READY FOR RAMADAN?

Before You Start Reading, here are quick links:

For Ramadan Date: Click Here.
For Ramadan Schedule: Click Here.
For Eid-ul-Fitr Dates: Click Here.
For Eid-ul-Adha Dates: Click Here.

Among the best ways to get ready for Ramadan are:

1. Sincere Repentance:

This is wajib (or obligatory) at all times, but because Ramadan is fast approaching, it is even more important to repent from sins between you and Allah, and between you and other people by giving them their rights, so that when the Ramadan 2017 begins you may busy yourself with acts of worship with pure heart and a peace of mind.

2. Dua’:

It was narrated from the pious predecessors that they used to pray to Allah for six months that they would live till next Ramadan, and and then would pray to Allah as well for five months afterwards that Allah would accept it from them.

Muslims should ask Allah to let him or her live until Ramadan with a strong religious commitment and good physical health, and he or she should ask Allah to help him obey Him during the month, and ask Him to access his or her good deeds from Him.

3. Rejoicing at the approach of Ramadan:

The arrival of Ramadan is one of the greatest blessings that Allah bestows upon His Muslim slave, because Ramadan is one of the occasions of good in which the gates of Jannah are opened and the gates of Hell are closed. It is also the month of Quran.

4. Discharging the duty of any outstanding obligatory fasts:

Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her) said: “I would owe fasts from the previous Ramadan and I would not be able to make them up except in Shaban.” [Bukhar 1849 & Muslim 1146]

Ibn Hajar commented on this hadith:

From her keenness to do that in the month of Shaban, it may be understood that it is not permissible to delay making them up until another Ramadan begins. [Fath Al-Bari 4/191]

5. Reading Quran:

When Shaban began (the month before Ramadan), ‘Amr Ibn Qays would close his shop and free his time for reading the Quran. Salamah ibn kuhayl said: “It was said that Shaban was the month of the Quran readers.”

Abu Bakar Al-Balkhi said: “the month of Rajab is the month of planting, the month of sha’ban is the month of irrigating the crops, and the month of Ramadan is the month of harvesting the crops.

6. Fasting some days of the month of Sha’ban in prepration for fasting:

Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said:

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to fast until we said: He will not break his fast, and he used not to fast until we said: He will not fast.
And I never saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) complete a month of fasting except Ramadan, and I never saw him fast more in any month than in Sha’ban.
[Narrated by al-Bukhari (1868) and Muslim (1156)]

Usamah ibn Zayd said: I said:

O Messenger of Allah, I do not see you fasting in any month as you fast in Sha’ban?
He said: “That is a month that people neglect between Rajab and Ramadan, but it is a month in which people’s deeds are taken up to the Lord of the Worlds and I would like my deeds to be taken up when I am fasting.”
[Narrated by al-Nasai (2357); classed as hasan by al-Albani in Sahih al-Nasai]

This hadith explains the wisdom behind fasting in Sha’ban, which is that it is a month in which deeds are taken up (to Allah). Some of the scholars mentioned another reason, which is that this fasting is like Sunnah prayers offered beforehand in relation to the obligatory prayer; they prepare the soul for performing the obligatory action, and the same may be said of fasting Sha’ban before Ramadan.

6. Others things to do before Ramadan:

Seeing knowledge in order to be able to follow the rulings on fasting and to understand the virtues of Ramadan.
Sitting with one’s family members – children – to tell them of the rulings on fasting and encourage the young ones to fast.
Try to regulate your sleep before Ramadan. If you normally sleep late and wake up late, start changing that habit from now on because during Ramadan you will be waking up early for Suhoor. You will sleep so that you can wake up for suhoor the next day.

If you enjoyed reading this blog, please share it with family and friends. Take care. 🙂