Hello my loves! First of all, thank you for the incredible response on my last blog! 🥹🫶🏻 Despite my hectic schedule I’m glad I’m able to post another week in a row :D Let’s hope I’m able to be more consistent with my content, Insha’Allah!
Subhan’Allah it’s INSANE to think how Ramadan is almost here 🥹 I honestly feel so excited and impatient for the first Taraweeh! May we live happily and healthily to witness it! With Ramadan around the corner, my preparations have been on full flow lately. From finding out ways on how to be able to read the entire Quran in this holy month, suhoor and iftar plans, making separate notes for the Dhikr 📿 to decorating my house for Ramadan, your girl has been on super planner mode lately. Sure enough, we’re excitedly looking forward to this holy month, but we need to realise one thing - we have to start preparing beforehand, not just about the decor and feasts, but on what actually matters - engaging ourselves in as much worship as possible, being in a constant state of remembrance and please our lord. 🥰
It’s not like on the first day of Ramadan, a miraculous change would occur, is it? This is why we need to prepare ourselves, our hearts, minds and bodies for Ramadan in advance, so we won’t have to spend time “adjusting” to this sudden change of lifestyle and will be able to focus on worshiping!
Some things I’ve been doing lately to prepare myself for Ramadan 💚
Fasting
For a LONG time I’ve wanted to develop a habit of fasting on Mondays and Thursdays (As it’s a Sunnah of our Prophet SAW) and Alhamdulillah I’ve been able to get myself on it lately! Before actually fasting as a Sunnah, I had been doing Intermittent Fasting for a while, (On days that I didn’t really feel hungry even during my eating window, I’d switch from IF (Intermittent Fasting) to OMAD (One Meal A Day) fasting for as long as 22-23 hours!) I CANNOT tell you guys how much your body will thank you once you develop a habit of IF or OMAD. I know, some people have things to say like “You shouldn’t stay hungry for long periods of time, you’ll end up eating too much when you have your meal” 🤡 Don’t listen to these people. Human body was NOT made for grazing (or I should say, mindless snacking) Few days into fasting, you’ll see your hunger level drop down incredibly- because your body is eating up all that stored extra fat and those toxins!
Essentially, fasting cleanses our body of toxins and forces cells into processes that are not usually stimulated when a steady stream of fuel from food is always present. When we fast, the body does not have its usual access to glucose, forcing the cells to resort to other means and materials to produce energy. Not just that, Fasting has been associated with several health benefits, including weight loss, improved blood sugar control, decreased inflammation, and enhanced heart health. It might also offer protection against certain conditions like cancer and neurodegenerative disorders! For someone with PCOS and Rheumatoid Arthritis, I can 100% say fasting has helped my body so so much. And hey, let’s not forget the reward we get when we fast for the sake of Allah Swt! Next time you feel demotivated while fasting, think about all the good it’s doing to your body and your akhirah! We winning both in Deen and Dunya 🫡
I hope this will help you develop a habit of fasting <3
2. Replacing music with Islamic and motivational podcasts and videos
Something that I’ve been working on lately, is replacing my usual music with Islamic and motivational podcasts and videos. I’d usually listen to it while catching up on my notes, so I thought to myself, why not listen to something that will actually benefit me? Not to forget music sometimes gets us way too pumped up to sit at a place and study 😭
Some of my favourite Islamic podcasts are -
🫶🏻 Omar Suleiman • Muslim Central (My number 1 favourite!)
🫶🏻 Nouman Ali Khan • Muslim Central
🫶🏻 Learn About Islam• LK
🫶🏻 Quran with Urdu translation • AA
🫶🏻 Quran with English Translation • Sheikh Mish’ary Rashid Al Afasi
🫶🏻Mufti Menk • Muslim Central
Some of my favourite Non Islamic podcasts -
⚡️Stories with Sapphire • Sapphire Sandalo (It’s about horror stories!)
