By Abdullahi Jamaa
Ramadan is a month of sacrifice, a month of great commitment and dedication to change our personality, lifestyle and our whole world.
Our life needs a concrete discipline so that we can achieve a lot in our career, family and social spheres. Change doesn’t come on a silver plate; it comes with sheer hard work and an unbounded determination to soldier on and retie that knot of self development.
As we get into the second ten days of the holy month of Ramadan, I would like to bring to your attention that as Muslims we can redeem our life and that of our community if only we can make use of Ramandan as a threshold to scale up our world.
Ramadan comes with a golden opportunity to put our best foot forward in order to plan for a worthy worldly cause that can shape and define our hereafter.
I bet, you have heard about the story of the old man who never prayed until he was 68 years old, but then he gathered himself, engaged his ageing years with a concrete resolution to change for good. He later became a great Islamic scholar and a role model. Watch the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqK-FOQBrrU
Ramadan gives us an opportunity to change ourselves. Allah says in the Glorious Quran: Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. This is a powerful indictment that we must change ourselves first so that our conditions can improve.
This brings us to this hadith that Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Take up good deeds only as much as you are able, for the best deeds are those done regularly even if they are few.”
Ramadan therefore gives us an opportunity to learn and make small but consistent actions that are bound to make a complete turnaround of our lives and that of others. Let’s see together what small actions we can do to make our lives better than ever before.
- Tracking your time
It is said that time is the biggest resource in self development. Majority of us have no time even for our own self. We are routinely engaged in endless but meaningless activities through the day. We often show up at coffee shops, sit for hours, making stories that don’t matter. Avoid wasting time in coffee shops unless you have a very meaningful purpose. Don’t just meet friends but meet them with purpose and for betterment.
It is a norm these days especially among young educated people to waste much of their time in coffee shops or elsewhere where vain talks rent the airspace. Track this free time for stories, reschedule and put your time into proper use. Don’t waste your time on meaningless stories because one day you will regret.
You can either do a self study course instead or take up a voluntary community work such as tree planting. You can also use your free time to read and study Islam or general subjects to improve your career. Read, read and read is the general rule to understand the world around you, without knowledge your education will be meaningless.
Knowledge is gotten through constant self studies and firsthand experience. Most people once they are done with course or class work they tend to forget about books oblivious of the fact that knowledge is an endless process.
If you are a doctor or medical practitioner for that matter, keep yourself abreast with the latest scientific technology by studying and following the current trends in medical interventions. If you are an accountant, try to understand the world of accounting very deeply and passionately, if you are a businessman get to understand the dynamics of the markets, the story of inflation and general business climate because every day there is a new item to learn for every profession.
Try to do one simple thing every day. One hour of reading the Quran and another of studying for your career consistently done with commitment will for sure transform your personal and your life in general. (1hourx30daysx12months= 360 hours of study time, you can imagine how many new things you will learn through this kind of arrangement. You have the opportunity now, seize it and conquer your life.
2. Engage in community and social work
Most professionals completely get immersed into their daily work forgetting all about the community. Yes it is good to know which side of the bread is buttered but then the community is dependent on its members.
If you don’t bring your share of community work you will create a hole that cannot be filled. It is not only cash that the community needs; it needs your time, commitment and ideas to transform them. Do join the bandwagon of communities that help themselves, do not be part of those who neglect their communities. Life is not all about earning a salary and raising your own family.
3. Act as a role model for young men and women
Advice, educate and talk to young men and women in your community. These days there are a lot of young people destructed by peer pressure because they failed to get timely guidance and counseling. Create some free time, talk to that young man who is coming up, give him a lifetime advice, tell him about the dynamics of contemporary world, give him some career tips, tell him your story and ask him to make use of his time. If you speak to one person every month you would have helped 12 persons by the end of the year.
So let us use the remaining days of the holy month of Ramadan to change our lives by doing small but consistent actions.
