By Abdullahi Jamaa
The doors of mercy, forgiveness and Jannah is opening soon bringing in fortunes on our footsteps. This is a calling for action on how to be your best version as an obedient Muslim ahead of Ramadan.
In ardent zest, seize this golden chance of redeeming your soul with an overwhelming enthusiasm in order to earn a treasure chest of spiritual satisfaction.
Ramadan brings another opportunity to dismiss our past dullness . We may never find another chance to battle with our own self. In preparation for the month there is a price too high to pay including a plan and a benign approach.
Another opportunity for Ramadan may or may not come but never fail to build yourself because you were unprepared. Ramadan is an occasional spiritual breeze that helps us to flee from the glittering illusions of worldly life.
Are we ready?
No time for procrastination when treasures of Ramadan’s doors swing open. Before then, we have to prepare ourselves for a spiritual boot camp. We have to align ourselves , work with all our energies in readiness for the upcoming great moments .
In an awe inspiring mood, the righteous companions of the messenger of Allah ( PBUH) prepared for Ramadan months in advance. They viewed the month as a period of serious spiritual propensity where they fully immersed themselves in abundant worship.
Intentional reassurance
Many times when Ramadan is around the corner people tend to think more about hunger and thirst. They paint a picture of discomfort forgetting the objectives of fasting. They dwell on frustrations and talk about how they are not ready for it, eleven months later.
At the back of our minds we must plant positivity and prepare for Ramadan as a guest of comfort. We must have intentional reassurance and take the month as a positive podium to shape and form a new religious threshold.
See what a winner should see, have a positive view of Ramadan and clear your conscience. Put on a lens that sees a manifestation of joy behind hunger and thirst. Remove satanic barriers that instil fear and replace them with a rhythm of positivity.
With a positive mind and heart, Ramadan becomes easier decimating all our hardship thoughts . This shifts our spiritual focus to a level of enjoyment, transforming our indolence into spiritual enthusiasm full of happiness.
Allah’s facilitation
Nothing gets easy without the facilitation of Allah ( the Most High ) . Unless our Lord makes it easy for us , every bridge of Ramadan may be difficult for us to cross. Celestial guidance is what moves our hearts and minds to perform worship. Allah’s facilitation is our strength.
The mother of believers , Aisha ( ra) , said : “Ask Allah for everything , even if it be tieing a shoe lace or a reign of an animal for verily if Allah does not grant it , it will not be facilitated”
This means our intentions and actions are nothing without support from Allah. Seek help from Allah through sincere and abundant dua. Ask Allah to grant you health, strength and sincere intention to fast only for His sake. With this, you will find the support of Allah all around you.
Ibn Qayyim said : ” Whoever sincerely relies on Allah to achieve something, will achieve it”
Start a worship regimen
One profound way to prepare for Ramadan is to start a fresh regimen of worship, a spiritual discipline and action to stimulate your appetite for fasting. As we said, Ramadan is like a boot camp, what we need at this point in time is to renew our faith through acts of worship.
To start with , audit yourself to find your spiritual weakness. From here develop a priority list of deeds that need urgent intervention. Put a lot of focus on weaknesses related to obligatory deeds such as prayer and zakat and then move onto Sunnah aspect of deeds.
Develop a daily worship regimen to invigorate your spiritual strength and prepare yourself for a month of dedicated worship. Depending on your ability create a systematic routine of performing excellent Ibadah .
With intentional reassurance, abundant supplication and a worship regimen ahead of the fasting month, an honourable Muslim prepares himself for a period of intensive spiritual seclusion- the month of Ramadan.
May Allah assist us all to worship Him in abundant joy.
