Ramadan with all of its numerous blessings presents the youth with some productivity challenges. One such challenge is trying to maximise time while engaging in productive activities that will bring the best rewards from this special month. With these Ramadan activities, you will find simple ways of leveraging fulfilling activities to help you grow spiritually, mentally, socially and physically as a productive youth and leader in the Ummah.

”Then did you think that We created you uselessly and that to Us you would not be returned?” [Qur’an: Chapter 23, Verse 115]

Are you a young Muslim looking to optimise your days and nights in Ramadan? Would you like to invest in young Muslims to help them attain success in this life and the next through beneficial Ramadan activities? If your answer is yes, read on.

The following activities are meant to help the youth bust the myth of free time often experienced in Ramadan. In such times, they typically engage in idle play, for example, playing games, browsing TV channels, reading novels, chatting mindlessly, surfing the Internet, sleeping for long hours or eating from iftar time for hours on end.

These Ramadan activities will help you get through the month productively, utilising your time well and multiplying your rewards continuously, In sha Allah. You will engage your mind, body and soul. Begin with yourself, but also do not forget to contribute to the well-being of the Ummah. Make every second count because you never know if it could be your last Ramadan.

Spiritual Activities

1. Assess your spiritual mindset and connection with Allah from day to day. Commit to those acts that make you feel closer to Him from Day 1 and drop those that make you feel disconnected or distant from Him.
   How: 7 Spiritual Productivity Habits to Develop this Ramadan
   
2. Begin the month of Ramadan with the correct intention of increasing your consciousness of Allah through your fasting.
   How: Renew this intention each day as you wake up to a new Ramadan morning. “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]
3. Eat suhoor (the morning meal) before sunrise. Eat healthy meals in moderation for energy and strength. The Messenger said: ”Eat suhoor (predawn meal). Surely, there is a blessing in suhoor.” [Bukhari]
   How: The Ultimate 10 Step Suhoor Guide
4. Engage in i’tikaaf (private devotion) in the last 10 days of Ramadan. Aisha related that the Prophet used to practice I’tikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan until he died and then his wives used to practise I’tikaf after him. [Bukhari].
   How: I’tikaaf: A Spiritual Retreat
5. Engage in earnest and constant remembrance of Allah with your heart, lips, tongue and words. Learn some adhkaar (words of remembrance), especially the ones you should use regularly such as morning and evening remembrances. Memorise them in Arabic and also learn the meanings.
   How: Dhikr for Extensive Reward
6. Make a lot of dua (supplications) in Ramadan. Implore Allah in the early hours of the morning and at all other times when prayers are accepted such as the last third of the night, while prostrating, last hour of Friday and the final hour before breaking your fast. The Prophet said: “Du’a is worship.” [Abu Dawud]
   How: Ramadan Early Bird Series – Part 3
7. Perform your five daily prayers on time and in congregation. Enter into your prayers in a state of submission and humility. “… Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a decree of specified times.” [Qur’an: Chapter 4, Verse 103]
   How: Khushu in Salah – Part 2
8. Recite and memorise portions of the Qur’an daily with passion and reflection. Immerse your heart into the recitation and connect with the meanings. Harmonise the flow of your memorisation with good recitation and reflect over the meanings. The companions were known to devote their time to reading the Qur’an during this blessed month. The Prophet used to revise with Jibril and completed a cycle of recitation in Ramadan. It is reported that he did it twice in the last Ramadan before his death.
   How: 8 Easy Steps to Recite the Entire Qur’an This Ramadan
9. Repeat the words of this special supplication ”Allahumma innaka ‘affuwun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa’fu ‘annee”. Aisha asked the Prophet : “O Messenger of Allah, what is your view if I know when the Night of Al-Qadr is, then what should I say in it?” to which he replied “Say: ‘O Allah, indeed You are Pardoning [Generous]. You love pardon, so pardon me'” [Tirmidhi].
10. Seek Laylatul Qadr (Night of Power) in the last ten nights of Ramadan.
    How: Laylatul Qadr Worship Plan to Maximise the Last 10 Nights of Ramadan
11. Travel for Umrah. ”Perform Umrah when Ramadan comes, for Umrah in Ramadan is equal to Hajj (in reward).” [Bukhari]
    How: Hajj Tips Series – Part 1: Pre-Departure and Madinah
12. Perform voluntary prayers. “Whoever stands (in the voluntary night prayer of) Ramadan out of faith and in hope of reward, his previous sins will be forgiven.” [Nasa’i]
    How: What’s Your Morning Routine?
13. Give the gift of Qur’an.
    How: Distribute copies of the Qur’an to colleagues, schools and da’wah groups. You can also donate to Qur’an publishing and educational projects.

Physical Activities

14. Get some fresh air and daily dose of exercise. You should take frequent walks to and fro the masjid, corner shops and use the stairs where available so to stay physically and mentally alert.
    How: How You Can Incorporate Exercise Into Your Ramadan Routine
15. Prioritise with your personal care and hygiene. Take of your body during the days and nights of fasting. Use miswak, take a bath, change your clothes and keep your living environment clean and tidy. Remember that cleanliness is part of faith.
    How: 5 Steps to Develop the Habit of Miswak

Mental Activities

16. Make a comprehensive ‘Goals checklist’ to help you focus on what you want to achieve in Ramadan. Be realistic with your goals. Think about where you are right now and where you want to get to by the end of Ramadan.
    How: 6 Steps to Help Set Realistic Ramadan Goals and Stick to Them
17. Seek beneficial knowledge during Ramadan. Read books of tafseer, hadith and life story of the Prophet . You should also read books on the essentials of Ramadan, those giving an explanation of its excellence and benefits etc.
    How: Reading the Qur’an Productively
18. Spend some time watching beneficial television programmes such as those on Islam channel, Huda TV and Ramadan TV. They should be programmes that will boost your faith and spur you into action, rather just something to do just to pass time.
    How: The YouTube Culture and Your Productivity
19. Enrol for a Ramadan course or lecture series with your friends. Follow it through to completion, take action on what you learn and share the gems of what you learn with others.
    How: Ramadan Video Series
20. Summarise beneficial Ramadan lectures, videos and resources. Convert them to suitable formats and share with those who may have difficulty accessing relevant information from the masjid, live lectures or online e.g. those who may be hearing or sight impaired.
    How: Ramadan Interview Series
21. Translate Ramadan articles and texts from English language into other languages you are proficient at. Spread those translations, so other language speakers could benefit.
    How: Can You Volunteer Your Skills?

