The blessed & most beautiful month is near and what better time to prepare for it than right now. Some of us deceive ourselves into thinking that when Ramadan comes we will suddenly change and worship Allah night and day but we are only decieving ourselves in thinking like this.

The Sahaaba used to prepare for Ramadan six months in advance. So if we really want to make the best of this Ramadan then we need to prepare for it now!

This may be our last Ramadan for life is so uncertain. Then there is NO doubt that we must make the best of it for the Reward of EVERY good act in the month of Ramadan is multiplied many times over:

The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:“Whoever draws near to Allah during it (Ramadan) with a single characteristic from the characteristics of (voluntary) goodness, he is like whoever performs an obligatory act in other times. And whoever performs an obligatory act during it, he is like whoever performed seventy obligatory acts in other times.”

The best way we can make the best of this Ramadan and grab the immense rewards that are available is to prepare for it NOW.


The following are 10 ways in which we can prepare for this beautiful month starting from NOW:


1. Voluntary Fasts

What better way of preparing ourselves to fast for 30 consecutive days in Ramadan than to fast the voluntary fasts.

Fasting Monday and Thursday:

Abu Hurairah reported that the most the Prophet, (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasalam) would fast would be Monday and Thursday. He was asked about that and he said: “The deeds of people are presented to Allah on every Monday and Thursday. Allah forgives every Muslim except for those who are deserting each other."He says:"leave them for later”.


Another is to fast the white days (13, 14 & 15th of each Islamic month):


Abu Tharr Al-Ghefari said:“The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said "O Abu Tharr! If you fast three days of every month, then fast the 13th, the 14th and the 15th [these are call the al-ayaam al-beedh, the white days]".(Ahmad, an-Nasaa'i & at-Tirmithi; Sahih)

Therefore we should fast these days in order to prepare for the fasting of Ramadan and even after Ramadan we should continue to do so for fasting will intercede for us on the day of judgement:

Rasulallah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:"Fasting and the Qur’an will intercede for the slave on the Day of Resurrection.Fasting will say: “O My Rabb! I prevented him from food and desires, so accept my intercession for him.’And the Qur’an will say:“I prevented him from sleep during the night, so accept my intercession for him.’He (Sallallahu `Alaihi Wasallam) said:‘And they will (be allowed to) intercede.’”(Ahmad, at-Tabarani, Al-Hakim, Sahih)

2. Reciting Qur’an

Allah the exalted says:

“The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Quran was sent down, a guidance for mankind, clear proofs for the guidance, the Criterion; so whoever amongst you witnesses this month, let him fast it."(Surah al-Baqarah 2:185)

Ramadan was the month in which the Qur'an was first revealed so it is the month of the Qur'an. We should devote much of this blessed month reciting the Qur'an.

But for many of us the Qur'an has gathered a lot of dust since the last time we picked it up.

As Ramadan is fast approaching we must blow off the dust and start to build a close relationship with the Qur'an for it will intercede with us on the day of judgement:

"Recite the Holy Qur’an as much as we can for It will come as an intercessor for its reciter’ on the Day of Judgement"(Muslim)

There are Ten Rewards for Every Letter Recited from the Quran in normal times but in Ramadan these rewards are multiplied:

“Whoever reads a letter from the Book of Allaah, he will have a reward, and this reward will be multiplied by ten. I am not saying that 'Alif, Laam, Meem' (a combination of letters frequently mentioned in the Holy Quran) is a letter, rather I am saying that 'Alif' is a letter, 'Laam' is a letter and 'Meem' is a letter.”(At-Tirmithi)

So what better time for us to get into the habit of reciting the Qur'an than to begin to do so right now. We should recite the Qur'an with its meanings and try to understand and implement it into our daily lives.

3.. Praying Superogatory (Nafil) prayers

In Ramadan every voluntary prayer carries the reward of a Fard prayer in normal times and there is nothing more rewarding than a Fard prayer so one can imagine the immense rewards that are available in Ramadan for every voluntary prayer we pray.

The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:“Whoever draws near to Allah during it (Ramadan) with a single characteristic from the characteristics of (voluntary) goodness, he is like whoever performs an obligatory act in other times. And whoever performs an obligatory act during it, he is like whoever performed seventy obligatory acts in other times.”


