointment gets its due preparation.

N for Novelty: For many years, we set the same goals over and over. “This Ramadan, I want to read the whole Qur’an”, we say, yet sadly we never do. This creates a lot of pressure on you, year after year, and can set you into a downward spiral. You start to believe you can never succeed at this goal, or any goal for that matter.

This Ramadan, try focusing on something new. Maybe do more dhikr and focus less on racing to the last page of the Qur’an. Do not ignore it, but recite it with concentration and pondering as you go along, rather than obsessing over completing it this time. Then when you have achieved your new goals, you will build confidence and momentum that you can bring to your old goals at another date.

Also, make sure to set a goal that is a newer higher standard of excellence for you. If you pray five times a day right now, do not make that your goal for Ramadan! Do something new and exciting! But if you are currently not praying five times per day, you can try to increase your target to five times a day this Ramadan.

Action Steps:

Take the list of goals you created last time and refine them using this worksheet, ensuring you are using the 4 P’s and the RAMADAN framework. From there, narrow them down to the top 5-10 goals that you will absolutely achieve this Ramadan, In sha Allah. Do not worry; the next article will explain how to do that exactly!

Is setting goals for Ramadan something new to you? How did it feel to write down those goals and filter them according to the 4 P’s and RAMADAN framework? I’m interested in hearing your thoughts!

Read the other parts of this series: Part 1 | Part 3  | Part 4 | Part 5

The post [Aiming for an Awesome Ramadan Series – Part 2] Did You Set Your Goals Right? appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

Ramadan can be one of the most dramatic, life-shifting 29 to 30 days of a Muslim’s life, if we know what to do with it. Throughout this five-part series, In sha Allah I will share with you many tips and techniques to make this your most awesome Ramadan ever! In today’s post, I hope to demonstrate to you that Ramadan is worth preparing for, as early as possible!

Ramadan can be the most rewarding time of the year, if we know how to maximize it. Let’s do a little math to put the amount of blessings that are up for grabs in perspective. The Prophet said: “Whosoever tries drawing nearer to Allah by performing any virtuous deed in this month, for him shall be such reward as if he had performed a farḍ (obligatory observance) in any other time of the year. And whoever performs a farḍ for him shall be the reward of seventy farḍ in any other time of the year” [Ibn Khuzaymah & Bayhaqi].

Imagine getting a multiple of 70 times the good deeds for doing something you normally do, for example a simple prayer like Maghrib. Now, combine that amazing fact with the following hadith: “… Every good action is rewarded by ten times its kind, up to seven hundred times…” [Muwatta Malik].

Depending on the level of your sincerity and khushu’, you can get a reward of up to 700 times for doing the same act [Sahih al-Bukhari]. This, of course, has to do with the sincerity of the act. In Ramadan, this is much easier to achieve, since the devils (shayateen) are chained, as the Prophet said: “When the month of Ramadan starts, the gates of the heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are chained.” [Sahih al-Bukhari]

Combine those two multipliers with the following for maximum impact: The Prophet said: “The prayer in congregation is twenty-five times more virtuous than the prayer of anyone of you on his own” [Sunan Ibn Majah].

So if you pray those 3 raka’ahs for Maghrib in jama’ah (which is very likely during Ramadan), they are worth 70 x 700 x 25 = 1,225,000! Over a million times more! Look at the Mercy of Allah ! Let’s work hard to get ready to reap the amazing rewards of this month!

The Hidden Blessings of Allah , the Sublime, Cannot Be Quantified

There is another dynamic at play besides mathematics. It is a hidden gift from Allah that He gives preference to certain days, nights or months. Knowing that Ramadan, for example, has such amazing rewards associated with it encourages us to strive harder than ever during this month. Suddenly on the first day of Ramadan, we are able to do so much more than we have done all year.

This characteristic of our deen helps us realize during this month that we have so much more potential than we may have thought. Allow me to explain. Allah hangs the massive reward in front of us and we put in more work than ever before to achieve those blessings. This demonstrates to you and I (because Allah already knows) how much each one of us can truly accomplish! My dear readers, Allah believes in us more than we do. The gift of Ramadan allows us to see it for ourselves. He shows us that we can change. Our behavior can be different in this month than it is all year. It does not hurt that He has chained the devils to give you that added boost either.

Ramadan Is Synonymous With Change

The first step to change, is to believe that we can change, and Allah makes that clear during this month. In fact, the word Ramadan comes from the root “Ramada”, which means intense heat. As a former engineer, I can tell you that intense heat can be used to bend and shape the strongest of metals. How is this related to Ramadan in our deen? It is a time for us every year to reshape our lives into whatever shape we like. No matter how set you are in your bad habits, the heat of Ramadan can change you for the better, In sha Allah.

This is why Allah says in the Qur’an that the purpose of fasting is to achieve taqwa: “O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous” [Qur’an: Chapter 2, Verse 183].

