Quick awesome tips to make your Ramadan perfect!

*#Ramadan Tips*

We plan before whatever step we take be in business life or social life, as we realise its importance and the loss of neglecting it. So, why neglect it for Ramadan? Below are few:

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Bismillah-ir-Rahmaan ar-Raheem

1. Ask Allah for his help:

Having reached Ramadan is itself a favor of Allah. Now thank and ask Allah that you are able make use of it. Allah says:

وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ ۖ

And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. (2:186)

2. Manage sleeping time:

It does not makes sense to fast but miss salat-ul fajr, or anyother obligatory salah. Salah is certainly more important than even fasting :)

3. Focus on worship: 

Manage your time socialising with friends and family, and see to it that your time spent on worship is more than social media.

4. Spend time with Qur'an. 

It is bad if a person does not opens the Qur'an except in Ramadan, but it gets worse if Ramadan comes and ends yet the person does not cares. And Allah's help is sought.

5. Share you aftaar:

"‏من فطر صائمًا، كان له مثل أجره غير أنه لا ينقص من أجر الصائم شيء‏"‏

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "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].

We know the virtues of fasting.. so we gotta be smart! I have witnessed people in Masjid al haram (Makkah) who can't afford anything so they just carry water giving to others before Magrib just so that the people ope their fast with *their* water!

6. Qiyam:

"‏ إِنَّهُ مَنْ قَامَ مَعَ الإِمَامِ حَتَّى يَنْصَرِفَ فَإِنَّهُ يَعْدِلُ قِيَامَ لَيْلَةٍ ‏"‏ ‏

"Whoever stands with the Imam until he finishes, it is equivalent to spending the whole night in prayer." (Ibn Majah)

7. Sahoor:

تَسَحَّرُوا فَإِنَّ فِي السَّحُورِ بَرَكَةً ‏"‏ ‏.‏

"Take Sahur, for in Sahur there is blessing." (Nasa'i)

Although it is a sunnah, it is very very important. It also shows the slave is ready and prepared for completing the obligation of fast.

8. Dua:

فَقُلْتُ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّارًا

And said, 'Ask forgiveness of your Lord. Indeed, He is ever a Perpetual Forgiver.' (71:10)

Clear your sin, as sin blocks the blessing or scceptance of dua.

9. Read:

Read how the messeenger and the salaf lived their Ramadan. Also reading Qur'an does not mean that one should abandon reading or listening to tafseer or Hadith, as has become the popular notion today. Qur'an is revealed so that it be understood and this is the very purpose and objective, there should be no excuse for it. Allah says: 

{ كِتَابٌ أَنْزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ مُبَارَكٌ لِيَدَّبَّرُوا آيَاتِهِ وَلِيَتَذَكَّرَ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ}

And Shaikh-ul Islam said: 

وقال شيخ الإسلام كما في مجموع الفتاوى (17/ 424) :
و أما النوع الثانى الجهال فهؤلاء الأميون الذين لا يعلمون الكتاب إلا أماني و إن هم إلا يظنون .
فعن ابن عباس و قتادة فى قوله و منهم أميون أي غير عارفين بمعاني الكتاب يعلمونها حفظا و قراءة بلا فهم و لا يدرون ما فيه .
و قوله إلا أمانى أي : تلاوة .
فهم لا يعلمون فقه الكتاب إنما يقتصرون على ما يسمعونه يتلى عليهم .

Those who read without understanding were the Bedouins mentioned in Surat-ul Hujrat. 

Allah stated:

{ واذكرن ما يتلى في بيوتكن من آيات الله والحكمة إن الله كان لطيفا خبيرا}.

Imam ash-Shafi'ee said in "Risaalah" (page 77):

فذكر الله الكتاب وهو القرآن وذكر الحكمة فسمعت من أرضى من أهل العلم بالقرآن يقول الحكمة سنة رسول الله.اهـ.

So Allah menioned "the book" which is the Qur'an, and mentioned "the wisdom" about which I heard from the people of knowledge about the Qur'an say that "the wisdom" is the sunnah of the messenger of Allah. End quote.

if "the wisdom" refers to Sunnah, then the command applies to all year out, without any difference between one month and the other.

It has been popularly narrated that Imam az-Zuhri, Malik and Sufyan at-Thawri would give up reading and revising hadith, but these narrations are either without chain of narrators or of weak isnaad. Furthermore, even if it were to be proved true, when Zuhri, Malik or Sufyan would recite the Qur'an, they would understand due to the knowledge they had about the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and the narrations of the Salaf, and also because of them being perfect mujtahideen (independent scholars). However, this is not the case with most of us today. 

To add, those narrations from Sufyan show that they disliked spending time in general acts instead of acts of worship. But today, a man comes to you showing displeasure at those studying or attending circles of knowledge claiming to "follow the salaf", while he does not even recite or worship as much or like how they used to, and instead himself wastes time in other useless stuff. There are several narrations from the salaf mentioning that they attended such and such circle of knowledge in the month of Ramadan and that they finished writing their book on such and such day of Ramadan.

