It is important to set our intentions for Ramadan, as we do for every new year. Setting our intentions before the holiday season helps us prepare for the month-long fast. Fasting can break up our routines because we can’t eat or drink like normal. Ramadan is perfect for positive habit forming and breaking, which is great if you want to start positive habits this year. Besides fasting Ramadan is the perfect month to read the Quran or Islamic books you’ve been wanting to start. Children can read children Islamic books on Ramadan or the Quran. Adults can read the Quran, hadiths, or just religious books. We are stuck inside, so it is important that we use this time to focus on Allah.
How many of us say “Next year, I’ll do better!”? How many of you actually change or try to tweak the problems you had last year. We can fix this by writing down what we didn’t do last year, find out why and try to fix it. My problem is slothness or just old fashion laziness. Perhaps you don’t have a problem fasting but do have a problem praying or reading the Quran bores you. Before Ramadan, it’s important to write down some ideas and plans that are attainable thought small steps. Some people are perfectly fine throwing themselves into the Ramadan holiday. Some of you live alone and celebrate alone, I had to celebrate alone for the first 2 years. While I went to the mosque on the weekends and shared with the small community that I loved. Most of the week I was by myself and I definitely did not feel any spiritual connection. This was due to the fact that I had to work at night and slept during the day, I also didn’t have time to actually cook anything special or get “in the spirit”. The second Ramadan I spent all night after work, working on wedding decorations and drinking liquid. I wasn’t trying to cheat; in fact, my apartment didn’t have air conditioning and I was afraid of sleeping alone. So, the night was the perfect time to make wedding decorations and relax.
Those Ramadan years were bittersweet, I miss the community that I was in. I actually have grown to become excited for Ramadan; even though I hate fasting. I do find fasting beneficial and there are health benefits for it. I also think its important for all of us to be reminded of people who don’t get to eat or drink during the day. Its ways to connect to all human beings both present and past. That is one reason I love this month. Since the coronavirus made a lot of people lose their jobs, it is important this year we help the needy by providing food services.
1. Fasting – Fasting is a pillar of Islam, and its something I struggle with every year. It isn’t being hungry or thirsty that is the problem for me, I know I am not starving. I know I will be eating in a few hours. The problem is I have trouble concentrating during Ramadan, thankfully as your body gets used to fasting focusing comes back to normal. I just always break when it comes to liquids, not food. Thankfully this year I am stuck inside with my husband, so I at least have someone to “watch” me. My husband, on the other hand, grew up a Muslim in Bangladesh, he has years under his belt fasting compared to my four years.
“Believers, fasting is decreed for you as it was decreed for those before you, so that you may be God-fearing. Fast on a certain number of days. But whoever of you is ill, or on a journey, shall fast instead the same number of days later on. Those who find fasting a strain too hard to bear may compensate for it by feeding a needy person. He who does good of his own account does himself good thereby. For to fast ios to do good to yourselves, id you only knew it.”
“Whoever of you is present in that month shall fast throughout the month…”
2. Salat– How many of us struggle with our praying all five prayers on time? I sure do, especially when I literally have no excuse to not pray. “Indeed, I alone am God; there is no deity other than Me. So, worship Me alone, and establish regular prayer to celebrate My praise.” (20:14) Prayer is the “sweetness of faith”, it’s a way that we can connect to God daily. Salat also can be considered its own form of yoga, as the motions are very similar to various yogic stretches. The words of salat are also similar to meditation because the believer is focusing on the words and God.
Muslims were prescribed the five daily prayers in the night journey story. This story is perfect to tell your children, as it is such a beautiful and fun story. I remember my first ever introduction to Islam was actually through a book on Angels. The book described, briefly, the night journey the Prophet went on.
3. Reading the Quran– Ramadan is the month when the Prophet was revealed the Quran. Every year I take time to read the Quran. “It was in the month of Ramadan that the Quran was revealed: a guidance for mankind and a self-evident proof of that guidance and as standard to distinguish tight from wrong.”
The Quran tells us to “iqra” to read, to recite….this month is probably one of the only months where you may even pick up the Quran or religious texts. If you still don’t go to the mosque, we can’t, during this month but you still enjoy the festivities that’s fine. I would recommend still reading the Quran or starting off reading Secrets of Divine Love or a Muslim Biography like Daisy Khan’s book. These books have snip-its of the Quran to help you get started in reading the Quran. I also prefer my Study Quran because it explains the various verses in its notes.
4. Meditate – Prophet Muhammad meditated in a cave before he was given the first verse of the Quran. Meditation is just as sunnah as eating dates, so you should do it. Meditation comes in different names in Islam, the main name is dhikr or remembrance. Perhaps you’ve seen Muslims after prayer reciting something and moving their fingers? Or use beads? This is dhikr. The tasbeh or prayer beads in Islam are usually made of 33 beads, too 11 being the smallest and 99 being the highest. The beads help the follower count the number of times they say various phrases or the name of Allah. We can also reflect on a verse of the Quran or a word in the Quran. Dhikr does not need to be done after prayer, but many Sufi groups recommend it done after wudu and prayer.
5. Yoga and walking– why yoga and walking? Well, I want to do a form of exercise that is both meditation and exercise. Yoga is my personal point on this list, but I really want my limbs to become limber. I’m not getting younger and I struggle with stress issues, yoga helps relieve said stress. Walking is a soft form of cardio that I can do before Iftar and before I start cooking. I want to run a 5k this year, get back into running and I was doing really great at the gym until the coronavirus closed my campus gym. This Ramadan I want to get back on track.
6. losing weight- losing weight is one of my main goals for this year. My main problem at the moment is eating too much, and thankfully during Ramadan, I tend to eat less. Fasting can help with breaking negative food addictions like Diet sodas; even drugs like alcohol, cigarettes, or weed. Dr. Henri Joyeux comments that “The Holy Month of Ramadan can be a suitable time to reflect on the strong connection between food and health. It is a month in which should lose weight (more body fat than muscle mass), where fasting reduces arterial hypertension and arthritis pain, relieves psoriasis, and the liver can get rid of fat.”
To help prevent overeating, we can break our fast with three dates (which is sunnah), I prefer 2 dates, have a salad and soup before munching on the main iftar meal. We should also avoid eating fried food daily or fatty food for every iftar meal, as well as avoiding sugary juices.
7. Productivity – Mohammad Faris says “Ramadan is perhaps the most challenging time for any Muslim seeking to be productive.” Fasting does help productivity, at least according to Jihan Anwar who wrote that during Ramadan you become more conscious of your behavior, you end up breaking bad habits, and you can’t use food breaks as excuses. My plan this Ramadan is simply to focus on writing for this blog, work on my book, and try to get something published. I also would like to read, do salat, yoga, and meditate!
What are your Ramadan goals?