Social Activities

22. Invite new Muslims for iftar in your home. Be a good listener and offer support in any way you can. Remember that the Muslim is the brother of a Muslim and enjoy a special bond for the sake of Allah .
    How: How to Organise a Productive Iftar Party
23. Distribute meals to the poor and needy. “He who provides a fasting person something with which to break his fast, will earn the same reward as the one who was observing the fast, without diminishing in any way the reward of the latter.” [Tirmidhi]
    How: Giving Sadaqah as a Family
24. Babysit for a friend or neighbour, so the sister may have time to recite the Qur’an or simply take a rest.
    How: Increasing Productivity: Lesson 7 – Know Your Neighbour
25. Counsel a fellow Muslim who is going through a difficult patch. Listen to his/her problems without being judgmental. Try to connect her/him to Allah and His glad tidings, as He is the One who responds to call of the distressed especially in the Month of Mercy. Remember to protect your fellow Muslim’s privacy and secret.
    How: What’s Holding You Back From Effective Listening
26. Start a charity drive to collect items of great need in your community (it could be food supplies, household items, clothing etc.). Also remember to give charity everyday even if with dates, water, fruits or milk. Give to those you know and those you do not. Increase your generosity and sacrifice in this noble month.
    How: ProductiveRamadan Tip 13: Long-Term Charity
27. Create healthy meal plans for yourself and family. Make good nutrition part of your Ramadan goal. Prepare your meals in moderate portions, so they may drive your worship in Ramadan.
    How: How To Plan A Ramadan Food Schedule
28. Create a Ramadan toolkit with your friends, siblings or colleagues. Let everyone put in his/her favourite Ramadan resources. You can also add beneficial ones as you come across them. Meet every or 3-5 days (virtually or in person) to swap resources and share your biggest gems.
    How: ProductiveRamadan Resources
29. Eid gifts galore! Put aside some money or seek contributions and volunteers to buy and gift wrap little but thoughtful Eid gifts for children, from orphans to young relatives. If you have some extra money, buy or make gifts for your parents and friends too.
    How: Six Eid Gift Ideas for Children
30. Give da’wah at the community centre, hospitals and hospices with your friends.
    How: Da’wah Series – Part 2
31. Help out at home if you are living with your parents. Relieve them of some cooking and cleaning, and encourage them to increase their acts of worship.
    How: Can Parents Influence Productivity
32. Help to reconcile those in conflict or foster peace where it is lacking. It could be among friends, colleagues or family members. Take a neutral stand, listen to both sides objectively, and use wise words carefully to bring their hearts back together. Make a lot of dua for Allah’s guidance.
    How: [Productive Professionals] 9 Tips to Minimize Workplace Arguments
33. Join a da’wah team (like IERA) if there is one close to where you live. Use this opportunity to call those who are not yet Muslim, to Islam. Make it a duty to talk to someone about Islam every day.
    How: Dawah Series – Part 1
34. Keep in touch with family members and relatives, near or distant. You can send an SMS, make a phone or Skype call, or send a letter or an email. Make it an opportunity to rebuild the ties of kinship.
    How: 9 Practical Tips to Rebuild Our Ties of Kinship this Ramadan
35. Invite Muslim brothers/sisters for iftar. Eat together to foster spirit of brotherhood and love, and create empathy for the poor and hungry.
    How: 4 Steps Towards Faithful Friendship
36. Visit the sick and elderly in your community, especially those without any family living close to them. Take gifts to them and give words of encouragement to put a smile on their face.
    How: Productive Muslim Visits the Sick
37. Visit the orphans and spend time with them. You can also donate to projects for orphans such as those in areas of education or community development, or adopt an orphan.
    How: Save an Orphan
38. Volunteer your time, knowledge and skills at the local masjid or madrassah. Be generous with what you have and open your hands wide. ‘‘If you offer up to God a goodly loan, He will amply repay you for it, and will forgive your sins: for God is ever responsive to gratitude, forbearing.’‘ [Qur’an: Chapter 64, Verse 17]
    How: How to be a Productive Member of Your Masjid
39. Write to Muslim prisoners and their families with words of hope and inspiration.
    How: Visit them if you can and give Ramadan reminders as well as advice on improving relationship with Allah . You can equally support charities for prisoners through raising awareness, donations or by volunteering.
40. Call local Islamic schools and ask if they need volunteers to read to children, assist teachers or any other duties. Invite your friends along and spend time contributing to the education of the younger generation. You will get to observe firsthand how children behave and learn.
    How: Inspire Children to Gain Knowledge
    

Psychological Activities

41. Build new habits and crush bad ones.
    How: The Ramadan Guilt Trip – Here’s How to Beat It
42. Evaluate yourself every day. Make time to self reflect and assess your daily activities, from intention, to commitment and practice. Is your heart getting closer to Allah or more distant?
    How: Productive Thinking Series – Part 7
43. Journal your Ramadan reflections; write down your thoughts, ideas, feelings, personal growth and mindset using a notepad or buy a pre-made one.
    How: Journal Writing Tips
44. Make time for sleep so you can get sufficient rest to keep you alert and focused in all other acts of worship. Whatever you do, take a break at the end of the day and nap during the daytime for renewed energy. Take care so you do not oversleep, missing out on many rewarding acts.
    How: ProductiveMuslim Sleep Routine
45. Take a vacation just for Ramadan. Plan ahead so you can take time off work to devote to extra worship. It could be for the entire month or just a few days. You could also target the opportunity of the last ten days of Ramadan as your vacation period.
    How: The Last Sprint – Ways to Keep Yourself Motivated


Financial Activities

46. Budget wisely. Use a simple potting method to allocate money for your personal needs, home essentials and the needy. However, do not spend beyond your means or borrow money to give charity.
    How: 8 Tips to be a Financially Sound Productive Muslim
47. Pay your zakat if it is due on your wealth. Nothing purifies wealth like zakat does.
    How: 8 Basic Boo Boos When Paying Zakat Al-Fitr
48. Invest your wealth into an Islamic waqf (endowment).
    How: Dr Abdul Rahman Al Sumait – A Legendary Productive Muslim
49. Donate to the building or renovation of a masjid.
    How: Productive Fundraising
50. Become a social entrepreneur. Create social value and impact by finding solutions to social problems in your community or other communities in need, using an entrepreneurship model. For example, providing clean water, housing solutions and medical supplies etc. “Whoever removes a worldly grief from a believer, Allah will remove from him one of the griefs of the Day of Resurrection… And Allah will aid His slave so long as he aids his brother.” [Nawawi]
    How: Interview with Huzaifa Sial

That perceived leisure time is an opportunity to reap the numerous blessings of Ramadan. The month allows you to be guided in bringing about change within yourself, improve your relationship with others and contribute to your community by taking part in building an Ummah with a high Ramadan spirit.

As you eagerly anticipate the Ramadan moon, browse through the activity list again and choose those with the potential of changing your fasting experience. If you are ready commit to those changes and reap the rewards of the special month, pray to Allah to make you reach Ramadan in good health and sound mind.

What other productive Ramadan activities can the youth engage in? Please share in the comments section below.

About the Author:

Amina Edota is a Writer, Educationist, Student and Entrepreneur. She hosts her own blog YouthlyHub at www.youthlyhub.com – a site that strives to inspire and educate Muslim Youth on making the best of the opportunities in their youth. Sign up for regular buzz on YouthlyHub to help develop your Mind, Body and Soul.

The post 50 Productive Ramadan Activities For The Youth appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

This doodle is based on the interview with Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda.

Download the doodle (high-res)

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 [Doodle] How to be Productive with Your Family During Ramadan appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

Ramadan, a month awaited by excited Muslims! This month reflects the rituals of faith that strengthen the links between each individual and Allah . Each country has its own customs and traditions, and Muslims live all over the world, many of who are in non- Muslim countries. These Muslim communities celebrate this holy month, in addition to lifestyle and custom differences between the state in which they reside and their countries of origin. Nonetheless, rituals of Ramadan are the same among Muslims in the west and Muslims living in Islamic countries.

Russia is not a Muslim country, but rituals practiced by Muslims in Ramadan are the same: meeting at the suhoor table, going for prayers in congregation at the mosque, reciting Qur’an in groups, performing the Taraweeh prayer etc. These people feel a sense of closeness and religious faith by meeting with other Muslims who are doing the same.

However, when you have a busy schedule, keeping focused and caring about your spiritual deeds is not always easy. It takes steadfastness to focus, good motivation, and working smartly to beat interruptions.

Here are some ways to manage your time in Ramadan, and be productive.

1. “I always miss suhoor”

Suhoor is a Prophetic Sunnah. Anas ibn Malek said, the prophet Muhammad said: “Have Suhoor, indeed there’s blessing in it”. [Bukhari].

If you work day shifts and get to bed late, make sure you wake up for suhoor. Even a glass of water and some dates will suffice, for Allah has put barakah in this. You will get the blessings In sha Allah and at the same time the food will give you the power to stay awake during your day.

2. “I can’t join my family for iftar”

Being with family especially in Ramadan, is a good thing that makes you feel warm and close to those who love and care about you. But due to office working hours, you may find your shift during iftar. But there’s a way out, you can arrange to have iftar with family over the weekend. Alternatively, if your manager can understand the “family tie idea”, you can excuse yourself for an hour to have iftar with the family, and you’ll work for that hour after the usual working time.
What if you can’t arrange that?  You can have iftar at work with office colleagues.

3. Don’t be a Glutton!

A lot of people eat too much at iftar, and end up not praying Taraweeh or even breathe! Eating is not forbidden, but eating too much is not approved of course. The body and digestive system are badly affected by doing so. Break up the big meal into small ones that your body can handle easily, and leave you feeling less overwhelmed.

For example: break your fast with dates and water, then pray Maghrib, then have something light like a fruit or vegetable salad, then pray Isha. You can have your main dish after prayers. Small meals consistently, will bear fruit over time, and you will not feel tired during Ramadan and at the end of the month, you will be in better health.

4. “I want to pray Qiyaam but…!!”

Praying Taraweeh and Qiyam is one of the most spiritual acts in Ramadan. Praying is preferred in a mosque, as the prophet said: “Whoever prays qiyaam with the imam until he finishes, it will be recorded as if he spent the whole night in prayer”. [Tirmidhi]

But what if you don’t have mosque in your city? Or the mosque is very far, like a 100 kilometers? You can pray with your friends at home, or specify a place and use it as a mosque, just to get the merits of praying in jamaa’a.

5. “I can’t feel Ramadan”

Unfortunately, a lot of us say that, feel that, and can’t handle this point. So, how do you stay motivated to make the most out of Ramadan when everyone else around you treats Ramadan as a non-important event? Each one of us has a great way out. Just keep making “Istighfaar” all the time. It’s an easy thing you can do while you’re working, cooking, driving etc. The same goes with dhikr.

