The Sacred Months: Part I

In the Name of God the Most Gracious Most Merciful:

It is almost amazing but Ramadan is upon us once again (Insha’allah) in about 2 months. The purpose of this post is two. First I would like to remind myself, brothers and sisters about consistency in deeds and second talk a little bit about the next two sacred months: Rajab and Sha’ban.

It is always important that we try and work hard towards achieving our goals. We all hope for the best out comes even at times when we gave in very little. But it is no good to beat ourselves down for failed attempt to do better, become better and the like. One makes resolutions every time, and whenever that becomes futile the person lowers the standards and aims for an achievable one. For the past few months I have been trying a few things to see myself at another level than I used to be. Alhamdulilah it is working, but it takes so much effort and prayer. So here are a few practical things I was able to do:

1. make a practical plan. Instead of making an abstract goal such as I will write my essay or pray Nawafil, make sure you make it compatible in your daily routine. This can simply mean I will write a summary of my resources and find out for a theme or say 10 Tahlil, Tekbir and Tahmid evertime you’re at the bus stop. Some people may say “hey you’re not supposed to fit your lord according to your convenience”, which is absolutely right and that is why the obligatory prayers are spread through out the day. Besides, by making such a simple move, one is able to alleviate the guilt of not fulfilling an effort. Remember, the easier things are, the better they are to stick around.
2. do something new every week if not everyday. This can be walking in a different route than you used to, practice writing with your left hand, try making yourself/family a new recipe, bike around in the park, go swimming, anything. This will help one have better insight every time. Most importantly it will provide one with the opportunity to find something of interest that he/she never knew existed in their nature.
3. make time for yourself. This is the most important part of anything else we’ll talk about. It is amazing how we know ourselves the least of all things. We need to find out how many hours of sleep we need, what foods make us lethargic, what our interests are, what time of the day we’re most productive, what time of day/week/month do we tend to get irritable? happier? Such knowledge lays a pragmatic and unique framework for each of us to develop a better strategy. More over it gives one the basic knowledge of what is happening in them before they start laying the blame either on themselves or on others for things that went wrong. For example I have found out that every time my period approaches I become very emotional and irritable and my body temperature fluctuates dramatically (which by the way is true for most women, due to the hormonal changes). Thus now, I would bake baklava, eat ice-cream, go out walking and sleep more.
4. last, and most important is that we seek help from those around us and most importantly from Allah Subhanahu Wa’Ta’ala. Make sure that you have very good network of friends, family who are there to help you move forward with your goals. This could be anything from seeking the comment of a trustworthy mentor or taking criticism to make things better next time. Make sure you pray every time and seek for “strength from the lower self and protection from Shaitan” from Allah.

The above points might seem rather mundane and nothing of spiritual, but trust me, it is everything spiritual. We might have read countless self-help books heard inspiring lectures about becoming better muslims, but I believe that the simplest and most essential knowledge of who we’re in everyday life makes resolutions and goals attainable. They will give us reality checks about our abilities and weaknesses so we may be able to work through them with strategies that are synched with our nature—so when we next listen to the Khutba or tune to our ipods, we are more qualified to say, “hey I can totally do that…”. And that is exactly the main purpose of Ramadan. So we may check upon ourselves, and know who we’re as a human being.

Tune in for the next update with the rest of this series insha’allah until Ramadan. Make sure you leave your comments, ideas, questions, anything.

Allahuma A’uzu Bika Minal Ajzi Wal Kasl

Ameen