Ramadan has passed! In those past 30 days, all Muslims have written their own story through their unique planning and commitment, their dua and hidden tears, inner peace in their hearts, and their relation with Allah . Today, apart from the good spirit of Eid that fills our hearts with joy, two important questions are certainly on everyone’s minds: Have I done enough? How can I sustain my religious and social productivity after Ramadan? 

First of all, let us be honest with ourselves: who has ever succeeded in perfectly executing his or her Ramadan plan?

As humans, no one is perfect and neither are we expected to be! All of us have certain goals that we could not carry out as efficiently as we had hoped to. It could be because our schedule was a little bit exaggerated or because of unexpected incidents. Many of us may have really tried hard but with little success. Please, do not feel bad or label  your attempt as a “failure”.  Focus rather on how much you tried and be proud of your attempt.

The Prophet said: “(The value of) an action depends on the intention behind it. A man will be rewarded only for what he intended.” [Muslim]

This hadith is very reassuring because it does not only explain the importance of the intention, but it also indicates that the reward we are promised does not depend on what we eventually accomplish. Rather, the reward depends on what our true and honest intention was before we set out on doing the act. In other words: the reward does not depend on the results. Instead, it depends on our efforts even if the circumstances did not help us fully accomplish our intended act.

A worry that fills the hearts of parents is that they spent the majority of Ramadan working outside or inside home instead of doing ibadah (worship). Here is where they need to make a perspective shift. Their devotion to provide their family with a decent life is not only ibadah, but an important source of sustained and continuous reward In sha Allah. Accordingly, every minute you spend at work, in traffic, every little effort in housekeeping and caring for your kids is considered a blessed mission even on normal days. So imagine how much more rewarding it would be to do the same in Ramadan?

Now review your Ramadan planning. If you find that you had committed to 50% of your Ramadan schedule, that is a great sign! It means that you have boosted 50% of your productivity in 30 days, Alhamdulillah! Your heroic mission now is to sustain this progress as much as you can.

But how can we sustain our productivity?  

When Allah gives us the privilege to be forgiven on the last day of Ramadan if we fast out of sincere faith and hope for His reward, all the expressions used by Him indicate that ALL our sins will be completely wiped off and our life will be like that of a newborn, pure baby [Bukhari]. If we really appreciate this new start, we will not take a step forward without caution and planning. We need to take this opportunity to carefully measure the progress we’ve made, assess where we had gone wrong and strive to be one of those who are the best of those who make mistakes – as described by the Prophet  when he said:

“All the sons of Adam are sinners, but the best of sinners are those who repent often.” [At·Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah]

Here are some tips I’ve put together to help you in planning for and sustaining your Ramadan productivity levels In sha Allah:

1. Make Dua to Stay Productive

We complete the month of Ramadan with remarkable levels of spirituality and positive energy. Shaytan, who has been held for the past 30 days, will intensify his efforts to take this spirituality away as soon as possible. The conflict between our ego, our spirituality and shaytan is not a battle that we can win easily. Making dua is essential to guarantee Allah’s support throughout our daily struggles. One of the most beautiful Prophetic duas for holding on to our spirituality and productivity is the following:

‘O You Who makes hearts steadfast make our hearts steadfast in adhering to Your religion.’ (‘Allahuma, ya Muthabbet al-qulub, thabbet qalbi ala deenek’) [Ibn Majah]

2. Pay Attention to Your Environment

Many of us have normal routines such as having a morning coffee or breakfast at work. Unconsciously, we miss doing some mistakes we used to do as well. Returning to our daily routine will include returning to the same environments that bring up those unpleasant desires again (extra free time and energy to waste, friends you used to smoke or waste time with, gossip or even miss salah). Paying attention to your environment is essential to sustain your productivity. When shaytan tries to seduce us, he does not come with his red horns and stick, trying to convince us to return to our old destructive habits. He will take on many forms and shapes, and the old unpleasant company is one of the most efficient sneak-back strategies. Try to eliminate or avoid unproductive environments as much as you can. You can knock the door of your friends’ hearts with a word of caring advice – perhaps they need help and could change. But be cautious: destructive company will drag you over to their side if you cannot drag them to yours!