You can easily motivate others and get yourself motivated too. For example: distribute dates for iftar at office, your colleagues will be happy and will feel that Ramadan is a month of giving. You could also use this moment  to tell them about Allah and Islam.

6. A Coin Might Equal a House in Paradise

“The likeness of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is as the likeness of a grain (of corn); it grows seven ears, and each ear has a hundred grains. Allah gives manifold increase to whom He wills, and Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All-Knower. [Qur’an: Chapter 2, Verse 261]

The example set by the Prophet Muhammad teaches us to be as generous as possible. We are also encouraged to give alms as a way to earn the pleasure of Allah , averting calamities and and to cure ailments. There was an incident from the recent past regarding a woman who was diagnosed with renal failure. Dialysis stopped showing positive results and she was recommended to undergo a kidney transplant. Another poor woman came to the hospital to donate her kidney, but was crying a lot. They asked her why she was crying. She said she was donating her kidney because she was too poor and couldn’t find any work and her kids were going hungry. The sick woman paid the poor woman the total amount for the kidney without actually taking the kidney. A day after that, when the doctors examined the sick woman, they found her 100% healthy. Subhan Allah!

7. Love Technology? Tune It Out and Reconnect with Ramadan!

A lot of today’s youth are addicted to technology; they might spend 20 hours per day playing video games or surfing the net. But Ramadan is to remember Allah and share the happiness with your family, friends and community as well.

In Egypt, the youth keep themselves busy with social projects in Ramadan. One such task is called the  “Ramadan Bag”. Each youth contributes some money and they buy dry rations like rice, sugar, oil etc. Each product is packed and then put into bags, and then distributed to the poor across the country.

8. Do some Da’wah

One of the most important things each one of us can do in Ramadan as a community, is to take advantage of questions from non-Muslims and  do da’wah about the virtues of fasting in Islam, and how it purifies a person’s soul. Da’wah or calling others to Islam is the best of deeds, because it involves guiding people to the straight path and to that which will bring them happiness in this world and in the Hereafter.

“And who is better in speech than he who [says: ‘My Lord is Allaah (believes in His Oneness),’ and then stands firm (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah’s (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: ‘I am one of the Muslims.’” [Qur’an: Chapter 41, Verse 33].

If you do plan on doing da’wah (I hope so), you should know how to make da’wah. Allah says: “Say (O Muhammad): ‘This is my way; I invite unto Allah (i.e. to the Oneness of Allah — Islamic Monotheism) with sure knowledge, …” [Qur’an: Chapter 12, Verse 108]

Allah also says: “Invite (mankind, O Muhammad) to the way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Revelation and the Qur’an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided” [Qur’an: Chapter 16, Verse 125]

The Muslims must follow the example and guidance of their Prophet and call others to Islam, bearing insults and harm with patience for the sake of Allah, as their Messenger did.

“Indeed in the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad) you have a good example to follow for him who hopes for (the Meeting with) Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah much” [Qur’an: Chapter 33, Verse 21]

The post 8 Tips for Fasting in a Non-Muslim Environment appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

Each year when Ramadan comes, we start thinking about the glory of this month with many ambitions and plans. Unfortunately, on the last night of Ramadan, some of us look back and feel dissatisfied

In my opinion, the problem lies in the fact that most of our plans are done without mindfulness. We make promises only in our minds and resolve to fulfill tasks during the holy month only in words. But what we really need is an organized, written plan that goes in tandem with TRAINING. Yes, I do mean rehearsing. Any successful event in the world needs pre-planning and training: any speech you’ll be giving, any meeting you’ll be attending or even any gathering that you will be going to. So what about the great month of Ramadan, which presents you the opportunity to repent of all your mistakes and to have your name written on the Jannah list?! Do you not think that your plan for this month needs some TRAINING?

This Ramadan, I am offering you a new Ramadan Scheme that I hope you find useful. This scheme consists of three different stages:  Before Ramadan, During Ramadan, and After Ramadan. In this article, I am going to tackle the first and most important stage: Before Ramadan.

Preparation Before Ramadan

Throughout the year, daily responsibilities overload our lifestyle. All of us have thoughts like: “I need to concentrate more during my prayers”, “I should try to pray more sunnah” or “I want to read the Qur’an more frequently”, “I should help more sisters/brothers in my community”.. etc. Most of us find it difficult to make the first step, and if we are lucky enough to start, we find it difficult to stick to our plan. Ramadan is a yearly opportunity that Allah gives us to return to Him and fulfill our spiritual duties in 30 days. Here we have a yearly chance of praised 30 days to make a radical change, not only for ourselves, but also for our Islamic community.

1. Set Your Goals

To have a productive Ramadan, we need to specify our goals. Your goals should be realistic; plans you can accomplish in Ramadan and continue doing them even after Ramadan In sha Allah. Your goals should be very specific and achievable within a limited period of time: you set specific plans for each week or every 10 days. Write them down with clear steps on how to fulfill them. Finally, your plans should not be self-centered. Muslims should be productive in their communities as well (whether you live in a Muslim community one or not, it does not matter).

If you agree with me on what you have read already, please get a pen and a piece of paper, or open a new document on your PC and start writing down at least two things you want to change in you or in your community this Ramadan – things that you have always thought about but did not have the chance to do before. (I included a few examples, so I would appreciate if you share yours too.)

Personal Spiritual Goals
Change should start with repentance (tawbah). Tawbah starts with feeling guilty. True sorrow keeps you away from committing the mistake again. Istighfar can delete your mistakes as if you have never committed them!

• Start praying salah: sunnah, Duha, Qiyam (Specify a goal for each week. Next week you add another goal or number of raka’ah)
• Perform istighfar or any kind of dhikr (Specify certain dhikr for each week, daily number of times: 100, 200, 500)
• Read the Qur’an (Once, twice or thrice a week or state a certain of number of pages each day)
• Pray Fajr at masjid everyday

Social Goals: (Family/Community)
Family in Ramadan is an infinite source of hasanat if we know how to make full use of them. If any work you do normally has one reward, in Ramadan it has 10 rewards. The good deal is when they are the daily tasks we usually do because it is part of the schedule, but by having an Islamic niyyah (which I call the key of hasanat) in your heart, you get additional ajr (reward)! This Ramadan, let´s try to be radioactive members of our family. I use the term ‘radioactive’ to refer to people with great zest and positive energy in fulfilling their roles. Each one in his/her own style.

• Start teaching your children how to perform salah or the philosophy of salah
• Teach the little ones Surat Al-Fatiha
• Keep the intention of breaking the fast of the family members while cooking. More on this will follow in my next article In sha Allah
• Take your kids to taraweeh. Tell them the story of this spiritual tradition of Ramadan (how Omar bin Al-Khattab gathered all Muslims to do this blessed prayer in jamaa’ah (congregation), and make their tiny hearts attached to the masjid. On the way back home, buy them candy or any similar and healthier thing they like
• Help your mom/dad because it is your duty to do so! It could be helping your father to quit smoking forever, or to overcome recent tension in your parents’ relationship, or helping to build your mother´s self-confidence
• Help your sister/brother in her/his studies or with work problems or to make important decisions
• Make dua for your parents, spouse, children and siblings

On a larger scale, you can focus on the Muslim Ummah. Look around and see who needs help. I am sure you will find plenty.

• Help a friend without waiting until s/he approaches you
• Visit family members whom you have not seen recently (How many families will you visit?)
• Visit elders’ homes and orphanages (specify how many times: once, weekly?)
• Offer sadaqah (decide on a weekly amount or deed)
• Break fast with other Muslims not from your nuclear family  (indicate a specific number)
• Make dua for other Muslims (other brothers/sisters, muslim countries in conflict)

For women, you can include a specific plan for your non-fasting days. I have been asked over and over: “What can I do with my plan when I am not fasting?” During Ramadan, every moment and act is blessed. Fasting during Ramadan is not only about abstaining from eating or drinking during the day. Sawm (fasting) is also about refraining from committing our same mistakes. So go ahead in your plan and you will be accumulating rewards, In sha Allah.  As a woman, I see those days as an opportunity to do good deeds that need more energy and tolerance, those I might not do quite as efficiently if I was fasting.

2. Prepare Yourself

Domestic Level
Prepare your blessed abode for Ramadan. Clean the house in advance so that you do not have a lot of cleaning during Ramadan. Prepare the family’s Eid clothes before Ramadan starts so that you do not spend the blessed hours of Ramadan doing your shopping. For your kitchen, please refer my next article which goes into practical detail.