In order for us to take advantage of these immense rewards we should start begin now by praying all of the daily Sunnah and Nafil prayers so by the time Ramadan comes we will already be in the habit of praying all of our Sunnah and Nafils and so we cna increase our voluntary prayers even more so during Ramadan. This would be difficult if we were not in the habit of praying Sunnah and Nafil prayers in normal times.

4. Making Dua

Many of us do not spend as much time as we should do in Dua. Even if we do we rush our dua and our hearts and minds are not present whilst supplicating to Allah.

Many of us rush our Dua's and our hearts are often not present whilst we are supplicating to Allah. Therefore we lose out on much of the benefits and blessings of Dua. We must give more attention to our Dua's and try to concentrate more and be more sincere in our Dua's imagining Allah watching us supplicate to him. We should humble ourselves making ourselves low and not worthy in front of Allah. We should try to cry if we can and have FULL hope that Allah will accept our Dua's if not in this world then in the hereafter.

Allah Almighty says in the Qur’an:"When my servants ask you concerning me, (tell them) I am indeed close (to them). I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on me."


So let us get into the habit of making sincere Dua's from deep within our hearts and let us not be heedless when supplicating to Allah. What better time than now for us to get into the habit of making more intense and sincere Dua's. So by the time Ramadan arrives we would have already got into the habit of making the long, sincere and intense Dua's which will readily be accepted during this blessed month especially whilst we are fasting and in the latter part of the nights during Tahajjud.


5. Sincere Repentance

Ramadan is the month where we can gain mercy and forgiveness from Allah for all of our sins past and present.

We should know that Allah is most merciful and most forgiving and loves to forgive:

Allah says:O son of Adam, if your sins were to reach the clouds of the sky and you would then seek My forgiveness, I would forgive you.

When a person sins and then sincerely turns to Allah for forgiveness, one will find Allah ready to accept his repentance and to forgive him, as this verse indicates: And whoever does a wrong or wrongs himself, but then seeks forgiveness from Allah, he will find Allah forgiving and merciful. (Surat an-Nisaa 4:110)

Allah loves repentance and loves those who turn to him in repentance:

Truly Allah loves those who turn [to Him] in repentance, and He loves those who keep themselves in purity.(Qur'an 2:222)


Therefore we should get into the habit now of repenting to Allah so that in Ramadan we will make the best of repenting to Allah and continue to do so throughout everyday of our lives.
How unfortunate is a person who after the end of Ramadan does not gain any forgiveness of his sins from Allah but ends up piling more sins onto his account.


6. Generosity & Charity

Rasulallah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) became even more generous in Ramadan than he already was.

Ramadan is a time for generosity and giving. It is a time when we think about those who have less than us as well as thank Allah for everything he has given us. Ramadan is an honourable and blessed month, and the rewards for generosity are multiplied in it.

The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wassallam) said,“The best charity is that given in Ramadan.”(At-Tirmithi).

Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wassallam) said,“He who feeds a fasting person will gain the same reward as he will, without decreasing from the fasting person’s rewards.”(Ahmad).


Therefore we should get into the habit of giving in charity now so by the time Ramadan arrives we would increase in our generosity, giving to those less fortunate than ourselves. We should give whatever we can afford as Allah looks at our intentions.

7. Controlling the tongue

Ramadan is a time where we must control our desires (nafs) aswell as our tongues:

Rasulallah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:“Fasting is not (abstaining) from eating and drinking only, but also from vain speech and foul language. If one of you is being cursed or annoyed, he should say: ‘I am fasting, I am fasting.”

Therefore we must protect our tongue from vain speech and foul language. Protecting the tongue is preventing it from lying, back-biting, slander, tale-carrying, false speech and other things that have been forbidden in the Qur'an & Sunnah.


8. Improving Character & manners

Rasulallah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) came to perfect the character of man and the best of this Ummah are those with the best of characters:

Rasulallah (Sallallahu Alahi Wasallam) used to say: "The best amongst you are those who have the best manners and character.”(al-Bukhari)


Again as with making any big change perfecting our character and manners cannot be done overnight but we must make a start now so that by the time Ramadan comes we would have gained momentum in making the necessery changes to our characters in order for us to be the best of this Ummah and those closest to Allah.


9. Moderation in eating

On the authority of Al-Miqdaam ibn Maadiy-Karib who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah saying:"No human ever filled a vessel worse than the stomach. Sufficient for any son of Adam are some morsels to keep his back straight. But if it must be, then one third for his food, one third for his drink and one third for his breath."(Ahmad, At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasaa’I, Ibn Majah )


There is no doubt that excessive eating is not only a cause of many diseases but is also a major factor in stopping us from maximising our worship to Allah.