3. Commit to Attending a Weekly Halaqa

Doing ibadah is easy in Ramadan because of the collective focus on it. It is a universal month when all Muslims around the world engage in more ibadah and ritual worship. The act of fasting itself is a good reminder about focusing on staying spiritually productive throughout the day. However, after Ramadan you need extra reminders to boost your motivation because you will not have the same communal support as before in performing ibadah. Moreover, with the busy pace of life, we gradually lose our spiritual energy. Attending halaqa (religious study group) once a week is a great way to bring us back to and stay on the right track. It keeps you aware of Allah and helps you keep your Afterlife in view always. Attending halaqa keeps you in good company: people whom you can discuss your religious feelings, reflections and experiences with.
Attending halaqa at the masjid with good friends is the ideal image we have in mind. But in the 21st century, a halaqa can have many versions. You can watch a video on YouTube of any speaker whose style and message interests you and later discuss it with a friend. Wherever your are or whatever your circumstances, the Internet has made it difficult for anyone to claim he or she does not have any religious and social resources.

4. Set a New Schedule

I have always held on the belief that it is not heroic to attend taraweeh when every Muslim in your community does so. However it is heroic to remain consistent in performing 4 rakahs (units) of qiyam (voluntary prayer) every single night even if your friends are waiting for you to watch a football match, or when the lights are turned off and everyone is asleep. This is the heroic mission that we should stick to: to do ibadah when everybody returns to his or her usual routines.

Having a new schedule is absolutely essential. Your new plan should comprise at least 30% of what you achieved during Ramadan. You can review each activity you performed in Ramadan and include at least 1/3rd of it in your new schedule. For example: if you used to pray 20 rakahs of taraweeh, schedule 8 rakahs of qiyam daily in your new schedule. If you used to pray 8 rakahs of taraweeh, make that 4 rakahs of qiyam in your post-Ramadan schedule. Set monthly missions like: helping a friend, giving sadaqah (charity), doing dhikr, reading a specific amount of the Qur’an, voluntary fasting, etc. Always specify the quantity of your goals and stick to deadlines you can commit to. Do not exaggerate or try to replicate your Ramadan schedule. I know you will find the new schedule very minimal when you compare it with what you did during Ramadan, but consistency is what matters now. Our beloved prophet  said:

“The most beloved deed to Allah’s is the most regular and constant even though it were little.” [Bukhari]

 5. Keep Track of Your Ramadan Records

“In my first Ramadan, I discovered new limits in me as a human being. I will never, ever forget the feeling of water going down my throat after 17 hours of fasting!” 

This was one of many amazing reflections of a dear sister who experienced her first Ramadan two years ago. These words gave me a completely new understanding of Ramadan. It is an opportunity to discover your hidden limits and overcome them. If you ask any non-Muslim about abstaining from eating and drinking during the long hours of July while still being productive, his or her answer will be: impossible! This is what Ramadan is about: challenging the impossible. If you revisit your Ramadan, I am sure you will find a couple of things that you succeeded in doing even though you never thought you could do them before. That is why you should keep your Ramadan programme as a reference of your hidden potential. Every time you miss qiyam or reading the Qur’an because you feel tired, or stop doing dhikr because you are thinking about everyday problems, or even lose hope in changing the world around you, return to the records you set in Ramadan and get a dose of “yes I can in sha Allah!” energy.
Finally, may Allah accept our every little effort and count it in our balance of good deeds. Let’s make dua that we will observe the next Ramadan with much more positive energy and honest intentions In sha Allah.

As always, I would love to read your tips and reflections on post-Ramadan planning. Go ahead and drop a comment below!

The post Staying Productive After Ramadan: Yes You Can! appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

Our dear Prophet said: “He who observes fasting during the month of Ramadan with faith while seeking its reward from Allah, will have his past sins forgiven.” Reported by Abu Hurairah [Bukhari].

We are now at the most important yearly spiritual experience of a Muslim’s life. During these 30 continuous days of rahma (mercy) and maghfira (forgiveness) we have the privilege of being heard by Allah at any moment during the day or night, and to be given whatever we ask for! This article will focus on tips to follow during Ramadan.

Tips Related to the First Night of Ramadan

During the first night of Ramadan, Muslims all around the world wait for the announcement of the month. Start collecting reward from this moment!