Psychological/Emotional Level
Write your timetable and put it in a place that you can see it clearly every time you enter your room. Decorate it if needed (you can make hand drawings -flowers, Ka’aba etc.) and use colors, stickers, some glitter and other personal touches. Let it reflect your personality. The little ones can help in that as well. Read more about how people used to spend Ramadan in the past, or how different cultures celebrate Ramadan. Make sure you read how the Prophet used to spend this blessed month. Share your new information with others.

Religious Level
Read more about fasting instructions from fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) books. This way, you avoid having doubts about the validity of your fasting. It will boost self-confidence.

Motivation Level
Look for a competitor who has a similar plan. Although this might seem like an easy task, it is not! Do not get a weak competitor so you win whatever you do! Your competitor has to be someone who will give you that extra push when you slow down.

3. Train Yourself

Maybe one of the most important reasons for our failure during Ramadan is our lack of training. During Ramadan, we break our daily rhythm of life, starting by giving up our morning coffee. To add to this, we start another ibadah schedule – taraweeh, Qur’an and dhikr. In most cases, our bodies get exhausted from the first week, thus slowing down our progress and weakening our motivation. By training, you introduce your body, mind, and soul to what is coming forward. It is exactly like how the sport works. It is better to feel tired in Sha’ban, but trained and consistent in Ramadan.

During Sha’ban you can practice your set plan. E.g:

• You can fast a couple of days
• Read parts of the Qur’an that you want to read during Ramadan, thus making it easier for you to reread it in Ramadan.
• Read about the strategies you need to help your father quit smoking, matrimony relationships etc.
• Start getting your tongue used to dhikr.
• Practice being patient and controlling your anger.
• Try to restrain your tongue, stop gossiping and avoid long, useless conversations.
• Start helping some friends, know their problems, listen to their stories.

These are my tips for Ramadan preparation! I hope you find them useful. I am all yours for any further questions or doubts. I’m sure all of us have tips to share and I would love to hear from you. In my next article, I will share more practical tips for a productive Ramadan In sha Allah. Until then, I hope that we will be well prepared and ready for this blessed month. Remember me in your dua.

The post Strengthen Your Resolve and Organize Your Ramadan appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

I had the honour of interviewing Sr. Saiyyidah Zaidi, the founder of WorkingMuslim and the author of the “Working Muslim’s Guide to Ramadan.” (See downloads below.)

Find out how you can be productive at work during Ramadan, inshaAllah.

—

Saiyyidah Zaidi is the founder of Working Muslim and the author of Work Faith Balance. She is also an executive coach and senior advisor for McLean Stone. Saiyyidah recently became a Founding Fellow of the Harvard Institute of Coaching. She is also a wife and the mother of two children.

The post [Ramadan Interview Series] How to be Productive at Work During Ramadan appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

Bismillah

Abu Productive:

Welcome to this special interview, probably the most sought out interview through the Productive Ramadan website; about productivity during Ramadan for mothers. Normally being a mother is quite difficult, juggling between children, maybe a job and a husband and family. It’s quite difficult put everything together. And today we have Sister Khafayah AbdulSalam, who is the founder of www.ummuka.com, a website that is dedicated towards empowering Muslim mums across the globe. Sister Khafayah, Assalaam alaikum.

Khafayah AbdulSalam:

Wa alaikum salam warahmatullah.

Abu Productive:

Thank you very much for joining us. Today, we will start off with the big question. For mothers, Ramadan tends to be a month spent living in the kitchen, when they’re not there then they’re engaged with some other household responsibilities. How can they make time for themselves to be spiritually productive and to feel that they have made the most of productivity during Ramadan?

Khafayah AbdulSalam:

Bismillah. The first thing I would like to start off with is to say is that we need to move away from the kitchen, we need to cook less; because we tend to find excuses for us to cook more. So as the mother, if you are married, speak to your husband and say that we need to cook simple meals. Now, if you are not married and you are a single parent, like I am, all I do is me with my kid is we bulk cook. So you do a lot of cooking and you do your shopping for Ramadan, freeze it. For me, I tell my kids, that we do not eat differently from what we normally would do; because, we are our childrens’ role model. Now if they see us treating Ramadan as a time to feast, we are sending out the wrong messages. So I think that’s the first thing I would like to say, if we cook less, so then we can increase our ibadah (worship) to Allah .

Abu Productive:

Thank you that’s really helpful…

Khafayah AbdulSalam:

Another thing I just quickly say that sisters who are married, what they can also do is encourage your husbands to go to the masjid so he can break his fast with the fellow brothers. I know a sister who does that, and it works wonders, so she doesn’t have to cook because he is always at the masjid.

Abu Productive:

There you go, inside tip, there you go.

Khafayah AbdulSalam:

So those are the things. If you want to do your shopping, I always say that I am a working mother and I do my shopping online. You know, sometimes technology, make use of it, to makes our life easier for us. Now another thing we can do, I will just spend a bit of time on the food aspect, is that we, before Ramadan, we have a planner. We plan the meals and always involve the kids, when you have kids, because InshaAllah we need to encourage the children to feel the Ramadan spirit and how we do this? We need to start to involve them right from the beginning. So they are ready to geared up and are motivated. You know, like if you look around the UK, everyone is geard up for the Olympics. That is what we need to do with Ramadan as well, insha Allah. So have a planner, so you know what your meals are going to be throughout Ramadan, especially your suhur meals and iftar meals. So for me, that’s what I say is the basic. And remember that this body is a trust and we are looking after it, so this is the time to feed the soul and not the body.

Abu Productive:

Excellent. I think I like the practicalities of your advice, it’s practical advice and we need that. Sometimes we say less time in the kitchen and more time for ibadah (worship), but people think how do we actually do it? You’re giving practical tips. For example; plan your meals, encourage husband to eat in the masjid, or cook less and plan less, and speaking to the children about not making a feast out of Ramadan but making it enough time to make ibada. These are sort of practical tips we need. Do you have more similar practical tips for mothers, in terms of trying to balance between being a mother and also personal ibadah, and being content and happy with their Ramadan?

Khafayah AbdulSalam:

Yes, and the first thing I want to say is that we know that our primary role is being a mother. Sometimes we mothers try to compete with the men, but the Prophet tells us in a hadith that the best place for us to be, is at home. But yes, we want to feel the Ramadan spirit and we want to be in the masjid. So what I normally say is take care of your home, look after your children first. And then once you have done that, then plan if you want to go out of the home. Now if you want to stay at home, and look after the kids, then it’s the quality of what you do, and not the quantity. For me, what I plan to do (I will use me as an example) is I am going to read the Quran after fajr 10-15 minutes. There is nothing to suggest that you have to complete the Quran. Because when we try to overwhelm ourselves, like I have to complete the Quran, I got to look after the kids, I am going to cook, I am going to keep up with the housework. We get overwhelmed and we give up on everything. Another thing we need to do InshaAllah is the nawafil prayers, just keep up with those. If it’s one habit, because I have chosen 10 habits for myself before Ramadan InshaAllah, and I started planning those during the month of Shaban. And what were those? To make sure I am in wudu all the time, to make sure I am reading the Quran 10-15 minutes every day, and then I can increase that to half an hour. Then again, it depends on the circumstances of the mother; whether you are a working mother or a stay at home mum. I do my reading on the train, because I am going to have an hour and a half journey on the train. If I’m a stay at home mum, then I normally say sometimes, the kids have a nap during the time of dhuhr prayer. During that time, you can spend your time sit there, read some Quran or listen to the recitation of the Quran. Another beautiful thing is that when we do things, and we have the intention that Allah, I’m cooking this meal for my family, Oh Allah I am looking after these kids for my family, because this is the job you have given me, and I expect you to reward me. So we are picking up good deeds as we go along. Another thing that we could do as well, is you know the duas, the fortress of the Muslims, I say instead of having those nursery rhymes, we can sit and teach our kids that, the Prophet says that best one is the one who learns it and teaches it to others. With your kids, after iftar, have 10-15 minutes, sit down with them, read an ayah of the Quran and once you have read ayah of the Quran, give them the tafseer of that verse. Another way for us, I would normally say that we should try to get to bed early InshaAllah. Sometimes it’s a bit difficult, but after isha, do you shaf’ , do your witr, read the quran and you go to bed in wudu and you make dua to Allah that He shall make things easy for you. Some of us have babies that wake up in the middle of the night and I think this is another problem for most mothers – their babies wake up. A woman makes dua that her baby doesn’t wake up and the baby doesn’t wake up, so that they can do their taraweeh. You don’t have to do 20 rakat, you don’t have to do 10 rakat, just do 4. Do it with focus and kushu’. Focus on that. Once you’ve done that, you will feel that spiritual upliftment. Another thing is, if you don’t want to go to the masjid, what we do, is some of the sisters, we have a babysitting club.

Abu Productive:

At the masjid?