Furthermore, it is well known that the battle of Badr and al-Fath (victory of Makkah) was in Ramadan. Therefore, if need comes then battle becomes obligatory. So how about knowledge in an era of such wide spread ignorance and immorality? 

قال الخطيب البغدادي في شرف أصحاب الحديث [ ص225] :
[ 179 ] : أخبرني عبد الغفار بن أبي الطيب المؤدب ، قال : حدثنا عمر بن أحمد بن عثمان ، قال : حدثنا محمد بن أحمد بن أبي الثلج ، قال : حدثني جدي ، قال : سألت أحمد بن حنبل ، قلت :
يا أبا عبد الله أيهما أحب إليك : الرجل يكتب الحديث أو يصوم ويصلي ؟
قال : يكتب الحديث .
قلت : فمن أين فضلت كتاب الحديث على الصوم والصلاة ؟
قال : لئلا يقول قائل : إني رأيت قوما على شيء فاتبعتهم .
قال الخطيب قلت : طلب الحديث في هذا الزمان أفضل من سائر أنواع التطوع لأجل دروس السنن وخمولها ، وظهور البدع واستعلاء أهلها.اهـ.

[Benefits taken from ترك السلف لمجالس العلم في رمضان

: http://almoslim.net/node/214060]
  

10. Dont hang with Lazy guys:

Bro, let's go for taraweeh? No bro, I gotta rest.

There are few people who say that 

it does not matter whether who you hang out with. Subhanallah, did not the life of sahaba change by hanging with the prophet? Allah says:

وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُم بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ ۖ وَلَا تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ تُرِيدُ زِينَةَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَلَا تُطِعْ مَنْ أَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَهُ عَن ذِكْرِنَا وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُ فُرُطًا

"And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance. And let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever [in] neglect." (18:28) 

🏼

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ مَثَلُ الْجَلِيسِ الصَّالِحِ وَالْجَلِيسِ السَّوْءِ كَمَثَلِ صَاحِبِ الْمِسْكِ، وَكِيرِ الْحَدَّادِ، لاَ يَعْدَمُكَ مِنْ صَاحِبِ الْمِسْكِ إِمَّا تَشْتَرِيهِ، أَوْ تَجِدُ رِيحَهُ، وَكِيرُ الْحَدَّادِ يُحْرِقُ بَدَنَكَ أَوْ ثَوْبَكَ أَوْ تَجِدُ مِنْهُ رِيحًا خَبِيثَةً ‏"‏‏.‏

Narrated Abu Musa:

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The example of a good companion (who sits with you) in comparison with a bad one, is like that of the musk seller and the blacksmith's bellows (or furnace); from the first *you would either buy musk or enjoy its good smell* while the bellows would either burn your clothes or your house, or you get a bad nasty smell thereof." (al Bukhari)

After placing the people in the fire, people would be shouting horribly for help. There will be people placed in Jannah, so those righteous people in Jannah would request Allah to remove out their friends who are in the fire, and Allah would accept their intercession. As for those who were in bad company would complain:

فَمَا لَنَا مِن شَافِعِينَ

"So now we have no intercessors."

وَلَا صَدِيقٍ حَمِيمٍ

"And not a *devoted friend."* (26:100-110)

Note that here good friend is not the one with who we chill, but the one who calls you to salah, invites to good and discourages evil.

11. Attend local Islamic lectures in your Masjid:

There are few people who keep busy with adhkaar in the corner of the masjid or recite Qur'an when the dars is going on. We did not come across any report from the sahâba that they used to do 'wird' or adhkar or recite Qur'an while the dars (lecture) is going on. Rather, we have read narrations of them having so much interest in duroos (lectures) that if in any case they were not able to attend the dars (due to work or sickness), they would request one of their friends to listen the lecture and share it with them afterwards.

For these are the gatherings that angels witness and Allah forgives. But the angels say: Our Lord, there is one amongst them such and such individual who happened to pass by (that gathering) and sat there along with them. He (the Lord) would say: *I also grant him pardon, for they are a people the seat-fellows of whom are in no way unfortunate.* (Saheeh Muslim)

Very often when Shaikh Wasiullah Abbas begins his Urdu lectures in Masjid al Haram (Makkah), the arabs and other non Urdu speakers begin to move. So, shaikh would ask them to remain sitting and narrate the above hadith saying: *for they are a people the seat-fellows of whom are in no way unfortunate.*

And the prophet (ﷺ) said:

"If anyone pursues a path in search of knowledge, Allah will thereby make easy for him a path to paradise." (Sunan Abu Dawood)

And Shaikh Munajjid told us about Imam at Tabari, the one who was known for deepness in understanding of Qur'an, that he narrated about himself:

وإذا انتهينا من درس الدولابي ؛ يكون قد حان موعد درس الرازي وبينهما مسافة -أي: قريتين- قال: ثم نغدو كالمجانين حتى نصير إلى ابن حميد فنلحق مجلسه نغدو كالمجانين -أي: من السرعة في العدو للحاق بدرس الشيخ،

*That when one lecture would end, he and his companions (ibn khuzaimah and others) would run like madmen to the place where the next dars is about to begin.*

Therefore, 'ilm is also worship.