1. Try to look for the new moon with the family, make the little ones busy with this. However, if the religious authority in your country announces the beginning of Ramadan and you are still not able to see the new moon, you should accept the decision without any fuss.
2. Send greetings to family members and friends. If you live in a non-Muslim community, try to explain the significance of Ramadan to your neighbours. It is important to explain to them that Ramadan is more than just abstaining from eating and drinking.
3. Share the joy of Ramadan with your children. And don’t refer to the night of Eid! Kids should feel that the coming of Ramadan is a special event to celebrate even if they do not fast it yet. Involve them in decorating the house, making lamps using craft work etc.
4. Do not miss taraweeh: Many people miss the first taraweeh for different reasons. Some say the first day of Ramadan starts after midnight, so they don’t attend the prayer, or between the joy and many phone calls, they get exhausted and nod off and some may just forget it!
5. Keep niyyah:

The Prophet said: (The value of) an action depends on the intention behind it. A man will be rewarded only for what he intended. Narrated on the authority of Umar b. al-Khattab. [Bukhari].

Intention (niyyah) in Islam has immense importance. During the first night of Ramadan, make a lot of good intentions which Allah will help you fulfill. Examples:

• Fasting for Allah ’s sake
• To have a productive month
• To attain inner peace
• To forgive friends/ family members who have wronged you
• To attend the night of Qadr and get its reward
• That all efforts in the kitchen during Ramadan is to break the fast of family members

Daily and Monthly Planning

Daily Planning

To make the most use of this blessed month, we should not pile tasks on our schedule and wait till the appropriate minute to fulfill it! Instead, we should allocate a time for each goal. In Ramadan, there are blessed moments that we should not miss by focusing on other tasks. For example, you cannot visit people during taraweeh, or watch a religious program right after fajr when you are supposed to do dhikr and read the Qur’an!

• Divide your day into at least 6 parts:
  • The morning: suhoor, tahajjud, fajr, reciting Quran after fajr, istighfar
  • Work: Remember fasting is not an excuse to be inefficient at work; neither does it justify being ill tempered because you miss your coffee or cigarette! Concentrate on dhikr especially while waiting in traffic, while driving to and from work etc.
  • From asr to maghrib: 30 minute nap, family time: discussion, reciting Qur’an, watch an educational program, narrating the prophets´ stories, prepare Iftar, any other task you planned etc.
  • Breaking fast: Please refer to my article on meals in Ramadan for more details about suhoor and iftar
  • Isha/ taraweeh: It is not necessary to spend hours in traffic to go to a mosque with the best sheikh/ imam in the city. Choose a masjid that is in your neighbourhood!
  • Night: This time depends on when you complete the Taraweeh prayers. (Family time, completing other tasks, Qiyam)
• Keep each salah as a time interval between tasks, so you can pray at the masjid if possible.
• Intention for i´tikaaf (to stay in the masjid for a particular time period in the worship of Allah while maintaining certain conditions)

Monthly Planning

• Divide the month into three parts where each part consists of 10 days. This is an efficient way to accomplish your schedule according to the spiritual importance of the month.
• Set the goals you want to accomplish in each of the 10 days. Write them in a separate column. You could concentrate on social tasks in the first 10 days, family tasks the following 10 days, dua and dhikr (personal spirituality) in the last ten days. I do not mean to totally separate your tasks, but give you a rough time period to focus on.
• Start dividing these tasks and goals. If your lifestyle is organized with minimal surprises, you can plan these 10 days in advance. If not, try and make a draft for 2 days. Making a draft makes you feel less guilty if something unexpected happens. This does not mean you get out of your actual task but, you might need to double the effort for the next 2 days. Place an X on completed tasks, to give you a sense of accomplishment!
• For the last 10 days of Ramadan, try to intensify all kinds of Ibadat, especially the prayers of the night. You can pray to recover some prayers you may have missed before.
• Recite the whole Qur’an. In case you cannot read, listen to it and read the translation juz’ by juz’.

‘Aishah reported: I asked: “O Messenger of Allah! If I realize Lailat-ul-Qadr (Night of Decree), what should I supplicate in it?” He replied, “You should supplicate: Allahumma innaka ‘afuwwun, tuhibbul-‘afwa, fa’fu ‘anni (O Allah, You are Most Forgiving, and You love forgiveness; so forgive me).” [At-Tirmidhi]

Tips for the Last Night of Ramadan

After all the effort of planning, helping others, praying, fasting and keeping good intentions, we will reach the last night of Ramadan desiring the great reward of being saved from the fire and accepted in heaven. It is important to trust Allah that He will accept your hard work. At the night of Eid, the joy is not only because we are not supposed to fast the next day! It is also because we are labelled as heaven’s future habitants In sha Allah!

