السلام عليكم
Welcome back guys!
For my second post, I thought it would only make sense if I followed up with another Ramadan post, and well also, because Ramadan just ended. I really hope we can all take something from this because sometimes I also search for such a guide too. As you can tell from the title, I‘m going to try my best to advise you on how to stay in the worship of Allah despite Ramadan being over.
But first, and we’ve all experienced this, have we ever wondered why we’re so happy in Ramadan? The answer to that is, well we're all doing what we were created to do. Which is? To pray! Every Muslim community in this month is so peaceful, understanding and calm. Now imagine feeling that same inner peace, serenity, contentment throughout the rest of the 11 months. I promise you, you’ll find it, as long as you just pray and turn to him. Submit to Allah. Give yourself to him.
Allah isn’t just for Ramadan. Praying isn’t just for Ramadan. Islam is a way of life. Revolve your life around Islam, and not Islam around your life, or else you’ll lose Allah.
No ones saying you can't enjoy life. But do so in moderation with what Allah has ordained and allowed. As Muhammad (saw) always said, to the nearest meaning, ‘constantly remember the destroyer of pleasures- death’.
Enjoy life, buy gifts, spend time with family and friends, but don’t forget it won’t last forever, and most importantly don’t forget the one who’s above and beyond all that we do, Allah. ❤️
Just something to think about… when our lives are normal, fast pace and hectic, we all complain to say we don’t have time to pray/time for Allah (as much as we’d like) because we’re so busy, but now that life has SLOWED DOWN for us, what’s our excuse? Surely it’s something bigger than that. Time was truly never the issue in the first place. It was us.
But… on a more lighter note These are some of my tips to help keep up the Ramadan atmosphere;
Firstly;
Keep the 6 shawaal fasts.
(they don’t have to be kept consecutively)
I’m not going to lie, I know how hard it is to push yourself. It’s the first year I’ve kept them, and when it’s not fardh upon you, it’s even harder. BUT that’s where most the reward lies. We won’t see the beauty of it now, but when we pass away, when our books will be weighed, and when we need protection in our grave, these fasts will come out and save us, and at that point, we will wish we would’ve kept every single fast. We have a chance now, don’t be full of regrets later. We have just over half of Shawaal left, so make it out. We may never see this month again.
In a Hadith to the nearest meaning it’s been mentioned; whosoever fasts for 6 days in shawaal, after the Ramadan fasts, will have a reward recorded for him as though he fasted all year. Were constantly eating the rest of the 11 months, can we not sacrifice just 6 days FOR Allah? The reward for fasting is something He, Allah himself rewards his slaves for. THATS the status given to fasting, in the eyes of the most high.
Fasting allows us to have control over our nafs and desires, and to not give in to everything we want all the time. When we’re fasting, we’re doing everything that pleases Allah. Plus, we’re staying away from music, watching movies, looking and speaking haram. Hence why we feel more spiritual. Which is why, try to fast as much as you can outside Ramadan. This way, slowly, over time, it also allows one to have control over themselves, from giving into shaytaan and falling into sin. Having control over desires is SO important. Why? Because we’re saying I really want such and such but, for Allahs sake and pleasure, which is what matters more to me, I‘m going to stop myself from having it/doing it. When we can do that, we’ve found Allah.
Also, try to fast every Monday & Thursday as it’s the Sunnah of Nabi Muhammad (saw). If you have any qadha fasts to do, please make an effort to keep them as soon as you can. Get together with friends if you need to and encourage each other. You don’t want it that you make plans to keep them later on in the year but you can’t do them, and you pass away. Salaah and fast qadhaa’s are two things we OWE back to Allah. They are two things that will not be forgiven for if we don’t make an effort to complete. Of course through Allahs mercy he forgives out of sincere repentance, but we still owe it back to him regardless.
Get them done!
Secondly;
Remain in the habit of having a set amount of Quran to pray ( one para like Ramadan) in order for you to get through multiple khatams in the year. If we take a look back, it always amazes me, and almost pushes me, to say WHERE and HOW did we get the strength to pray unlimited Quran while fasting? But when we’re not fasting we struggle to even pray Yaseen every morning.
Guys, how have we become, and how hard are our hearts. HOW do we expect to see success in our day if we don't remember the one who gave us yet another day to live, first thing in the morning. How do we expect to see success in our lives if we don’t remember Allah. 5x namaaz just isn’t enough.
We hear some of the stories of previous Sahaabas and companions of the Prophet, who would read the WHOLE Quran in their Namaaz. THAT'S the kind of love they had for Allah. They weren’t rich, they didn't have lavish lives, they lost family and loved ones in battle, they went days without eating, YET they were so content with life and ONLY saw success. Why? Because they would constantly remember Allah. He was their priority, and they knew success only lied with him. But with us, we seem to see success only through our own efforts and prefer to be independent of Allah. That’s where we all go wrong.
From experience, I can’t stress this enough, start your day with Allah, and end it with Allah, and everything in between will be filled with barakah. Ask any person who starts their day with yaseen, compared to a day where they haven’t prayed, they’ll tell you how successful their day was. After each salaah, set aside time and be strict with yourself, to pray a certain amount of pages. After that, you’ll realise it’ll come naturally to you and you’ll feel like you’re missing something if you haven’t prayed.
