Assalamu'alaikum,
In my last e-mail, we agreed that we need this coming Ramadan to be different from all the Ramadans we've had over the years (we did agree, right?).
To have a productive Ramadan that is deeply spiritual and transforming, we need to avoid falling into the 3 common traps of Ramadan, what are these traps, what are their root causes, and how can we solve them? Read on.

Ramadan Trap #1: “The Energy Drain”

The Trap: Ramadan isn’t supposed to be a time when Muslims sleep all day, eat all night and hardly work at all. Yet, we often see Ramadan as a time where Muslims actually achieve less than they normally do! Which is very unfortunate because if you fall into this trap, you’ll miss out on the barakah of doing more good deeds during this blessed month.

The Root Problem: Even with the best intent, many find themselves too exhausted during Ramadan to complete even their usual tasks, much less find the energy for extra deeds like reading the Quran, taraweeh and charity. Our body is not used to running on less energy, and their mind additionally allows themselves to give in to this “excuse” of having less energy to be productive.

The Solution: It all boils down to proper sleep management and energy management. And to do this efficiently, you need to start training your mind and body before Ramadan! Think about marathon runners. They don’t just run when the race starts. They’ve spent months training before the event. So by the time their feet hit the road, their mental and physical fitness is adequately prepared to push them through to the finish line.


Ramadan Trap #2: “The Social Ritual”

The Trap: From three-course suhoor meals to extravagant spreads at iftar parties, many Muslims fall into the trap where Ramadan becomes a 30-day food festival – to the point that you’ll even read headlines of people being hospitalised from overeating during Ramadan.

The Root Problem: Losing focus of the spiritual intent of fasting makes it easy to fall into “The Social Ritual”. This then transforms your Ramadan calendar into a social ritual of iftar preparations and events. Without the spiritual intent of fasting as our focus, we tend to overeat and go from famine to feast – which is actually worse on our body and energy levels! Hence, this can accelerate or worsen “The Energy Drain” and creates a vicious cycle of unproductivity.

The Solution: You need a combination of clear Ramadan goals and an understanding of how to practice proper nutrition management. This again requires an early training of mind and body. Let’s go back to the marathon runner. Before he runs, he has a goal in mind. He’s not just running because everyone else is running. With sincere goals in mind, he is driven by a bigger purpose. Also, you won’t see the marathon runner gulping down 10 litres of water before running a 40km race. Imagine if he did – he would fall before the first step! Instead, he carefully controls his water intake during the marathon. In much the same way, you need to have a combination of clear goals and nutrition management to avoid “The Social Ritual” trap during Ramadan.


Ramadan Trap #3: “The Distracted Insincere Mind”

The Trap: There are varying levels a distracted mind can lead you, away from the spiritual barakah of Ramadan. It can diminish your spiritual productivity because things like television, Facebook, or even the immediate demands at home or work distract you from your Ramadan goals. A distracted mind can even stray you from the sincere intent of fasting – leading to insincere intent such as fasting for the sake of ritual, or with an objective of losing weight, or only fasting and praying taraweeh at the masjid to “join the others” or look like a “good Muslim” in front of others.

The Root Problem: A lack of inner self-mastery leads to the distracted mind, and a distracted mind is prone to succumb to the nafs. What this means is that without inner self-mastery, our nafs can cause our initial intentions of sincerity to change and our efforts distracted.

The Solution: Spiritual tools are vital to help you overcome the distracted mind, win the self-battle over your nafs, and achieve inner mastery. Ramadan forces you to go beyond your daily “comfort” zone of worship and spirituality to achieve inner mastery. Instead of five fard daily prayers, we also have the sunnah prayers, taraweeh, witr & qiyam. Instead of reciting just a few pages if Qur’an a day, it’s at least 20 pages in order to finish the Qur’an during the month. Instead of just a few dollars of charity per week, you’re pushed to give the most you can give in time and money. Ramadan then transforms you to be the best you can be spiritually and test your potential. This “in-built spiritual transformation training ground” helps us gain inner mastery and increased taqwa (God-consciousness), In sha Allah. And this, is the ultimate goal we seek during Ramadan, for Allah SWT has said:

"O believers! Fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you in order that you become more conscious of God."
[Quran: Chapter 2, Verse 183]

Are you finding this useful? Is this helpful?
In sha Allah, in my next email I'll share with you a system, my team and I have put together to help you overcome the above 3 traps in a practical, easy, and affordable manner.
Till next time - please make dua for the ProductiveMuslim team .

Sincerely,
Mohammed Faris
Founder, ProductiveMuslim.com
& ProductiveMuslimAcademy.com
Author, the Productive Muslim: Where Faith Meets Productivity

P.S. Tonight, have a discussion with your family/friends about the 3 traps above - you’d be surprised how many of them face it.