In fiqh al Ibaadat (jurisprudence of acts of worship) we also learn: Nawaafil prayers and Qur'an recitation come in the section of Ibaadat al qâsirah (acts of individual benefit).

And understanding of the deen and seeking knowledge comes under the section ibadaat al muta'ddiyyah. Because the one who prays voluntary prayers benefits himself, but the one who seeks knowledge benefits others as well.

This is the understanding of the wise and smart, who knows when to do what. And this is why oceans of knowledge would say:

"العلم صلاة السر وعبادة القلب"

*"Knowledge is Salah in secret, and worship of the heart."*

And Ibn Taymiyyah said about reality of ibaadah:

"هي اسم جامع لكل ما يحبه الله ويرضاه من الأقوال والأعمـال الظاهرة والباطنة"

"It (ibaadah) is a [comprehensive] term that brings together everything that Allaah loves and is pleased with, from the sayings and actions, [both] inward and outward."

And Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal said:

" أن العلم لا يعدله شيء " -يعني من النوافل-

*"Nothing (from the voluntary acts) is equal to seeking knowledge"*

#Attend #TrueKnowledge #TrueNoor #BetterThanNawafil

12. Awesome believing women:

Many of the women from sahaba, (radiyallahu anhum), preferred praying taraweeh in congregation so much that their number used to be a lot. So, Umar (radiyallahu anh) assigned Ubay ibn Ka'b to lead the men, and Tameem ad Dari to lead the women. This was mentioned by Siddeeq Hassan Khan in Awn al Baari (explanation of Saheeh Bukhari). He assigned a separate Imam for women probably because the recitation of the Imam did not reach the women due to unavailability of a modern technology like microphones and speakers.

*#Active* *#NotLazy* *#AllahIsPleased*

13. Remain firm:

People tend to try hard in the beginning but give up by the end of Ramadan. However, the last tenth of Ramadan are the most important days.

But it is in human nature to get bored repeating the same thing. So, keep changing your ibaadat like taraweeh to quran to charity to whatsapping your mom and family to contributing to aftar, to supporting the scholars to make religious talks in your area and masajid. In a horse race, horses remain at a an average speed through out the race, but it is only at the end that they speed up. That's like a true winner.

14. Spend time in the Masjid:  

Most of the salaf would try to spend as much time in possible in the Masjid in Ramadan. And it will help you encourage doing adhkaar, reciting Quran etc. Because when you're at home, shaitan comes and gets heavy on you, unlike when you're in the house of Allah.

15. Prepare for dua:

We know that dua is answered before aftaar. If you were told that the sultan of Selangor is about to come to this surau to solve our issues. Will you not be prepared with a list of things you want? Similarly, the believer should be prepared and ready to ask Allah for what he wants. And Allah is incomparable. We know that when we make a dua, Allah responds by three ways:

1. Either he answers

2. Or he stops from something bad from happening.

3. Or he gives it to us on the day of Judgement.

16. Invite your buddies:

When a good movie is released, people gather and motivate the friend group as they acknowledge the benefit. Shouldn't we as well call our brother and buddies to join the reward?

17. Change a bad habit:

You are an individual of much good, but like everyone we as well have few errors. So, why not decide to give up these habits one after another? If someone has a sleeping management problem, or smoking problem, so why not take a step? In this way, every Ramadan you will be able to give up one bad habit and become a righteous upright man.

#RamadanTips

18. Recitation of the Qur'an:  

Many from the salaf would complete reciting the Qur'an in three days, and others like Uthman (radiyallahu anh) and Abu Hanifa (rahimahullah) would finish in a day! Even now we get to meet such rare noble people who finish Quran in a matters of days.

Imam Bukhari would finish in every three days. Imam Malik and Imam Sufyan ath Thawri would leave aside fiqh and hadith for a month and focus on Qur'an and its understanding.

How did they did this? Is it even possible? Yea, with those who in whose blood is Qur'an. These people put so much effort to enter the same jannah that we wish to enter. But how will we enter the same Jannah by doing nothing?

Shaikh Musa Bilal, our favorite Qari of Makkah (check out his recitation in the link- most people do not know him) narrated his journey to Egypt 🇪🇬: There was a driver who used to pick him. They decided to pray Maghrib in a masjid. They reached the Masjid, and the Imam started Maghrib salah with surah Nisa. Its true that we should consider the people, but the people should as well consider the Quran. During the salah itself the driver began making wierd moments and showing his anger. When the salah got over, the driver began shouting at the Imam: "Harâm alayk!" But the Imam remained quite. 

Now it was almost time for Isha, so shaikh Bilal told the driver that it will be better to pray Isha there itself unless they miss it. The driver swore that he would never ever pray there again!

And it is narrated from Waleed ibn Malik, the caliph, would finish Qur'an twenty times in Ramadan. A leader has a busy schedule with lots of work, from army to other meetings; and all this is important. But as goes the famous saying: *Where there is a will, there is a way.* I guess that the opposite is also true.

[Link: https://youtu.be/5sNJk2hvKDU]

Reference:

Adapted from Shaikh Abu Marwan's daily after Fajr Ramadan tips