Khafayah AbdulSalam:

In the community and yes one in the masjid. The one we have in the masjid, is the sisters who are are not praying they come to a hall in the masjid and then you can leave your babies with them while you can go off and pray, so the babies are having fun with other little kids as well, they are having a little play, while you pray. Like I said, normally we do about 4-6 rakat and then we go home because really, your primary obligation is to look after the kids, that’s if you got kids. Also we can do, sisters can come to your home as well, and we have what we call a rota if you like for taraweeh, so I can go one night when my friend comes and stays with my kids. And we do it vice versa. So there are other things sisters can do. If you are not praying as well, you could always go to, there’s always community projects. Because I know that most of the single mums, say that we get forgotten about unless we are reverts and no one cares for the single parents. We also need to get out into the community. You know, you could go to the masjid and serve those sisters the iftar meals, you could cook and take it to the masjid. You can come up with a project with your kids. Why don’t you go and visit an orphanage, with your kids, and let them see what happens to these kids? So they understand how fortunate they are. They will have that feeling of what Ramadan is about. Because they will see those children that are less privileged than they are. And they will begin to have that connection.

Abu Productive:

I like the concept about involving the children and trying to instill the Ramadan spirit. I love the idea, to take your children to an orphanage and visit an orphanage, or to take them to community projects. How else can mothers work with their children so that it can be ibadah for them, the mother, and ibadah for the children, and hence getting them used to and understand the Ramadan spirit?

Khafayah AbdulSalam:

First and foremost you start with stories and these are in Quran books and good works, about Ramadan. So you need to explain to them what Ramadan is all about, and explain it to them in a fun way. You can also encourage the children. What I do with my kids is they plan iftar with their friends and they invite Muslims and non-Muslims, so they are doing dawah to their friends.

Abu Productive:

Masha Allah.

Khafayah AbdulSalam:

So they come over. And what also happens, is some of those Muslim kids go back their home and insist and tell their parents that they want the same thing. Now if my children want to cook, I give them a budget. So I say, this is £20, go off and do what you want to do. You are really connecting, and they are engaged in it, and they’re happy in it because you have given them that ownership and responsibility. And you need to let them know that they are doing it and the reward comes from Allah; not from their mum but it comes from Allah. I also tell them about the gates of the Rayyan. This is another thing you can tell them. Tell them there is a special gate that the people who fast will go through on the day of judgment. They love that. Another way to engage the children, is to leave the Quran playing in the background because whilst you do that you realize that when children listen repetition by repetition, they start picking it up and before you know it you will find that your kids are also reciting. And before you know it, probably in a month’s time they are reciting the whole of juz. Another thing, there is Ramadan TV programs, and what I do with my kids, they have saving accounts with money in it. I encourage my children to have a competition. So we want to teach them about sadaqa/charity. You say OK I have this much in my account, so when uncle Jawad comes on the TV, they like to call in and I let them call in, to donate £5 from their pocket money, or £10 from my pocket money. And they tell the next day that I know that Allah is going to double it for me, triple it for me. So those are the things that we can involve them in.

Abu Productive:

This gives them childhood memories that they will cherish years down the line. My mum used to do this for me. Sometimes we don’t realize how much our kids will appreciate these memories, till years later, oh we used to do this and it’s beautiful. Unfortunately nowadays people are not conscious or active about instilling that Ramadan spirit. It becomes, we make sure you have a great time at iftaar and maybe taraweeh, but really forget the rest of the day and how to engage with the rest of the day and so they appreciate that month.

Khafayah AbdulSalam:

Yes. Also there’s arts and crafts. Even as an adult, I like doing that. It’s because children are really creative. During the long summer days, I know a lot of parents who are already making excuses; we do not need to make excuses. We should focus on the positive, because if we focus on the excuses, we will just discourage the children. Get them involved in doing arts and crafts, some of them can go to local communities that have different projects that they can get involved in with as well. You know, things like helping your neighbor. We have a disabled neighbor next door and you let the kids go and help them with the shopping, help them with their bin. And let the children tell them about Ramadan, because the children love doing that. They have that confidence and they will just go for it. This is how we build the Ramadan spirit in our children, insha Allah. Also remember to reward them, as well. Like I said I have a healthy competition amongst my kids, they would say OK I fasted 10 days last year; I am going to make sure it’s 15 this year. And they get to choose their Eid presents. I also get them to cook. My older daughter loves cooking, so I leave them to cook and they come up with all these..you know…they bake cakes and cook these lovely meals, even for suhur. And even if I need a nap, we also negotiate. Another thing you can do, if you’re a single parent like I am, sometimes you need a nap when you come back from work, so what I do, I let them watch Ramadan TV, and negotiate that in an hours’ time, you need to wake me up. And they ask can we watch our favorite program, I say yes watch your favorite program. So while they are doing that, you are having your nap. So everyone is happy. And they are learning as well. Another thing I would like to say to working mums is if you can take the last 10 days off. If not, then a few days off towards the end of Ramadan. And you can spend that time in the worship to Allah .

Abu Productive:

Masha Allah. What about managing family time? Normally, Ramadan has so many iftaar parties. Maybe you host some, you go to some, and it’s very difficult to decline them, and if they’re considered family time. Once you go to them you have to invite the people who invited you. So what active roles can mothers take, as individuals and as wives, to manage this issue, that’s consuming time from Ramadan?

Khafayah AbdulSalam:

I think, to be honest with you, my view is that’s something new. Why should we spend our time partying during Ramadan? So what we should do, we recently had a discussion with some mums about how we want to do this. The best way to go about this, is not to call it an iftaar party. If you can, and you’re not praying, as a sister, then you can invite a family over as well. So you can get reward, and you feed them. And it doesn’t mean that because you invited me for iftaar that I have to return the same. I think we get caught up in this. So before you know, you are spending most of your time going around different houses, having iftaar here and there. You can also, instead of going around having iftaar parties, that once in a week you can all gather together in a community hall and have a sister give you a talk about Ramadan or probably about tafseer of some of the Quran. And then you can break your fast that way. We must make sure that we are connecting, that the spiritual connection needs to remain. And we need to know the purpose of why we are doing this. I hope that answers your question.

Abu Productive:

Yeah, I appreciate that. And finally, just for wrapping up, any last words of advice to mother so they can enjoy a productive Ramadan? Any advice, tips, something that worked with you, anything behind the scenes, something you tried last year that will work wonders? Please share with your audience global, and the audience is mostly working and household mothers, so feel free to share your advice with them.

Khafayah AbdulSalam:

The advice that I have, is first thing you need to start to scale down your worldly activities during the month of Shaaban, and I know that we are a bit late for that since we are a few days away from Ramadan, but that’s one thing. But also, there also something I love to share in my coaching classes, what we do is we set goals in the month of Ramadan for the year ahead. So we review our goals for last year and we set new ones and then we set these new goals in the month of Ramadan. What you need to do is get a book, there’s a book called, ‘Ramadan Booster’ and also we use your ‘ProductiveMuslim Habitator’. What we do is that we define our goals for the year ahead. Then we start writing an ultimate dua list, the list of what you want from Allah for your family and friends, everybody and ask Allah for anything and everything you want. And then you start asking for that when you are in your nawafil prayers and sujood, because Allah tells you that it’s the time you are most close to Him. When it comes to the last ten days, when everyone is worrying about when is Laylat al Qadr or what have you, what you need to do is spend that time, make sure you catch those last days InshaAllah, and keep asking Allah for those things on your dua list. I normally cut mine down to ten and I keep asking Allah for all of that throughout 10 days. And if you do that InshaAllah you are bound to catch the night of Laylat al-Qadr.

Abu Productive:

Insha Allah. Sister Khafayah, where can people find you? I know you also provide coaching services for Muslim mums around the world. Where can they find you, where can they book time with you? And maybe learn more about your projects InshaAllah.

Khafayah AbdulSalam:

You can do it through www.ummuka.com, my website. And you can also email me at khafayah@ummuka.com or you can visit my facebook page ‘ummuka4moms’, https://www.facebook.com/UMMUKA4Moms

Abu Productive:

Ok so that is www.ummuka.com, and this is sister Khafayah AbdulSalam, the founder of Ummuka and a coach for Muslims mums across the globe. Sister Khafayah, thank you very much for joining us today and for sharing practical tips. I really enjoyed this. I learned lots of new stuff which will definitely be of use to my life. So thank you very much for sharing those tips and techniques with us and I wish you a very productive Ramadan. Thank you very much sister Khafayah, take care of yourself. Assalam alaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuhu.

Khafayah AbdulSalam:

Wa alaikum assalam warahmatullah wabrakatuhu.