⚡️ Weekly Motivation by Ben Lionel Scott • Ben Lionel Scott (Listening to LBS during working out is better than any working music out there)
⚡️ Woice with Warikoo Podcast • Ankur Warikoo
⚡️ New Mindset, Who Dis? • Case Kenny
⚡️ The GaryVee Audio Experience • Gary Vaynerchuk
⚡️ The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett • Steven Bartlett
⚡️ On Purpose With Jay Shetty • Jay Shetty
⚡️ Truth Talks • Yusuf Truth
To my buddies struggling to quit music, take it one day at a time. Everyday, decrease how much time you spend listening to music. Look for inspirational and informative things you can listen to while working! Every-time you feel as if you’re losing to your nafs, remind yourself of the bigger picture :) The greater cause for which you’re sacrificing your pleasure, and the reward you’ll get for it! 🥹🫶🏻
3. Planning out ways to finish reading the Quran in Ramadan
I’m sure, pretty much every Muslim has this one aspiration for Ramadan - To be able to finish reading the Holy Quran! Everybody’s reading capacity is different, and so are their routines. There’s brothers and sisters on social media which are suggesting effective ways to finish reading the Quran in Ramadan, one of which I’m giving here.
The Quran can be divided into 30 juz' of varying length, and the most common method for a solo reader is to read 1 juz' per day. Each juz' is roughly 20 pages long, so you can break it up across the day:
Read 4 pages after every obligatory prayer
Read 2 pages before each obligatory prayer, and 2 pages after
Read 5 pages in the morning, noon, afternoon, and night
Read 10 pages in the morning, and 10 in the evening
These are some common strategies, but ultimately you should find one that suits your schedule! If you only have time at night, or in the early hours of the morning, use that time to dedicate yourself to your recitation. It's also important to keep a regular routine of recitation, which will help you feel more confident as well as more patient throughout the process.
Credits -
4. Trying to be more consistent with Salah
Let’s be honest, a lot of times in our life it’s a struggle for us to be able to pray all 5 daily prayers, at their respective times. University, School, work etc really make it tough for so many Muslims, who even WANT to offer all their prayers, a challenge. Lately I’ve developed this habit, that no matter what, I will not miss any Salah :) If because of undeniable circumstances I had to miss any, I’d make up for it immediately! I wake up around 6 AM every morning to revise study material before going to school, so getting up for Fajr is not a problem for me at all - Alhamdulillah. Rest all the other Salahs go well with my schedule, especially ever since I started putting praying as my #1 priority. To any of you who are having problems with praying, please, start with one Salah. Just one. Instead of looking at Salah as an obligation (Well actually speaking IT IS indeed a duty for us to pray) , try looking at it as 10-15 minutes of peace. The time when you’re away from everyone and everything, just you, your soul, and the lord :’)
Start small, but please start. At first you might need to forcefully drag yourself to the prayer mat, but trust me, after just a little while, your heart will itself go running to pray because the peace and contentment you’ll feel after praying will be UNMATCHED. ♥️
5. Trying to come up with a good, suitable-for-Ramadan schedule!
Guys, we all know just how important this month is, and just how grateful we are to be getting the chance to experience it, Alhamdulillah. This is definitely the time to try and get as closer to our lord and religion as possible, engage in worship as much as we possibly can and earn tons of reward! For this, one needs to sort out proper timings for praying, dhikr, Taraweeh, Tahajjud, Quran etc. I myself am working on making a good schedule for myself, which will help me stick to a routine, have a sleeping schedule which will allow me to engage in lots of worship and will also recharge my body enough for me to fast, workout and study well. (I’ve got quarterly examinations in May, and this is grade 12, so cannot compromise with my studies one bit) but hey, Who even said you’ll have to compromise with the important stuff? Yeah, no doubt you’ll have to minimise your entertainment, but if you can plan your perfect routine and stick to it, you WILL be able to utilise this holy month to it’s fullest! While also taking Ws after Ws in this dunya 😎
On the side note, I would like to tell you guys about something that has really helped me to maintain a good balance between my Deen and Dunya, and it’s this incredible book called “The Productive Muslim - Where Faith Meets Productivity” By Mr. Mohammed Faris. I am absolutely in love with the way this book teaches urban global Muslims to lead a productive lifestyle - Spiritually, Physically, and Socially, Combining love for Islam with modern productivity techniques, in this book, Mr Faris will teach you: - How spirituality can boost your productivity . - How to manage your sleep, nutrition, and fitness (spiritually, physically, and socially) - How to be socially productive outside your home and community . - How to manage your focus in an age of distractions - How to build productive habits and routines - How to manage your time and invest in your hereafter - How to be productive during Ramadan! Would highly recommend this to all my Muslim homies! 🥰
I initially planned to post this on Sunday, but due to me not feeling well and barely getting any time to finish, I’m having to post this on Wednesday :) With each day Ramadan is getting closer and closer and I absolutely cannot wait - there’s less than 10 days to go now! 🥹
Keep being awesome, my lovely readers! 🥰💖 I’ll be back with another blog - Soon 😇
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