Ramadan Success Guide – 8 Tips to Have a Successful Ramadan!

Assalamu alaikum readers! Hope you are in best of health and Iman. Ramadan 2019 is almost at our door steps. We pray that we are blessed to see another Ramadan in our lives.

Ramadan is such an exciting time for Muslims around the world. Just as our bodies are cleansed from toxins and rejuvenated for another year ahead, so does our spiritual levels. The fact that the devil is chained away in the month of Ramadan makes it easy to focus and indulge in being better Muslims. Ramadan should bring positive change into our lives. For that very reason, efforts must be invested and intentions have to be made.

Hadith -Abu Huraira (rali) reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, ascended the pulpit and he said, “Amin, amin, amin.” It was said, “O Messenger of Allah, you ascended the pulpit and said amin, amin, amin.” The Prophet said, “Verily, Gabriel came to me and he said: Whoever reaches the month of Ramadan and he is not forgiven, then he will enter Hellfire and Allah will cast him far away, so say amin. I said amin…. (the hadith continues on) (Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān 915)

This very hadith emphasizes how much importance and time must be given to Ramadan. Think about it. Out of 365 days, Almighty Allah asks for 30 days of extra submissiveness, sacrifice and concentration towards worship for our own worldly and heavenly benefits. For the rest of the year, we are effortlessly engaged in our own rat races; working away for the worldly gains. Unfortunately, all those profits are limited to this world only. Given the opportunity, how can we justify being called Muslims, if we are not capable of putting away some time for worship during this blessed month?

Ramadan is inevitably a trying and exhausting experience. We are constantly trying to evict feeling hunger, fatigue and sleep while managing our day to day engagements. It however doesn’t have to be that way throughout the month. Preparations and time management during this month cannot be underestimated to achieve a smooth-running experience in all aspects during the blessed days of Ramadan.

Here are my tips and tricks to help both myself and the rest of the readers to gain maximum rewards and benefits during this Holy Month.