If Allah gave us Ramadan so we can have taqwa, then what is the real definition of taqwa? Unfortunately, I’ve been to too many lectures or khutbahs (Friday sermons) where it has been mistranslated as God-consciousness. That is an effect of taqwa, but it is not the fundamental definition. The word comes from the root “waqa”, which means to shield or protect. The proper definition of taqwa is to protect yourself from displeasing Allah , by doing what He has commanded and avoiding what He has prohibited.

Fasting in Ramadan helps you reform your behavior to be in line with what Allah wants for you. It is no coincidence that Allah made Ramadan a month long. Psychologists, neuroscientists and personal development experts agree that the minimum time required to make (or break) a habit is between 21-28 days: About one lunar month. Allah has given us an annual free pass to create change in our lives. When you take a long-term perspective, you are able to build from one Ramadan to the next, striving each year to become better and better (more on this in a later article, In sha Allah).

Thus, we can understand when we hear that the companions of the Messenger of Allah would prepare for Ramadan six months in advance and enjoy its effects six months thereafter. Their entire year revolved around Ramadan: First preparing to reap the maximum rewards and later enjoying the benefits of their hard work. In this series, I hope to help you shift your calendar to do the same, In sha Allah.

How Exactly Can We Do This?

Every successful initiative, Ramadan or otherwise, has three important P’s:

• Planning – Written instructions and procedures to achieve the intended outcome. We will spend a lot of time describing how to do this properly.
• Preparing – Collecting all the materials and systems necessary to execute the plan. Later posts will have plenty of action steps and resources to help you prepare.
• Practice – Begin executing the plan during a period prior to the real thing. It seems unlikely this applies to Ramadan, but “The Messenger of Allah did not fast in any month of the year more than he did in Shaban. He used to fast all of Shaban” [Sunan an-Nisa’i]. It’s like weightlifting: When you practice during Sha’ban and the other months, it is like lifting much heavier weight. But when Ramadan comes, the devils are chained and the burden is lightened, making it much easier to lift the same weight, and even increase your maximum capacity!

Starting this process as early as possible will give you ample time to plan, prepare and practice, so you can have the most awesome Ramadan ever!

Ideas for Goals This Ramadan

This Ramadan, make a commitment to your goals and targets for the month. Be careful, while Ramadan is about getting closer to Allah and reforming yourself, it is not time to be a monk (that is only in the last 10 nights!). Instead, try to diversify your goal portfolio and create a launching pad for new habits that you can carry forward throughout the year. Here are some ideas for areas to set goals for this Ramadan.

Prayers

• Fard: Five times a day, an absolute must! This is a great time to focus on Fajr prayer if you are having difficulties with it.
• Sunnah: Try to hit as many of the 12 sunnah raka’ahs in a day as possible.
• Duha: This pre-noon prayer is a great habit to develop this Ramadan.
• Taraweeh: Nothing more relevant in Ramadan than praying taraweeh! Just remember that the priority is to pray the Isha prayer in the masjid, even over taraweeh.
• Witr: The Prophet never left this prayer, even when he was traveling. With the imam usually leading this prayer after taraweeh, it is a great way to begin to incorporate these prayers into your life!
• Tahajjud: In the last 10 nights, many offer the extra night prayers to try to catch laylat ul-qadr. This could be a great chance to begin incorporating tahajjud into your routine outside of Ramadan as well.
• At the masjid: This Ramadan, see if you can attend prayers at the masjid regularly, especially the fard prayers.
• Nafl: Do not limit yourself to the prayers I have mentioned above. Feel free to offer as many voluntary prayers as your heart desires!

Qur’an

• Read it in your language: The most important thing with the Qur’an is to understand it so you can feel the effect it can have on your heart. If that means reading it in your language, I advise you to prioritize this. It can help you understand what is being recited during taraweeh. But do not neglect learning Arabic so you can understand it in the language in which it was revealed.
• Read it in Arabic: Even if you cannot fully comprehend it, there are countless blessings in reading the Qur’an in Arabic, not to mention the reward. It may even inspire you to continue your studies of the Arabic language!
• Listen to it in Arabic: Everyone has his/her favorite reciter and this is the perfect month to try to listen to as much Qur’an as possible. Personally I try to do at least one khatmah (full reading) of the Qur’an just by listening in the car or at work, for example.
• Memorization and/or review: Many people study and memorize the Qur’an outside of Ramadan, but all will agree Ramadan is one of the best times for reviewing and memorizing more of the book of Allah . Feel free to mix in this goal with the rest of your Qur’an goals.