The post [Ramadan Interview Series] Transcript: How Can Busy Moms Manage Their Time During Ramadan? appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

(As a supplement to these tips, also check out ProductiveMuslim.com’s practical Ramadan Resource: “The Busy Mom’s Worksheet”.)

— Khafayah Abdulsalam, a single mother of four, works as a full time payroll manager, but is more known for her great achievements as a DiscoverU LifeCoach certified coach – trained by Muhammad Alshareef of DiscoverU Life Ltd. Her motto is “Empowering Muslim moms across the globe.”

Through Ummuka moms can re-discover themselves, and in the process, own the definition of who they are, and what they would want to be. Khafayah has combined her experience, business and life coaching skills to produce a commonsense approach to motherhood by helping moms unravel the mom in them.

  Note: You can also read the transcript of the interview here.

The post [Ramadan Interview Series] How Can Busy Moms Manage Their Time During Ramadan? appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

Imagine if your job was to play sports during the day while you were fasting for Ramadan? Do you think it would be impossible for you to do the job well?Well, meet Br. Hamza Abdullah – a professional athlete in the U.S. NFL (National Football League) who plays sports as his job.

Last year, Br. Hamza was caught in a difficult dilemma: he had to play in a major championship for his sport which happened to be around fasting hours. As for other athletes observing Ramadan, devices like a golf enclosure that may be made for business use can be a game-changer. It offers a private and climate-controlled space where golfers can practice during fasting hours, away from the heat and distractions. This allows them to maintain their physical skills and mental focus without compromising their religious commitments. The enclosure’s versatility also enables golfers to adjust their practice schedules around prayer times, ensuring they can prepare effectively while honoring their spiritual practices during this holy month.

Find out how he made it through the month and what tips/advice he has for you to be physically productive during Ramadan!

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Hamza and Husain Abdullah, commonly known as the Abdullah brothers, both play professional football in the NFL; Br. Hamza has been playing since seven years and Husain for four. They are both widely known for their commitment to Islam because of fasting during the month of Ramadan while training for the upcoming football season.

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 [Ramadan Interview Series] Can You Stay Fit During Ramadan? appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda is the founder and director of Qalam Institute. He was born and raised in the Dallas area. He is a founding member and chairman of Mansfield Islamic Center. Sh. Abdul Nasir is also an instructor with Bayyinah Institute, where his class “Meaningful Prayer” has traveled the country. His latest projects include Quran Intensive (a summer program focusing on Arabic grammar and Tafsir), Quranic analysis lectures, Khateeb Training, Happiness in the Home, The Good Life, and chronicling of the Prophetic Biography at www.qalaminstitute.org.

I had the honour of interviewing Sh. Abdul Nasir Jangda. His latest project called “Happiness in the Home Project” focuses on how a person can engage with his/her family in the most productive way.

Listen to the interview as Sh. Abdul Nasir explains how a person can be productive with their families during Ramadan. You can also read the transcript below.

Transcript

Abu Productive: Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Raheem. Walhamdulillah. Was-salaatu was-salaamu ‘ala Rasoolillah wa ‘ala aalihi wa Sahbihi wa man waalah (In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah. May prayers and peace be sent upon the Prophet, his family and his Companions.)

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi ta’ala wabarakatuh. (May the peace, mercy and blessings of Allah, the Exalted, be upon you.)

And welcome to another interview with a truly productive Muslim. Today we have the honor of interviewing Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda, He’s the Founder and Director of Qalam Institute and he’s an instructor with Bayyinah Institute. His latest projects include Qur’an Intensive project and Happiness in the Home project as well as speaker training. You could find more about Shaykh Abdul Nasir and his programs at qalaminstitute.org.

So, today’s interview will focus largely on how a person can be productive with his family during Ramadan inshaAllah so listen in.

Sh. Abdul Nasir: Wa ‘alaikum-us-salaam warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu. Alhamdulillah, I’m doing very very well. I apologize for my voice being out a little bit because we just actually got done with Qur’an Intensive so one of the side effects of Qur’an Intensive is that I lose my voice.

Abu Productive: Alhamdulillah, inshaAllah, you’ll be fine. Shaykh Abdul Nasir, Today’s interview is about asking you about productivity with the family during Ramadan, I know this is a bit limiting or you’ll find it being a bit more focused. But people say well, when people think about Ramadan, they normally think about their personal worship or ‘ibadah, but how can people become productive and with their families during Ramadan?

Sh. Abdul Nasir: You know one thing that’s very interesting you mentioned in the introduction about the Happiness in the Home project. There’s a lot of different things that come in to bringing and increasing the happiness within our homes. One of my specific focuses in terms of this project and this topic here today as well, ‘how to be more productive with our families in the month of Ramadan, one of my efforts, one of my areas of focus is to highlight the area where spirituality intercepts with family life. Too often, for whatever the reason is, I think there are different socio-economic factors, cultural dynamics, but for quiet sometime, the last couple of generations, there’s been this impression that spirituality comes at the cost of family or that family life comes at the cost of spirituality and so one of our focuses is to highlight where these two intersect with one another and how a person can thrive in both of these areas at the same time.

So you talk about focusing in, I think focus is always a beautiful thing because it allows you to really understand what you’re talking about, and then I think that’s part of what makes Productive Muslim such a remarkable project, and such a remarkable initiative that there’s so much focus in the program. But you know Ramadan, like you said, it’s a time when people typically focus in on individual worship. What I try to explain to folks is that we go back and we study the Qur’an, we study the life of the Prophet , what we end up realizing is that the Qur’an and the Prophet  made a very very specific effort to emphasize the fact that family life is an ‘ibadah (worship), family life is a part of the spiritual experience of a Muslim not the hardness of it and that’s I think one thing that’s very important. So I often times, in my lectures, in my programs, what I try to explain to people is that sitting down and having an intimate dinner with your wife and having a long conversation with your wife – that is an act of worship, aside of course from the required worship, like the five daily prayers but aside from that, that’s an act of worship in itself. You know, playing with your kids, running around with your children is an act of worship.

That’s something I think if people were to focus on, I think things will start to make a lot more sense till we realize how Ramadan is actually an opportunity to improve our family lives and our family experience.

Abu Productive: Shaykh Abdul Nasir, you mentioned the concept about spirituality and family life being connected; can you bring more examples, more concrete examples to the young modern reader?

Sh. Abdul Nasir: Absolutely I’d love to. You know we were conducting the tafseer (interpretation) of Surah Taha in the Qur’an Intensive tafseer sessions and that at the end of Surah Taha, Allah   says: “Wa’mur ahlaka bissalati wastabir ‘alayha” (And enjoin prayer upon your family [and people] and be steadfast therein.) [Qur’an: Chapter 20, Verse 132] One of the very interesting underlying themes of Surah Taha is that Surah Taha is emotionally consoling and comforting the Prophet Muhammad .

In the middle of the Makkah era, when there was aggression, oppression and violence started to increase and intensify, at that time Allah  comforted and consoled the Prophet p by means of Surah Taha. And so one of the tools that Allah  gives to the Prophet is lean on prayer; at the beginning of the Surah when Allah tells Musa that he has to go and preach to Pharaoh and he prepares him to go and deliver the message to Pharaoh which is extremely challenge him. He tells him “lean on prayer” and we understand that as Allah  also says “seek help from Allah through patience and prayer” so we understand that but what is very fascinating is at the end of the surah, in the conclusion of the surah, Allah  doesn’t just tell the Prophet  to lean on prayer, but to tell your family to pray but you also be regular and punctual about the prayer and to emphasis that don’t forget about that fact that your family can be a source of strength with you. Leaning on prayer to derive and continue to motivate himself and to find a source of energy and strength in the fulfillment of his task on his prophetic mission. Allah tells him to pray and he himself also, what other better way to seek our motivation and energy and to find peace and tranquility amidst all the turmoil in the fulfillment of the prophetic message and mission than not to only pray and strengthen your connection with Allah , but to do so along with the family.

Now when we go into the life of the Prophet  we seek more concrete examples of this. We see the Prophet  used to offer the five times obligatory prayers in the masjid in congregation but it was also part of the prophetic practice that he would go back home to offer all of his sunnah and nawafel prayer. So as to say that, pray together with the family. That’s why he made dua (prayer) that mercy will be showered on the man that wake up in the night to and wakes his wife to pray with him, or the wife that wakes in the night and wakes her husband to pray with her. The Prophet of Allah in the battle of hudaibiyah, so now you have the religious, the prophetic, but at the same time the political strategic state affairs that the Prophet  also shouldered the responsibility, that in the treaty of Hudaibiyah, when the treaty didn’t go as how the Sahabah (Companions) would have expected or hoped he was trying to get them to pack their things and head back to Medinah, they were slow to react because they were so dazed and confused that the Prophet  went and told his wife, Um Salemeh, and she imparted on him advice. So we see that on in each and every single turm, there are narrations of the Prophet giving the khutbah (sermon) and his grandson Al-Hassan runs up to him and the Prophet would pause the khutbah and coming down, scooping up his dress and hugging him and kissing him and introducing him to the congregation and then going up to the minbar to continue his khutbah.

