Did you know? There are less than 100 days to the blessed month of Ramadan. How are you preparing yourself? Let’s look at some of these tips:
1) Compensate for missed days
If you missed any days due to sickness, travelling, aging, or if you as a woman feared for your child during pregnancy or when you breastfed your child, you are obliged to compensate for each day you didn’t fast in earlier Ramadan’s. It’s not too late compensate those, but begin as soon as you can as none of us have any deal with the angel Izra’il, who is waiting upon the command from Allah to let us return to Him, then we should haste in being clear with our missed fasts
2) Fast on the 3 white days
Why wait with fasting till Ramadan? You can begin now fasting the white days in each month according to the Sunnah, meaning the 13th, 14th and 15th in each month according to the lunar calendar. They are also called Ayam al-Beed, and they are named so because the moon is white, full and bright.Jareer ibn ‘Abdullaah radi Allahu ‘anhu narrated that the Prophet, salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:
“Fasting three days of each month is fasting for a lifetime, and ayyam al-beed (the white days) are the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth.”
(Narrated by al-Nasa’i (2420)
The Messenger of Allah, salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:
‘Shall I not tell you of something that will take away the evil of the heart? Fasting three days of each month.’ (an-Nisa’i 2/2386)
3) Fast on Mondays and Thursdays
Mondays are a day of joy for Muslims in every corner of the world. On this day The Beloved of Allah, Our master, Prophet Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was born and he got the first revelation of the Qur’an. It is Sunnah to fast on Mondays, so why not adopt this beautiful Sunnah and celebrate the blessing of being a follower of the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, a servant of Allah, by fasting on this very day. It is also said about fasting on Thursdays that our deeds are presented on this day.Abu Qataadah al-Ansaari (Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was asked about fasting on Mondays and he said: “On (that day) I was born and on it Revelation came down to me.” (Muslim, 1162)Abu Hurayrah (Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Deeds are presented (to Allah) on Monday and Thursday and I like my deeds to be presented when I am fasting.” (Al-Tirmidhi (747))
4) Don’t let your Qur’an become dusty
When was the last time you touched the Qur’an other than moving it from one shelf to another? It is the right of the Qur’an Sharif that we recite its beautiful words from Allah, and we follow it by heart. Make it a habit to recite at least one portion each day.
5) Follow a new Sunnah each friday
Starting from sleeping habits, getting up in the morning, speaking to other people, eating, drinking, dealing with people, various worships and so on. Friday is a joyous day for Muslims and to celebrate it make it a habit to adopt a new Sunnah in your life each Friday.
6) Reflect and repent
Reflect upon your heart and your actions. We sin so much and we are not even aware of them because of the lack of His remembrance in our hearts.
The Prophet, salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “All the children of Adam constantly err, but the best of those who constantly err are those who constantly repent.” (Tirmidhi)
7) Start praying and compensate prayers
Life is too short to waste our time, and we have unfortunately so many prayers we haven’t prayed since we became baligh. Why wait for Ramadan to begin to pray?
Today is an opportunity given by Allah, so make wudu’ (ablution) and get on your prayermat! Pray the prayer of the day and each time you perform a prayer, compensate for an earlier prayer you need to make up. Continue this with the rest of the prayers too and you will make it easier for yourself to compensate for the missed prayers. E.g. make up for Zuhr prayer after you have prayed the Zuhr on its time.Qatada reported it on the authority of Sayyidina Anas bin Malik that the Messenger of Allah, salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:
“When any one of you omits the prayer due to sleep or he forgets it, he should observe it when he remembers it, for Allah has said:” Observe prayer for remembrance of Me.”” (Muslim)
