Post Ramadan Planning

Ah! another month of mercy just passed and i am left wondering, did i work hard enough? May Allah accept from us our ibadah and istighfar! How can i ensure my next Ramadan will be better or if i actually did reap something from this one? That's where post-ramadan plan comes into play. If you had set some goals for yourself during ramadan, are you following through with them? If you hadnt set goals, get setting now. Think of one good habit you want to adopt (from the sunnah is a good point to start) and one bad habit you want to drop. Mind you, these need not be ambitions of mammoth proportions. It could be something as easy as ensuring you always read the dua for entering and exiting the washroom and using the correct foot for the same. Imagine, thats ibadah!! As for dropping a habit, you could think of something similar. We dont place value in these things but not only are they super-important, Allah rewards us for it AND they improve our quality of life without us even knowing it. Here are a few examples of goals you could set for the rest of the year:
Good Habits:
1) Ensuring you begin everything by Bismillah. i mean EVERYTHING
2) Saying salams everytime you enter the house or meet other muslims. Make sure you say it properly and not let your cultural twang distort the diction. Its suppose to be Assalam 'alaikum (wa rahmat ullahi wa barakatuhu)
3) Fasting 6 days in Shawwal
4) Fasting Mondays and/or Thursdays
5) Taking up using the miswak
6) Elongate your sujood and ruku' in Salah
7) Make niyyah for Hajj/Umrah

Bad Habits
1) Stop backbiting
2) Stop lying - all types even those we tell little kids!
3) Stop sleeping face down, on our bellies
4) Stop talking in the washroom
5) Stop judging people
6) Stop being disobedient to your parents/ disrespectful to your spouse
7) Stop all means of haraam income or consuming haraam food.

Some of these may seem menial but every little step counts and it helps you become a better mo'min Inshallah. In a summary of the Surat Taaha, verses about prophet Musa AS, i learned Allah expects Obedience, Courage and Tawakkul (faith) from His servant. I believe, each of these are inter-connected as in when we are obedient to Allah, He blesses us with courage and tawakkul; when we have tawakkul, we are definitely going to be obedient and courageous... you get the idea.
So, what are you taking up and what are you giving up?

Ramadan Counter: Ready, Set, GO!

The month of mercy is fast approaching! have you made your preps yet? Its warm up time before your spiritual work-out. Pen out your goals, think about your daily plan - dont just sleep or laze the fast away. Its a blessed month for a reason; shaytan is in chains, you are FREE to earn hasanah in multiples. Do you feel your pulse racing from excitement about how much good you will get writ in your book of deeds! This is a chance for you and me to ask for forgiveness for everything we may have done wrong - imagine we can start anew the other side of Ramadan Inshallah!!
Dont think the fast will be too long. Allah is allowing you a longer fasting period so you may collect more good deeds Inshallah, so you may do more ibadah, so you may seek His pleasure SubhanAllah! Think positive, be excited - make a niyyah to make it your best Ramadan ever!

Are you Ramadan ready?

Yes i know ramadan is almost 3 weeks away, but this is really the time we should start planning how we will spend it. Also, we should have atleast one goal we want to achieve by the end of ramadan. The prophet SAW said Ameen when Hazrat Jibreel AS cursed those who did not manage to get themselves forgiven by the end of ramadan. The sahaba used to start making dua 6 months before ramadan that they get to see ramadan and make it better than the last one, and spend the next 6 months praying Allah accept their ibadah. Are we this concerned about our ramadan? Are we so sure we'll even see ramadan, or get to spend all of it?!
1) Make a niyyah right now that you will make this ramadan better than the last
2) Make dua that you see this ramadan and that Allah help you make it better
3) Write down one goal- something you want to improve or change about yourself. Make niyyah to make that change by the end of ramadan. Think of an action plan of how you will go about doing it.
For eg. If you dont pray regularly and you want to make that your aim. Make a decision that you will never miss a salah again. See why you normally miss salahs? is it because you are too lazy to make wudu. if so, then make wudu everytime you go to the loo so you are in wudu at salah time.
I'm afraid that just saying may Allah make us better will not make you better... you need to do something
 about it yourself before you are eligible for Allah's help Inshallah.
4) Make a plan as to how you will spend your day fasting. For eg, get up in the morning (after suhur and fajr), give breakfast to the kids/ go to work, then at say noon you will recite Quran, then pray zuhr, then rest, then make zikr, etc. Basically chart out your day else you will not use the day appropriately.
5) ATTEND A DAURA! Daura is a halaqa in your local masjid or someone's house where they go through the meaning of the entire quran during ramadan. It is absolutely imperative we know whats in the quran - this is the best opportunity when shaitan is imprisoned!