1. Ask dua that Allah accepts all of your efforts done in Ramadan, and that He supports you to sustain your productivity after Ramadan
2. Share greetings for Eid
3. Give the kids the joy of Eid (new clothes, money, decorating the house, gifts, going to the park, making plans for the day of Eid)
4. Do not forget to pay Zakat al-Fitr, which you can pay from the first day of Ramadan till the last night of it. The sooner you pay it, the better it would be for those who receive it!
5. Do not forget the families with limited income. Although you pay your Zakat al-Fitr, you can still do a few more things which won’t cost much, but may make a huge difference for others. Example: buying boxes of sweets, Eid decorations for the house, little toys or even plastic jewellery for the little princesses of the family.
6. As soon as the authorities prove it to be the end of Ramadan, start repeating the Takbir and teach it to the young ones

These are some of my tips for Ramadan, please share yours! I will pray from the heart that Allah accepts all of our good deeds and efforts this Ramadan. Please do not forget me in your dua.

The post How to Plan a Schedule for the Month of Ramadan appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

The countdown for the blessed month of Ramadan has started. A sense of purpose can be seen, to start preparations and welcome Ramadan, and end the month with the most desirable reward: salvation from the fire In sha Allah. Many articles I have read so far talk about managing the long fasting hours, attending Taraweeh at the masjid, reciting the Quran in thirty days, along with the planning of a Ramadan schedule. All these articles inspire me with so many brilliant ideas and help me with my personal schedule. But, as a wife and a mother I admit that when Ramadan comes, there is an important task that occupies part of my thoughts: preparing the blessed meals, suhoor and iftar. 

From my point of view, preparing these two meals is a heroic mission. Dealing with food while fasting, setting the table at low energy levels, being responsible for waking the family for suhoor and cooking French omelettes at 3 AM are a few examples! All of these tasks are what Muslim mothers do silently with a smile. In this article, I would like to share some of my tips I keep in mind in order to accumulate barakah from these daily unavoidable tasks and include them as part of my ibadah schedule.

Maintain Niyyah in Your Heart and Thoughts

“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.” [At-Tirmidhi].

What a recompensing hadith! I will not mention the splendid reward of fasting because I think all of us already know it. But the thing is, by keeping the intention of breaking the fast of every family member, we can get the same reward they get. If your family consists of four members, then every iftar you will get 4 extra rewards! What an excellent deal! It is our choice to make this a source of hasanat for the thirty days of Ramadan.

Involve the Family Members

“And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression” [Qur’an: Chapter 5, Verse 2]

One of the traditions of Ramadan is that the whole family gathers at suhoor and iftar. Added to this, there is no better chance than the barakah of Ramadan to make the little ones take some responsibilities. Don’t be egocentric, make them involved in accumulating hasanat with you!
Gather your little sisters, brothers or your young kids. Be charming and explain to them the great reward of fasting, breaking the fast of Muslims, the barakah in suhoor, etc.

Make a list of chores they can do to help according to their age and abilities. Let them participate in listing these tasks (wake the family for suhoor, setting the table for iftar, clearing the table, washing the dishes etc.). Change chores each week so that they do not get bored. At the end of each week, ask for their reflections: what were the easy tasks, challenging tasks and what they learnt from their chores.
When you have these reflective sessions, make sure that adults and other older members of the family are around and can hear you. They might enjoy the sessions as much as the little ones and participate effectively!

Multi-Task During Your Kitchen Hours

Some recipes require your total concentration and attention. However, listening to the recitation of the Quran will not affect your task and will double the reward of your kitchen time. I personally like to watch Islamic programs while cooking. I choose the convenient time for me by watching a TV repeat telecast or a YouTube version.

It really is difficult to list the tips you can do to multi-task in the kitchen because each woman has her own way and each recipe has its own requirements. However, here are some of my tips:

• Use yesterday’s meal to feed the non-fasting little angels while preparing the dishes for the day
• Reciting Quran with your kids or little sisters and brothers. You can put the last part of the Quran (30th juz) as your goal with them and help both to be productive
• Cleaning parts of the kitchen that you have not had a chance to clean yesterday (fryer, oven, stove-top, etc.)
• While the meal is being cooked, make sure you clean the mess and organize the kitchen simultaneously. This way, you have less work to do after iftar
• Beware of using up too many dishes and silverware while you are preparing the meal or when you set the table! This will save you a lot of effort when doing the washing up

Productive Outcome

What I mean by productive outcome is not the large quantity of a meal. Rather, it is how we can use one meal to generate the next one. This point, like the previous one depends on every woman’s recipes, family customs, etc.

