Ramadan is here to bring us closer to our Rabb. But are we achieving the optimal potential of this month?
We have gathered some tips for you on how you can become productive this Ramadan!
1. Make your intentions clear for yourself
Every action is upon its intention, and each intention will be rewarded by Allah Almighty if it is for the sake of Allah. ‘Ibn Abbas reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, related from his Lord the Blessed and Exalted:
“Verily, Allah has recorded good and bad deeds and he made them clear. Whoever intends to perform a good deed but does not do it, then Allah will record it as a complete good deed. If he intends to do it and does so, then Allah the Exalted will record it as ten good deeds up to seven hundred times as much or even more. If he intends to do a bad deed and does not do it, then Allah will record for him one complete good deed. If he does it, then Allah will record for him a single bad deed.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Muslim)
2. Make du’a and ask Allah for tawfiq to let you come closer to Him
“And your lord said, invoke me and I will respond to your invocation.” (40:60)
We ask Allah for all those worldly goods, but when did we ask Him last time to help us achieving His nearness?
3. Plan each day in Ramadan the night before
Ask yourself about 3 tasks that you want to focus on the next day. Keeping it simple will make it easier for you to focus, and being aware of what you want, will make you day much more productive. Try it!
4. Reserve 30 minutes a day (at least) for Qur’an
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,
“Whoever recites a letter from Allah’s Book, then he receives the reward from it, and the reward of ten the like of it. I do not say that Alif Lam Mim is a letter, but Alif is a letter, Lam is a letter and Mim is a letter.”
The blessings of reciting the Qur’an are enormous! Ramadan is the month the Qur’an was revealed, so why not spend at least half an hour to recite the holy book? If you are looking for a great app so you can recite no matter where you are, you can use apps like Quran explorer or 13 lines Qur’an. These are very useful.
5. Have a nutritious and healthy suhoor and iftar
Staying energized during the day is important and this requires eating healthy, getting lots of water, and having a proper suhoor so you don’t run out of energy during the day. Try aiming 5-6 glass of fluid (water, juice, milk, etc) daily.
6. Plan out your activities around prayer times
The prayer is important and these are to be prayed on scheduled time as opposed to other Ibadah. It is therefore very important that you make time for prayer and schedule your time around the prayers and not the other way around.
7. Plan out your meals
Make a meal plan and stick to this. You will manage to get a lot of sparetime if you buy groceries only once a week, instead of having to go shopping every now and so. If you know what you are going to eat and you have the ingredients at home, you will also be able to prepare the food whenever it suits you best, instead of having to go out shopping, come home, and then get started. This will also save you some money, as you are likely more inclined to buy snacks and junk food when you do grocery-shopping on empty stomach
8. Make time to learn new islamic knowledge
Read an Islamic book, memorize a new Sunnah or Quranic/Sunnah du’a
9. Listen to the Qur’an or a Naat
When you aren’t engaged in some kind of ibadah, then put on some recitation of the Qur’an or a Naat/Nasheed. If nothing else, then let your ears be engaged in the remembrance of Allah.May Allah make it easy for us to remember Him and let this month of Ramadan become means of His mercy and forgiveness!