So we see that the Prophet  made a very very open effort to demonstrate how spirituality and family intercept one another and how they are not exclusive of one another.

Abu Productive: Shaykh Abdul Nasir, we are assuming here that the whole family are on the same spiritual level. A lot of times I get questions especially from young guys saying that my parents are not religious in fact they discourage me from becoming spiritual, or my wife isn’t spiritual, or my children are not very religious. So what advice do you give to each of these groups where people say like parents or wife or my children who are not on the same spiritual level so that I can do these together like have that perfect family that we hope to have each day?

Sh. Abdul Nasir: That’s a very good relevant, pressing question and situation that’s in our communities and what I’ll explain about that is that the scholars say that amongst the companions of the Prophet , one of the most remarkable individuals was Abu Bakr. But what was interesting is that one of the fad’el (virtues) and blessing that Allah  showered upon him is that his entire family accepted and embraced Islam and what scholars say is that we cannot separate from that fact is that the Prophet’s  graceful and merciful nature and the merciful behavior, his hilm, patience and forbearing of Abu Bakr and that cannot be separated from the fact that the entire family, even his very elderly father, who when he came to accept Islam, he was blind and his hair had gone white so much so that even his smallest stripes, even his eye brows and eyelashes were white, at such an old age he accepted Islam and on the hands of the Prophet . So the patience, merciful nature, the forbearance of Abu Bakr  proved this. What I would also tell the young people who are in more difficult situations need to understand that we have a principle in our religion that ‘the rewards of our deeds are according to the level of efforts and sacrifice that go into it’ – it would be extremely convenient and very easy if the entire family was on board and motivated and in fact ahead of that person in spiritually. It might be a little more challenging if you feel like your family are lacking behind you, but if you could (and I’m going to say this and it’s a little shocking to young people since they have more enthusiasm and energy, maybe more than they have foresight) if you were to slow your pace a little bit so you can get a hold of your family and bring them along with you, if you were the engine that brings them forward, the blessings of this life and hereafter will be far superior than anything that you can achieve individually.

Abu Productive: Would you say that sometimes it’s a lack of patience and to see things in the long term, sometimes your family love you and even though they are not on the same spiritual level but they love you and care about you, they don’t try to pull you down, they just see the change in you and seem a little worried, they may see that the change they have to make, so you don’t always have to think of it as a negative, as if you are trying to fight them and say ‘oh, they don’t understand me and this is really difficult’. So how do we inspire patience and say hey guys take it easy and look at them with mercy and forbearance and be mature about this?

Sh. Abdul Nasir: Absolutely, I mean it goes without saying. A lot of times it’s a loss of perspective. You know, a reality of life is that you never know what it’s like to be a parent until you become a parent, but what I do try and remind young people is to try and see thing from their eyes because at the end of the day, a parent loves – you know I often explain to people that there is a hadith in Sahih Muslim where the Prophet psaw] when he wanted to draw some type of parallel, to give us some type of understanding of how much Allah  loves us and how much mercy Allah  has for us, the Prophet  compared the love and mercy that Allah  has for us with the love and mercy that a mother has for her child.

I mean just think about that that was the only example that the Prophet  thinks of to demonstrate how profound Allah’s love and mercy that He has for us. That’s how much a mother or a parent loves their child. So try to understand they love you. One of the relevant lessons from surah Taha that we covered was the Qur’anic supplication, “Oh, Allah increase me through knowledge”, instead of how its commonly translated, “Oh Allah increase my Knowledge”, meaning the purpose of knowing more and learning more is to become a better person.

If you want to truly demonstrate to you family that spirituality, knowledge or whatever you are doing is good for you and making you a better person, you have to demonstrate it to them in a manner/fashion that translates to them in a manner that they can see and understand tangibly. And this happened primarily through our character, mercy and the love we express to them. If you become a more loving son or a more loving daughter, a more caring child then that will demonstrate to them how much you are improving as a person, more than you spending eight hours a day reading the book – which is great but it comes back to being a productive Muslim, being able to implement what you want you are learning in all areas of life so that the benefit of that can manifest in all our areas of our life.

Abu Productive: Shaykh Abdul Nasir now we are going to go into Ramadan and see a person balances between family, spirituality or how to bring these two together. So I’ll take you from a different perspective. So let’s take that of a husband, he wants to go all out, pray taraweeh, I’tiqaf, but he has young children, his wife at home, how would you advise him to bring family spirituality back in Ramadan and be productive with his family during Ramadan?

Sh. Abdul Nasir: The first and foremost thing, and I think that ProductiveMuslim does an amazing job at this, it is about managing your time properly. Scheduling is very important, the more you’re aware, the more you can schedule and manage your time, and there is a time for everything. The scheduling is essential and is key, should be a balance between the small things such as suhoor and iftar.

You know there was a study that was done in 2006 by the Center for Substance Abuse and Addiction at Colombia University that was published in the Times magazine and the storyline is people having a one-time family meal together will be healthier, happier, there is blessings in something simple as having a meal together. There is a lot to be said about that. So suhoor was scheduled and the family would cook suhoor together and ate suhoor together, this is a phenomenal bonding experience.

The same as iftar as well, I recommend you spend the time to prepare together and you sit down and eat together and you clean together. Spending 2 hours or more in the day together is very productive, quality family time. I recommend the salah, or Fajr, Asr and Isha and split your Qur’an recitation time. Set a time, so if you have an hour or so a day for Qur’an, set 10 minutes aside for your family.

Read a verse, translate that verse and talk about what you learned from that verse as a family together. These small things are important and when spirituality isn’t sacrificed. It is a remarkable opportunity to come together and bond together and doesn’t compromise on Ramadan and the spiritual journey of the individual. The other thing I want to say, who people are very family oriented, and may not be a very popular thing to say but I feel is a very necessary thing to say is when we talk a lot about our families and not understanding what our goals and ambitions religiously. This comes from a very particular place as some people don’t have the opportunity to grow themselves spiritually and enhance a bigger gap and a bigger gap is created between the family members.

If the husband is going to the masjid 4 or 5 times a day or 2 or 3 times a day then the month of Ramadan for taraweeh prayers, the tafseer lectures every single night. He’s in the masjid continuously, at night times and the wife is at home managing the home he shouldn’t be shocked to know why his wife doesn’t understand where he’s trying to go with the deen for the sake of the family, spiritually.

He shouldn’t be shocked as he is receiving what the wife isn’t receiving. We’re human beings, we’re products of our personal experiences and circumstances. What I recommend for family to do is at equal trade-off, so at least at some level at least once or twice a week if not every other time of the week it alternates the opportunities. You know here in the United States, we have spaces in the masjid for sisters and there is a very good sister experience in the masjid as well. So I’ve always recommended that give to people, to give your wife the opportunity every time of the week, where you’ll stay home and you’ll take care of the kids and she will go to the masjid to pray, to listen to a lecture, to be able to participate spiritually in the communal activities and for people to benefit and grow and I say this is controversial because fiqh wise there is a difference, because there is a sunnah mukadah and the opinion of the many scholars and they’re meant to go for the taraweeh prayers and because it’s not for the women but rulings are in fact technicalities. They are the bottom line as to what to discuss.

But then there’s the issue of fatwa and the issue of taqwa and building families and building communities and we need to take a much more spiritually intelligent focused approach to be able to achieve our goals.

Abu Productive: You just bought up the perfect point on sisters, a lot of sisters and mothers email me and ask how can I be productive in Ramadan. Need to take care of the kids, the home. So what is my advice to them to be productive and be spiritual at the same time?

Sh. Abdul Nasir: I’ll give you the advice with the disclaimer that I have an utmost respect for our sisters in our communities, especially the mothers, being a mother probably is the most difficult job in the world. You know I teach a seminar in khushu’ in salah or prayers, and after going round and giving these seminars I realise the most eye opener is maybe working professionals have the hardest times, praying and making sure they have khushu’ in their prayer. But I realized no, mothers of our time, mothers of our young children have the most difficult time implementing khushu’ because they have a 4 year old and a 2 year old. I can tell you about my 4 year old and 2 year old. If you take your eyes off them for 2 minutes, you will find one scaling the walls, the other one will be on top of the house. Yeah I’m telling you, kids can be resourceful.