• Plan in advance the next two days meals (suhoor and iftar). Make sure you have all the ingredients. When you start to cook, try and prepare part of the following suhoor while preparing iftar. You save time as all the washing up is already done and you get an extra 10 minutes before Fajr to pray Tahajjud.
• If you usually wake up sleepy and groggy for suhoor, try to prepare the dishes the night before. Cover them with clingwrap and put them in the fridge.
• In my country housewives prepare the first, and sometimes the second and third steps of some recipes and freeze them before Ramadan. In most cases, all what they have to do is to cook or bake it before iftar. I find this a brilliant idea because you can provide the hungry stomachs food in less time and effort, and this is especially useful when you have visitors over. Further, it gives you extra free time to dedicate for ibadah while fasting.
• Do not make so much food unless you are going to consume it the next day. Some families have no issues in eating leftovers. However, try and estimate the amount of the food required and never throw away or waste food!

Make Sunnah a Priority

Every good deed has it reward, but in Ramadan it is multiplied many times! What a relief to trust Allah and enjoy His rewards beyond our expectations. Sunnah is one of the most prominent sources of guaranteed reward. The challenge comes in keeping the intention of doing certain acts as sunnah. The following are some sunan related to the Ramadan meals:

Suhoor

The Prophet said: “Take suhoor as there is a blessing in it.” [Sahih al-Bukhari]

With the long fasting hours this Ramadan, I am sure that we are all committed to have suhoor. We truly need it to maintain the energy in our body. My only advice is to not forget the niyyah of applying the sunnah in your suhoor in order to have its blessings. Try to pray Tahajjud before having suhoor or after it. This will give your suhoor a spiritual taste.

Break your fast as soon as the sun sets and before you pray Maghrib.

Allah’s Messenger said, “The people will remain on the right path as long as they hasten the breaking of the fast.” [Sahih al-Bukhari]

It is recommended by the Prophet to break your fast with water and dates, pray Maghrib and then have the iftar meal. We know how difficult it is for many to resist the delicious aromas and stop drooling over the food. My recommendation is to not let the family enter the kitchen or the dining room before the prayer. Instead, you can remind the family to perform wudhu and lay the table only with a pitcher of cold water and dates. It will get easier for you all to adapt to this sunnah In sha Allah.

Make dua and thank Allah

The Prophet said: “Indeed, the fasting person has at the time of breaking the fast, a supplication that is not rejected” [Ibn Majah] 

As wives and mothers, we have plenty of dua to ask for our family, along with our own personal desires and problems. At the moment of breaking the fast, things usually don’t go as planned. Try to plan in advance and make a dua list (for your family, husband, kids, dunya, akirah and for the Muslim ummah). Trust yourself that you deserve what you are asking Allah almighty for, and trust Allah almighty that He is listening to YOU and will answer your supplication at the perfect moment.

Allah almighty says: ‘If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]…” [Qur’an: Chapter 14, Verse 7]

When you finish your meal, thank Allah for blessing you with an Islamic family, this gives everyone a sense of unity and love. Thank Allah for providing you with enough food and cold water. There are many Muslims who break their fast all alone or with not a great variety of food. Explain this to the little ones and together make dua for them!

Share Your Passion

“May fasting people break their fast with you, may the righteous eat your food, and may the angels send blessing upon you.” [Abu Dawood]

This was a supplication of the Prophet when he broke his fast at Sa’d bin Mu’adh´s house. We have mentioned the priceless reward of breaking the fast of Muslims. And we have said that Ramadan meals are blessed ones. Sharing your food with others, especially poor ones, is the first precious lesson we experience in Ramadan. Whether you invite people to your place, or send them food; whether it is a luxurious meal or just a simple one, you will get the same reward In sha Allah.

• This sunnah does not mean spending all day in the kitchen cooking luxurious meals to feed 15 fasting Muslims everyday.
• Try to choose simple and nutritive recipes that are not labour intensive and time consuming.
• Do not invite too many people at once. 2-3 extra guests will not require extra efforts on your menu.
• You can host an iftar party in your non-fasting days. You get as much reward as if you were fasting

These are my modest tips for productive and rewarding meals in Ramadan. I hope you get to use them. I am sure that each woman has her own productive tips and tricks as well. Do not let these tips stop in your kitchen. Share your ideas and get more reward. Please include me in your Ramadan duas.

The post Tips to Enjoy Blessed Meals in Ramadan 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.

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