‘Ibadah (Worship)

• I’tikaf: The Prophet would go into the masjid and would not come out during the last 10 nights to maximize his productivity and ibadah. This is a unique act of worship that is not typically performed outside of Ramadan, so be sure to take advantage of it.
• Dua: When prescribing the fast for us in surah al-Baqarah, Allah mentioned a verse (186) that almost looks out of place (God forbid). While in the middle of describing the fast, Allah suddenly switches gears, saying “And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me – indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided”  [Qur’an: Chapter 2, Verse 186]. This shows the connection of dua to this blessed month. In a later article, I will be sharing the 8 duas you need to be making this Ramadan, In sha Allah.
• Dhikr: There are plenty of types of adhkar to be made, including those of the morning and evening, before bed and after rising, istighfar, tasbeeh, etc. The important thing is, you pick a goal and stick with it.
• Tafakkur: Spending time in tafakkur during i’tikaf might be a great way to hit two birds with one stone and spend some time pondering the overwhelming Might and Power of Allah .
• Da’wah: Although Ramadan is not really a month of da’wah, it can be a great opportunity for those of us not living in Muslim-majority countries to explain this beautiful month and the traditions we practice.

Social

Ramadan is an undeniably social experience. From group iftars to group prayers in the masjid, every night you are seeing people. Use this as a time to connect with your family over iftar so they feel the blessings of Ramadan. Try to reach out to old friends as well.

Physical

I got the help of my wife, a nutrition and fitness expert, to write this section:

• Hydration: The number one challenge in Ramadan during summer is that long days do not allow for enough time to get hydrated. Many people mistakenly focus on the feeling of hunger so they binge eat without realizing they are actually thirsty. Set a target amount of water to drink every day, and carry a water bottle of known amount with you everywhere you go to make sure you drink at least that much during the non-fasting hours.
• Rest: Long fasts can really drain you, especially if you are dehydrated. Therefore, you should set targets for the amount of rest you get each day and night. Perhaps you should plan to take naps, or adjust your schedule to accommodate a different sleeping pattern.
• Diet: The types of foods you eat will have a dramatic impact on the amount of long term energy you have throughout the day and night. Do not overdo it during iftar as it will  make you feel less energetic and more bloated.
• Supplementation: It is challenging enough without Ramadan to get all the nutrients our bodies need. Consider taking supplements and vitamins to help bridge the gap, after checking with your doctor if necessary. I have also recently picked up juicing. It is an efficient way to get lots of nutrients in a short amount of time. It also gives a lot of energy! I highly recommend it!
• Fitness: Some say Ramadan is a time to maintain or expect losses in the fitness department. Many actually gain weight during Ramadan because of all the night-time binge eating. But real fitness experts like Rehan Jalali actually say that Ramadan is the time to make massive gains! What fitness goals do you have this Ramadan?
  

Fasting

Believe it or not, you can have goals even for the type of fasting you are doing. Imam al-Ghazali said there are three levels of fasting. Which one are you targeting this year? Don’t worry, you can always build on that for next year, In sha Allah!

1. Level 1: Fasting from food, drink, and sex during the daylight hours.
2. Level 2: Fasting from performing evil actions and deeds.
3. Level 3: Fasting from having evil thoughts.

Finances

• Sadaqah: “The Prophet was the most generous of all the people, and he used to become more generous in Ramadan…[he] used to be more generous than the fast wind” [Sahih al-Bukhari].
• Sponsor iftars: A great way to reap the rewards of someone else’s hard work is to feed the one who fasted. Do you have a target for the number of iftars you would like to host in your home? What about sponsoring iftars at the local masjid?
• Zakat al maal: Many people use Ramadan as a time to remember to give their zakat al maal. Certainly this will be a goal that requires preparation and planning!
• Zakat al fitr: Everyone must pay this zakat in one way or another, so make the intention from now and be sure to pay it as early as possible.
• Umrah: What a wonderful goal, praying taraweeh at the Ka’bah and performing umrah at the same time! I have not had the honor of doing this during Ramadan before, but I pray I can one of these days, In sha Allah.

Akhlaq (Character)

Last but not least, Ramadan is a great time to review your character and see which areas could use improvement. You could set goals for certain character traits like truthfulness, humility, kindness, patience, modesty, trustworthiness, mercy, or something else I did not list. You could also set goals for controlling your anger or even visiting the sick.

Action Steps

1. Write out your intention statement to put in the work necessary to have your most awesome Ramadan ever!
2. Schedule 30 minutes with yourself to think about these goal areas and create your list of at least 15 goals. The next article will show you what to do with it.
3. Share this article with friends and family and begin a discussion with them about your goals for this Ramadan.

How do you feel about Ramadan now that you will be starting it well-prepared? Confident? Challenged? Please do share your expectations for this Ramadan below!

Read the other parts of this series: Part 2 | Part 3  | Part 4 | Part 5

This article was first published on May 27, 2014

The post [Aiming for an Awesome Ramadan Series – Part 1] It’s Time To Change Your Life appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.