Supercharged Ramadan!

Rev up your Emaan | Turbocharge your Taqwa | Boost the Rewards!

Here’s a question. Let’s see if you can answer. What are the only things that we can take with us after we leave this world? Is it our money? Or maybe a favourite book, game or toy? Interestingly enough, the only things that we can take with us, are none other than our deeds. In fact, they will be the only currency worth anything on the Day of Judgment. Rupees, dollars and dirhams won’t work. Just our plain old good deeds.

The month of Ramadan is a very special month. It only comes once a year and presents us with an excellent opportunity to earn good deeds by the truckloads! Allaah opens for us the gates of Paradise, locks away the devils and multiplies all goods deeds we do countless times over! So the same good deed done in any other month, carries a lot more weight when done in Ramadan. This is how special this month is. So what do you say, should we not prepare to earn plenty of good deeds and get ourselves into Supercharge mode?!

Now I am going to give you a list. Write it down, memorize it or put it up in your room because it contains some great ideas on how you can make the most of this month!

Fasting: This is what this month is all about! But remember, fasting does not just mean starving yourself. It means being extra careful of all the commands of Allaah, like praying on time, being kind to others and not wasting time in useless activities. This best part is that if you do this right, as the Prophet (ﷺ) said, all of your past sins can be forgiven!

Night prayer: See if your father or uncle can take you to pray taraweeh at the masjid. It is not compulsory that you go every single night but still keep in mind that it holds immense rewards with Allaah and this is the only month when you can get a chance to do this!

Charity: Give as much as you can this month. Be it in the form of money, old toys or clothes or even books. The Prophet (ﷺ) used to start giving in charity even before the month started and increased his efforts many times over all throughout the month.

Feed the poor: Save some pocket money to give iftaar to a fasting person. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that the one who does so will get the reward exactly equal to the one who is fasting!

Read the Qur’an: The Qur’an was revealed in this month and what better way to earn good deeds than by taking out time to read the book of Allaah. Give yourself a target that you must complete before the end of the month, like reading certain portions every day, or reading the translation and tafsir (explanation), or memorizing certain surahs. The choice is yours but do give yourself a challenging target and make sure you achieve it!

Duas: If there was ever a time to get your prayers fulfilled, that time is now. Every Muslim, every day and every night, will have a prayer that is answered by Allaah! So go ahead and make dua as much as you can, morning, afternoon, evening and night.

No arguing or fighting: If someone is arguing or fighting with you while you are fasting, don’t fight back and ruin your fast. Just step away and tell the person twice, very clearly, that you are fasting. In-sha’Allaah if they are wise, they will back away too.

Last 10 days: This is very important! Save your strength especially for the last ten days of Ramadan, then pull out that Nitrous Oxide and go into hyper drive! These are very special nights and one of them is Laylatul Qadr, the night that is better than a thousand months! That means over 83 years! For most people that’s a lifetime. So worshipping Allaah in this one night is better than a lifetime of worship! It’s amazing how Allaah gives us so many opportunities to earn tons of good deeds yet how few actually make the most of it!

Finally, remember that the purpose of this month is to instill taqwa (Allaah consciousness) in our hearts. If we can stay away from food & drink all day because we know Allaah is watching, how about also staying away from all the bad deeds throughout the year? Is Allaah not watching us then? Think.