1. Intention: Everything in Islam begins with intention. Making solid intentions is like half the journey. Just as the saying goes, “believe and your halfway there.” Forming good intentions and striving towards fulfilling them will reap rewards even if you were unable to achieve it. Doesn’t that sound astounding! So, for this Ramadan, why not make concrete intentions in our hearts to give Ramadan its due respect and time, through which we can attain Taqwa and forgiveness from almighty Allah.
2. Have an Action Plan: Now that our intentions are set straight, let’s plan how we are going to be able to achieve our goals for a guilt free Ramadan. The best way is to create a weekly planner that includes all the tasks that should be met in a timely manner. There are many Ramadan planners or regular planners that are readily available to make this process less daunting. Nevertheless, a simple board displaying time-based activities for the day can be placed somewhere visible. It honestly will do wonders for you in this month (but special emphasis on the word visible)! Planning wisely and sticking to the planner will assist in keeping track of time and the true purpose of the Holy Month. Consider giving more attention of your day towards reciting the Quran, Sunnah prayers, remembrance of Allah, and other beneficial activities. If you’re aiming for a stress-free Ramadan, break it down into achievable goals and plan it out!
3. Healthy Meal Planning: Food plays a huge role in the month of Ramadan. Often times we end up feeling guilty at the amount of time spent in food preparation to meet the needs of our craving minds during Ramadan. Also, its an overwhelming process to ensure ourselves and our family have satisfying meals for Suhr and Ifthar. Usually we tend to indulge in lavish dishes throughout this month unlike the other days outside of Ramadan. While occasionally, this may be acceptable, food is not the true purpose of this entire month. It is also crucial that we eat healthy to stay fit and be able to engage in all forms worship, trouble-free. Frozen healthy meals, meal planning, and nourishing Ramadan friendly recipes are some solutions for the food crisis we face. Google and Pinterest are lifesavers when it comes to finding the aforementioned delicacies. There are ample amounts of Ramadan friendly food guides, eBooks and articles available out there for your rescue. Staying well hydrated throughout the month is key to avoid many of those health jitters we often hear about. All you have to do is chuck down bottles of water during the non fasting hours to boost the body and eat foods that retain the water in your body rather than suck out every ounce of water you have from within (I’m looking at you Salt!). It will help you in many ways!
4. Dedication Towards Quran and Prayer: Ramadan is the month of the Holy Quran. Enough emphasis cannot be given on how beneficial taking out time to read and comprehend the Holy Book can be. It is a means of communication between our creator and ourselves. The reward for reciting the Holy Quran and prayers is intensified during Ramadan multifold! Does that not give us enough reason and desire to focus more on extra recitation? Make it a goal to at least complete the recitation of one Quran and to pray all of our Fara’id, Sunnahs, Nafl (such as Thahajjud, Dhuha and Witr). Do whatever you may be capable of, but never miss out on any of the Fardh Salah, regardless of circumstance (check out our article about Feeling like a Criminal for tips and tricks on Salah). They will only take a few minutes extra off your regular schedule but will bring home tons of reward for the month and unknowingly bless you in ways you wouldn’t have even imagined, Insha’Allah!
5. Monitor Screen Time: We are all in some way caught up in the reality (or illusion) of social media. A huge portion of our day is spent among screens and media. It has taken away precious time of our lives unintentionally. Somehow, it has become an inseparable part our day to day activities. I struggle with managing screen time and social media control every Ramadan, however, just being mindful of the time we spend with our gadgets and monitoring what we do online can bring about a huge change not only in Ramadan but outside of Ramadan as well. Ramadan needs to be given its due respect and time. Swapping screen time to more meaningful activities and encouraging our family to do so will retain the purpose of Ramadan. We can also make use of the screens to gain beneficial knowledge and good deeds, but even better would be to actually spend time with knowledgeable people or in the gatherings of knowledge.
6. Taking Time to Rest and Relax: How many of you have felt super energized for the first few days of Ramadan and crashed hard mid Ramadan? That is often due to ignoring our bodies need to regularly take rest and forcing it to crunch every bit of energy we have until we have nothing left.  The Ramadan vibe doesn’t have to last only for the first ten days or last ten days. To keep the momentum going throughout Ramadan, all you have to do is take enough rest during the day. Short naps in between the day can make up for the lost hours of sleeping and hinder less with our daily Ramadan activities planned.
7. Consistency: Allah loves the deeds that are done on a daily basis rather than the ones that are carried out Randomly. No matter how big or small the deed is, if it is carried out with utmost perseverance and sincerity, the reward will be of great favor. As mentioned in one hadith, doing smaller yet achievable deeds on a regular basis is much more beloved to Allah that doing some immensely large deeds once or twice but then giving up thereafter because it is too hard to stay steadfast on it. We should always aim to achieve big goals but first, we should solidify our baby steps. Hence, this Ramadan, we should focus on perfecting our smaller and consistent deeds to attain the pleasure of the Almighty. This is yet another effective and effortless way of bringing in immense blessings in and out of Ramadan.
8. Make a Ramadan Resolution: A successful Ramadan is that which reverberates within you even after Ramadan. One or more changes should continue on within you, even after the Holy days have passed on. Confirming a positive experience will boost your level of Iman. Number of people gain nothing but hunger and fatigue during Ramadan due to their intentions and not giving due importance to this blessed month; hence, spontaneously forgetting about the blessed atmosphere and easily falling back in to their old ways once it is over. It is easier said than done to keep up the with the Ramadan vibe throughout the year. Ramadan is a convenient time to create a good habit within ourselves and follow through with it. A habit takes ten to fifteen days to become a regular mannerism. Within these thirty days, make a simple resolution and promise to implement it in and out of Ramadan. The resolution can be as simple as memorizing an Ayah a day from the Quran or making 100 Salewat or Istighfar a day, etc.

Ramadan is a special time and a gift given to us by Allah to reimburse and recharge ourselves and become better Muslims. Its an easy ticket to gain forgiveness and the pleasure of Allah. Our final and only purpose of life. Therefore, do not let the days of Ramadan be neglected and wasted. Hopefully the above tips and tricks support you to have a successful month of endless blessing and pleasure from Allah. We at MHW pray that you have a glorified Ramadan. Ramadan Mubarak!