Many of us fast during Ramadan fast during the day and after Iftaar make up for all the food we missed throughout the day by binge eating.

Surely this goes against the very purpose of Ramadan which is to be moderate in eating and to remember those who have less than us. How will we remember the unfortunate when we constantly over eating before and after our fasts?

By controlling what we eat now we will not only benefit our health in the short and long term but moderate eating will make us less heavier and enable us to maximise the amount of worship we do everyday during Ramadan and the rest of our lives.


10. Implementing Sunnah's into Daily life

Following the Sunnah is a command from Allah:

"Say (O Muhammad to mankind): "If you (really) love Allah, then follow me (i.e. accept Islamic monotheism, follow the Quran and the Sunnah), Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."(Quran: 3:31)

Surely if we follow the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) in every aspect of our lives then everything that we do will become a worship to Allah, even going to the toilet, having a bath, dressing and undressing etc

Reviving the Sunnah into our daily lives:
Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:“Whoever revives an aspect of my Sunnah that is forgotten after my death, he will have a reward equivalent to that of the people who follow him, without it detracting in the least from their reward.”(Tirmidhi)

The best habit we can ever have in our lives is to implement the Sunnah into EVERY aspect of our lives so that our whole life and everything we do during it can become a worship to Allah.

We can do this by gradually learning all of the Sunnah's and dua's of every aspect of our day waking up, leaving and entering the Masjid and house, dressing and undressing etc. So let us get into the habit right now of implementing every Sunnah's into our daily lives so by the time Ramadan comes we can continue to implement Sunnah's and gain even more rewards for them.

Source: http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?296548-10-Ways-to-Prepare-for-Ramadan

May Almighty Allah on His throne grant us the mercy,blessing,health and to witness many of it on earth. Ameen, jazakumula haira

Nice

when is ramadan starting?

Eneze1: when is ramadan starting?

10th of July

it feels good to be a muslim.

Nice post @Op
May Allah make it easy for us and make us witness many more of this blessed month-amin

May Allah spare our lives to witness it. Aameen!

Alhamdu Lillah, Jazakum llah khairan, am very impress we expect more during the month of Ramadan, ma'a salam

Jazakallah khair

Hmmmm, *sighs*


Ramadan! Ramadan!! Ramadan oooo!!!!!




E no easy at all.



May Allah see us through.

cherish: 10th of July

Oga, based on what?

Interesting read! I wish all my Muslim friends grace to go through the upcoming Ramadan successfully. We must continue to pray for the peace of our land and understanding among faithful too. God bless you all. Dabigwallz (worshipper at Daystar Christian Centre, Ikeja)

maclatunji:

Oga, based on what?

We can't say d exact date d@ Ramadan s starting as d Hijrah calendar s based on sightng of d new moon.
Sm r saying 8th/9th/10th july....Allahu a a lam.

brother!! TnK u veRY muCh 4 OL d encouRagmnt u jst did.... Jazakallahu'Kairan

Jakumullahu khaira

Jazakallahu khaira

Ramadan is the month I actually eat most, something really ironic about that. God I love ramadan, not just for the food...

Eneze1: when is ramadan starting?

9th of July,(expectedly)

Source: http://www.makkahcalendar.org/en/ramadan-2013.php

May Allah SWT guard and guide our souls in and beyond Ramadan. May He have mercy on us and grant us the blessings of the blessed month, amin.

Oh Ramadhan! The beautiful month, full of blessings and forgiveness...
May Allah(SWT) make us witness this and many more to come In shaa Allah ameen.

The points taken, jazaks OP, countdown activated...about 15days to go...

TUNEX89:

TUNEX89:

Mtchewwwwwww.

jazaklahu khayran.......neva even knw some of dese tins til nau.....especially d eatin part

SubhanAllah!

JazakAllahu khairan

Excited for Ramadan!!!

Ya Allah, please preserve our lives to see this glorious month.

tbaba1234: SubhanAllah!

JazakAllahu khairan

Excited for Ramadan!!!

Ya Allah, please preserve our lives to see this glorious month.

And beyond. (Amin).

Jazakallahu khaira! Allah, SWA, give us the grace and wherewithal to participate in it successfully, amen.

A long awaited time is near, May Allah makes us among the people that will gain His favour hereafter Ameen.