One thing we need to understand is that the Quran isn’t one of the creations of Allah, but rather it’s Allahs direct words. Therefore it will ALWAYS be in existence. The Quran we read will serve as a protection for us in our grave. It will speak out for us. Any part of the body that touches the Quran, will not burn in the fire. Every evening pray Surah Sajda, Mulk & Waaqiah! These 3 are CRUCIAL EVERY night. They take a max of 15 minutes out of your 24hrs.* Please please take some time out, it’ll only be for your benefit. (ps if you’re struggling to open the Quran to pray, do you listen to music?)
Thirdly;
Keep up the amount of Salaah you pray.
Salaah NEEDS to be the most important thing in your life, above and beyond everything, from the moment it’s obligatory on you until your death bed. It’s the second pillar of Islam, and it’ll be the first thing questioned for on the day of Judgement. The ONE thing distinguishing a Muslim from a kaafir is salaah. If we don’t pray, what does that make us?
Not one day, not one Salaah should be missed. If there has been, make it up! It’s something that's incumbent upon each and every one of us. Salaah is most definitely NOT constrained to just Ramadan, understand that.* In Ramadan, we pray 20 rakaats taraweeh, we pray additional nafl throughout the day, we‘re punctual with our salaah, we pray all the sunnahs and nafl of every salaah, so keep it up and remain in that same mindset. If we can do it then, we can do it all year round. In replacement of taraweeh, add your esha qadhaas (Im going to be creating a separate post on qadhaas and how to calculate them but feel free to drop me a msg until then and I’ll try my best to help - you have to first calculate your qadhaas before you can start praying them. Please please start now, we all have more than we realise, we’ll be doing them our whole lives. But if it’s something we owe back to Allah, it’s a must.) Keep up with praying your Salaah on time, with all the sunnahs.
- Keep up with the nafl. We’re all, well majority are, at home and working from home, so it’s the perfect opportunity to bank the rewards. I’m sure we’re all still awake till Fajr, so pray even just 2 rakaats Tahajjud before then. If you sleep early, pray it before you sleep (Must be after Esha time) or wake up a bit before Fajr to pray it. After sunrise, pray Ishraq Up until half an hour before noon zawaal, pray Chast/salaatul duhaa -we’re all awake by this time to pray
After Magrib, Awabeen Salaah. + any additional nafl such as Astagfar, Tasbeeh, Haajat. But first become firm with your 5x namaaz and make up your qadhaas - they’re more important to Allah.
Lastly;
Keep your heart open to give charity & keep your tongue moist with the zikr of Allah.
There’s no end to charity and there’s no amount either. Charity doesn't exist only in Ramadan.
No ones saying give £100 a month. Just £2 can feed someone for a week. Our own lunch/ costa drink doesn’t even come to £2, but by donating, we’re feeding someone for a whole WEEK. Please, give to those less fortunate. We really have been blessed with a lot, which truly are not grateful for. Don’t we feel embarrassed when going home, walking past a homeless person, knowing they have no where to go? Likewise, we should feel embarrassed going through our lavish lives, without attempting to help the less fortunate.
It's said, we must never compare ourselves to others, except in two situations. One is to look at those above us when it comes to Islam, and the second is to look at those below us when it comes to wealth. So look at those below us, open your heart, and give!
Charity will never make you poor. Just don’t do it for show.
And secondly, keep your tongue moist with the remembrance of Allah. There’s soo much we could possibly pray everyday. Doing zikr brings the heart so much peace. It constantly reminds us that Allah is above all that we're doing, and he’s the most important. This way, slowly we'll start to see ourselves furthering away from sin because our heart will tell us, no don't do this, Allah doesn’t deserve it. Just imagine, the reward for saying just ONE سبحان الله is that a tree shall be planted for you in Jannah; the size of that tree is such that it would take an Arab horse (the fastest kind) 100 light years to go around it, once. That’s crazy big! Now imagine that same tree in YOUR Jannah from praying it 100x every morning, which will make your Jannah a huuuge never ending field FULL of trees, palaces and gardens upon gardens.
It is said, that the people of Jannah will have NO regrets besides one; which will be wishing they done more zikr of Allah in this world, for they can now see the fruits of their efforts. Also, it’s been mentioned, that a level of Jannah is constructed by zikr; so if the zikr stops, the construction stops. This is such a visual way to understand the beauty of remembering Allah, and what’s in store for us. Personally, this is the stuff that drives me to keep going. But the most amazing thing, is that he who remembers Allah in a gathering here, is remembered in a greater and more nobler gathering; that of the angels. Therefore, how can we lose such rewards? Again, set aside time to remember Allah. Although they say as you go about your day, constantly do zikr, but we also need to sit down and pray with full concentration and think about the words. I prefer to have my set time after Fajr to sit down and at least make sure i've done the minimum of each, then attempt to add to it throughout the day. Give yourself a praying routine as well as a daily routine. (ps, if you want to cut back on back biting, keep busy in zikr, you won't have time to speak about people)
Aaandd that’s a wrap. I hope this was beneficial and we can all take something from it.
Please please feel free to msg me about anything you may be unsure about, or if you’d like me to go into detail about anything. Either msg me via the contact tab or drop me a DM on my insta; @_nusyb
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Lots of love xxx
----------------------------------- *Making a separate blog on the virtues of the 3 evening surah’s
& *Making a different post on Salaah, before i get carried away
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