Mothers have the most difficult job in the world. So I can’t even claim to know how that would be like but based on talking to my own mother, speaking to my sister who has a young daughter, speaking to my wife who has 2 babies, what I recommend is going back to scheduling and trying to find time during the down time. Kids usually have a down time, where you would want the time to catch up with recitation or prayers, some memorisation, some supplication. This is the opportunity to catch up and the other thing is women are very strong.

And I recommend the sisters to be vocal, to not be afraid or ashamed, ask for family help or the husband. The parents or siblings. Not to be embarrassed to ask for help, so complete the washing up so I get some recitation done. I need you to sit down and watch them for an hour while I catch up on my prayers and this goes down back to our topic that family is very important in the spiritual experience.

Abu Productive: Alhamdulillah. For the family, now moving to the community and this is part of our quest of being socially productive, again come out of your closet, your personal ibadah and being engaged in social activity and being productive. Your neighbours for example, your community in your locality and if you can say: the Ummah at large. So being socially productive and having family to support this. What are some advise/tips/techniques/maybe stories you have in this regard?

Sh. Abdul Nasir: You know these issues and matters forms a lot of comments, but we naturally have a lot of commonsense. If we were just to utilise our commonsense, our opportunities are around in every corner. You know, if you were to have iftar with your family then just have iftar with a group of families and try and network with a group of families. I can speak about an American experience, we have Masha Allah a worldwide audience, but a lot of times people turn to the masjid for a social opportunity like having iftar in the masjid and that is very good and I encourage that, but don’t overdo that.

Getting families together across the board, across the spectrum, reaching across the spectrum and ethnic lines and to come together to bring food together, it is a great opportunity to bond together as a community. Another great opportunity is I’m speaking about the United States and a minority community and we have a large community of a Muslim population living around us. You want Ramadan to be a time to reach out to them. You know taking some sweets, taking some food. Some gifts to your neighbour’s house, saying it’s the month of Ramadan. It’s the occasion of Eid, trying to share this occasion with them. This is an awesome opportunity.

I have a really interesting story. When I was a full-time imam of a masjid in the area we kind of put an effort to send out some letters to the neighbouring faith-based communities and neighbouring centres. Social organisations were in the area, we sent them requests to come and break their fasts with us in the month of Ramadan and quite a few people did make it, and this one gentleman came through and he said I want to bring my younger daughter with me who is, I think 6 or 7 years old. And he came and his daughter was running around with the Muslim kids and he said my motivation to come was that I wanted my daughter to meet other people and see people from other ends of the spectrum and subhan Allah that lead them to learning more and then eventually accepting Islam. And my dad, this is something we do since we were young,..both of our neighbours who live on either side of our house are non-Muslims. One is a Hispanic family and one is a Caucasian family. And my dad, whenever Eid or Ramadan or anything comes around he always takes something nice over to their house. And even when my sister got married I remember he invited them to my sister’s wedding. So these are really really good opportunities to be able to just reach across. We, at a lot of times, talk about this at our Fast for Thought.. at our Ramadan programmes. Fasting helps you understand how the other side lives. It helps you understand and empathise with the suffering of the people but we really have to make a more concerted effort not to just say that as a OR stunt but we actually have to do it. I really recommend, especially for more middle-class communities, organise events. Go to the homeless shelters and serve the needy while you yourself are fasting.

It’s a perspective that a young person will never forget In sha Allah.

Abu Productive: Jazakallahu Khayran. Now Ramadan is a great time to develop habits and we also have a tool to help people to develop habits where we ask people to try and stick to a habit for 30 days called ‘Don’t break the chain’. For each day you do the habit you place an X in your calendar and don’t break the chain. So what sorts of habits would you recommend to help people develop that? You know, be close to their families, to include family in their spirituality and to be productive with the family during Ramadan?

Sh. Abdul Nasir: I really admire ProductiveMuslim for providing tangible tools to people to do this. Often times my pre-Ramadan, get ready for Ramadan khutbahs will sometimes focus on what is the opportunity of the month of Ramadan and what Ramadan means to us. One of the things I always recommend is that before you even leave the masjid today, as soon as you’re done with salah before you get in your car and you drive off, take out your phone take out a piece of paper and a pen and write down 3 good habits that you would like to develop during the month of Ramadan and write down 3 bad habits that you would like to give up and masha Allah ProductiveMuslim is providing tools for that. But you know it kind of goes back to that same thing in terms of number one scheduling. When a person schedule themselves they realise how much they’re actually capable of doing. So if you develope’ a habit with the family of having two meals per day with the family then don’t give that up.

Have breakfast every day with your children, with parents, wife and then eat dinner together as a family. At the very least make it a habit that you will sit together and share a meal together every day. If you started a little mini home halaqa in the month of Ramadan where that one ayah discussion per day that I was talking about, don’t give that up when Ramadan is done. If you developed a habit during Ramadan of going to the masjid as a family, then don’t give that up.

Once a week, Friday nights we go to the masjid. We often complain about the lack of activities in our masjid that cater to families. We have to understand one thing as well… yes, they should do their job and provide activities.. and believe me, folks in my division we put a lot of pressure on the community to provide those type of activities but at the same times if 45 families showed up on a Friday night, the masjid itself would have no choice but to provide an activity because otherwise they are going to have a riot on their hands. It’s just commonsense again. Communities are in charge of their masjid of their prayer spaces so take charge of your responsibilities.

These habits that develop during Ramadan, keep them going. Write them down, use the tools ProductiveMuslim is providing and just keep the chain going and don’t break the chain. In the same way, I have to say because of the hadith of the Prophet  somebody who doesn’t eat or drink but doesn’t give up their bad habits in the month of Ramadan while fasting, Allah  has no need of that person to deprive himself of food and water. The objective of Ramadan is to give up bad habits, whether that be physically, verbally, spiritually, whatever the bad habit we have. The majority of them that the Prophet spoke about in terms of our character like back biting, lying, gossiping etc. So whatever bad habits you give up, write it down, focus on them during the month of Ramadan and when Ramadan is over keep reminding yourself. That’s why fasting is an institution in and of itself…the three white days in every month, the 13th, 14th and 15th of the lunar calendar, fasting Mondays and Thursdays. The reason why this needs to be a regular part of a Muslim’s life is so that once a week, twice a month we are getting a reminder of remember the lessons of the month of Ramadan, remember the blessings and the improvement and let’s keep that going the rest of the year so when the next Ramadan rolls around, we make a greater improvement on ourselves.

Abu Productive: Final question. This question I always ask every person I interview.. How does Sheikh Abdul Nasir fight procrastination and laziness?

Sh. Abdul Nasir: Fighting procrastination… I guess everyone has their own approach. Myself personally, I’ve always been someone who ..I learnt this habit from my mother actually.. I learnt to be my own harshest critic. I realise that can be a bit demoralising for people but I am my own harshest critic. I’m kind of what we call here in the States, “getting into my own head”..

I convince myself, talk to myself. I think deeply about what I’m doing and what I need to be doing and then I continue to push and motivate myself..but I do lean on family. When I sit down and reflect on my last week what I did, what am I procrastinating about,what am I putting off what am I being lazy about and I come to a conclusion about maybe two items that I’ve been putting off. I will actually sit down with my wife and say look, this is a problem for me and that is a problem for me and I need you to be my coach, stay on my case, call me out. And then I have to be willing to be not so sensitive to the point where she goes, oh no you’re doing it again.. then I’ll be like you’re right, you’re absolutely right, let me get back on my game. So it’s kind of a combination of introspection and reflection and checking yourself regularly. The famous advice of Umar ibn Khattab was self assessment and number 2, having someone that you love and trust and respect in your life that you can tell them I need you to catch me when I do this and In sha Allah they can pick up the slack.

Abu Productive: That’s a brilliant one, I’ve actually never heard that one before so it’s a brilliant one about telling someone. Normally people think of their own tools but, as you said, you need to lean on your family they can be the biggest source of strength for you to help fight procrastination. Sheikh Abdul Nasir thank you very much for a very practical and very inspirational interview. Where can people find you and find your work In sha Allah?

Sh. Abdul Nasir: Absolutely. In sha Allah they can find me and the majority of the work that I do at qalaminstitute.org. We make an effort to put up a lot of podcasting, a lot of beneficial content. I’m specifically working on a seerah project, an in depth life of the Prophet from classical sources in English extracting practical lessons. So In sha Allah they will find our podcasts and programmes there.

Abu Productive: In sha Allah. Sheikh Abdul Nasir, jazakAllah kheir. Asalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatu h. SubhanakAllahumma was bihamdika, ash-hadu an la ilaha illa ant, astaghfiruka wa atoobu ilaik (‘How perfect You are O Allaah, and I praise You. I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance.’)

Sh. Abdul Nasir: Ameen. Assalaamu alaikum.

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