SubhannalLah, I can’t believe Ramadan has come and gone already. I feel like the time flew soo fast. Thinking about this makes me reflect our purpose in this world. Our lives are certainly not promised. Every second of our lives and our stay in this world are not promised. This world is gifted to us by Allah only on one command, and that is “To Worship Him”.
Ramadan is such a blessed month that no matter who you are, as far as you observe this blessed month, you will definitely abide by it rules and regulations. And that positively changes your health, spirituality, behavior and social life. I know you have definitely benefited from the transformation that Ramadan has to offer, insha Allah.
We leave the month of beautiful days and peaceful nights with hopes that we learn, take lessons and change for the better. How about what happens after Ramadan? Below I have listed 6 Ways To Maintain the Spirit of Ramadan Through Out the Year, bi iznilLah.
Do Not Skip Your Salaat
Try to keep the good spirit of Ramadan worship even after the month of Ramadan by praying in congregation in the masjid (mosque). This is very important and obligatory especially for every muslim men. Going to the masjid to observe the five daily prayers on time is highly recommended if not obligatory. If you are female, going to the masjid is not obligatory on to you, however, do your best to pray on time and try not to skip salaat. Even if it means carrying prayer mat to your work place and maintaining your ablution to make observing prayers easy for you. These are definitely the way to go. Do your best to think outside the box and make reservation for salaat if initially doing so is difficult.
Do Not Return To Your Old Ways
On average, it takes about 66 days before a new behavior is formed. This means that it takes a little over 2months to actually form a new behavior. Since Ramadan is only a month long, it is difficult to say that you can actually continue with your good habits in Ramadan without putting in some hard work. You need to be deliberate and intentional about wanting to change. 29-30 days of Ramadan cannot totally change you if you don’t make and effort.
In order to continue and make these new habits stick, make sincere intension to leave these habits for good. Bad habits interrupts with our life, our spirituality and our health both mentally and physically. They prevent us from achieving our goals in this world and the hereafter. Make a conscious effort to replace your bad old habits instead of eliminating them. Let’s take music for example, for many people, music is a way to reduce stress. However, you managed to replace music with Qur’an recitation during Ramadan. That is excellent effort. Now all you need to do is continue to replace the music with listening to the Qur’an, islamic lectures, and making Dhikr.
Fast Sitta Shawwal and Voluntary Fast.
It is sunnah to observe the six days fast in the month of Shawwal right after Ramadan. According to hadith, “Voluntarily fasting on any day in the month of Shawwal for six days is as though you have fasted the entire year”. These two months only visit us once every year. So taking advantage and maximizing their blessings and benefits is a smart way to go. Again, it is highly recommended that you cultivate the habit of fasting on Mondays and Thursdays as this helps to train your body and keep your entire system healthy.
Increase Qur’an Recitation
Reading Qur’an is surely a blessing in itself. And reading it every day definitely “Softens Your heart and soul” as Allah has promised. We turn to have the believe that we must complete reading the Qur’an in Ramadan and we are hard on ourselves if we are not able to do so. However, immediately Ramadan passes, we put our Qur’an in the book shelve and forget about it.
You have been blessed with the entire year, days, moths, hours, and minutes with hopes that you increase your good deeds and blessings. If you want to carry the spirit of Ramadan through out the year, try to incooperate consistency in Qur’an recitation into your life. Do your best to continue recitation of the Qur’an after Ramadan. Set realistic goals for yourself. You may choose to set goals to recite a page a day, a juz or an entire surah every week. Setting realistic goals make it easy for you to accomplish them. You should remember that, “consistency is considered one of the most beloved of acts in the eyes of Allah even if those acts are small”.
Make Du’a and Ask For Forgiveness Always
Du’a, as said by our Prophet (peace be upon Him) is the Sword of the pious. So whatever you do, put it in du’a. Let Du’a be your weapon in life. A soldier never wins a battle without his weapon, and so is the pious. The pious never wins Allah’s pardon and approval without Du’a. Seeking Allah’s forgiveness brings happiness, peace of mind and wellbeing to your life.
As Ramadan is officially behind us, do your best to stay in the habit of making lots of Du’a for everything concerning your purpose in life. Don’t wait to be in need to make Du’a. You have to make Du’a whiles you have it all. Make Du’a when you loose it all. Make Du’a when you don’t need it at all. You don’t have to be at a specific place or in wudhu (ablution) to make Du’a. You can say Du’a anywhere except in the bathroom or filthy place, since you can’t mention the name of Allah in these places.
Self-Reflect and Self-Evaluate
Worshiping Allah obviously is not just praying and fasting. You can turn every mere action into an act of worship and obedience to Allah with the sincerity and right intention. To self-reflect and self-evaluate, think about your day every night before going to bed. Try thinking about both the good and bad things that happened during your day. This helps to keep you accountable and in check of all your acts of worship.
At the end of the day, evaluate yourself by asking yourself some questions that align with your worship goals. For example, try keeping in check your Qur’an recitation, prayer, choice of food and nutrition, and all the things that matter to you the most. Doing so not only helps to keep you on track, it also helps you to be grateful for achieving your goals.
May Allah keep us steadfast through out the year and keep us healthy and alive to witness many more Ramadan to come in sha Allah.
Allahoumma baarik, love this article and the wonderful tips you share. I also felt like it went by very fast and hope to keep the spirit of Ramadan going outside of Ramadan too in sha Allah.
Mabrook, I ask Allah to bless your good work and make us steadfast until next Ramadan
Ameen insha Allah. Thank you very much for the kind words. I pray that Allah make it easy for us all and bless us all year round to witness more Ramadan to come. Much love.xoxo
Alhamdulilah. Well said
JazaakilLahu khairan dear sister. I pray that Allah make us steadfast all year round.
MashaAllah tabarakallah, it is definitely a post that is beneficial for us. Jazakillahu khayran.
Ameen. HamdulilLah that you found it beneficial.
Not returning to our old ways is a good one! Jazak Allah Khayr. Also, I tried subscribing to your newsletter and it seemed to have an error. Wanted to give you a heads up.
I know right? Returning to our old ways is such an easy habit to fall back on. I always find doing the above tips very beneficial especially reading Qur’an throughout the year everyday.
I am sorry about that. I did not realize that until you mentioned it. i will definitely work on it ASAP. JazaakilLahu khairan for the heads up sister Gina
Lovely tips Halima . Definitely needed to do read this as Ramadan is coming soon. I definitely need to work more on keeping the voluntary fasts and also more Quran reading
JazaakilLahu khairan Eva. Qur’an reading is such a good habit to work on. May Allah make us among those who consistently read the Qur’an every day.
I enjoyed reading these tips! It can be difficult to maintain that spiritual high after Ramadan!
I am very happy that you did. Yes it can even when we Ramadan visits us each year. It is always a learning process
JazakilAllahu Khayr for sharing this wonderful post with us. May Allah help us all continue our efforts we put in Ramadan throughout the year. Every year we try our best.
Ameen thumma Ameen. and may Allah give us the gift of Jannah not by our actions but by His Rahma and mercies.
JazakAllah Khair for sharing. It can be so easy to slip into the ‘old ways’ once ramadan is over. We need to work hard to keep the spirit of it alive
Yes most definitely, slipping into the old ways is soo easy after Ramadan. I find doing the above listed very beneficial
Barakallahu feeki for the reminders. A muslim always does benefit from reminders ♡ I pray we are able to continue the spirit of Ramadan through the year ♡
Ameen… It does not matter how many times you listen to reminders, they always seem beneficial masha Allah.