The Six Habits of a Highly Effective Ramadan

Habits of the Muttaqoon, the People of Jannah

1. Obedience

The first thing to understand is that we are all slaves of Allah . We can be obedient slaves or disobedient ones but we can’t escape being slaves because He created us, sustains us and to Him is our return. Those who know Allah and love Him are overjoyed to be His slaves. Those who don’t know Him or refuse to accept Him are either surly, reluctant slaves or rebellious ones. Both of these are negative states because you still remain a slave but are deprived from the benefits of being a slave of Allah .

So the first habit to be cultivated and ingrained is unquestioning obedience to the orders of Allah . That is where it all begins. Without obedience; with a rebellious Nafs there is no hope of ever becoming a Muttaqi. Allah praised the obedience of the Sahaba and said:

The Messengerbelieves in what has been sent down to him from his Rabb, and (so do) the Believers. Each one believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers. They say, “We make no distinction between one another of His Messengers” – and they say, “We hear, and we obey.” (We seek) Your Forgiveness, our Rabb, and to You is the return (of all). (2:285)

It is the right of the Glory and Majesty of Allah that He should be obeyed without question or hesitation. It is the duty of the slave and a sign of his uboodiya to do so.

Allah mentions Musa and his obedience in the most affectionate way:

“And what made you hasten from your people, O Musa (Moses)?”He said: “They are close on my footsteps, and I hastened to You, O my Lord, that You might be pleased.” (20:83-84)

A slave who questions and refuses to obey the order of his Creator, Owner and Sustainer is a rebellious slave worthy of punishment. Selective obedience is disobedience. Ramadan came to teach us that Allah is to be obeyed whether or not His orders appeal to our reason, desire, logic or anything else. Being a slave is about obeying. Not about picking and choosing. Not about deciding what to obey and what to leave out. So the first condition is to obey without conditions or questions. Islam means to submit our will to the Will of Allah .

It means to submit our will because we believe that our Rabb is Merciful, loving and concerned and that He has nothing to gain from His orders. His orders are for our benefit – not for His. He orders are from His superior knowledge because He knows better. The Muslim obeys because he trusts his Rabb. The Muslim is one who submits. Without submission there is no Islam or Muslim.

2. Attention to Iman, Salah & to Spending in the path of Allah

When Allah mentions that Al Hidaya is for the Muttaqoon, He mentions their top three qualities: Belief in the Unseen, establishing Salah and spending from what He gave us. He says:

Who believe in the Ghaib and establish As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), and spend out of what we have provided for them.(2:3)

There are three habits to inculcate in this respect:

• Have conversations about Al Ghaib – Aakhira, Jannah, Jahannam, Day of Judgment, the grave and its conditions and that Allah sends His decisions based on our actions. What we remember and speak about is real. What we never mention becomes a memory, a concept and eventually a legend and mythology.
• Establish Salah as we do in Ramadan. It is a tragedy of this Ummah that masaajid empty with Eid. If the masjid could speak it would call Eid ul Fitr a day of mourning and not a day of rejoicing; because it knows that from that day onwards for the next 11 months it will be abandoned and deserted. Ramadan is an opportunity to concretize the habit of praying in the masjid.
• Spend in the path of Allah on a regular basis just as we spend in Ramadan. Why are all our actions ‘Shaytaan based’? Is it that we can do good only when the Shaytaan is chained? Charity is not only for Ramadan. So inculcate this habit in yourself and your children. Teach them the value of investing with Allah . That is the only investment in which the return is always positive, not incremental but exponential and guaranteed. It is the only investment that counts and which will continue to yield returns after we die.

3. Attention to seeking knowledge and Tilawatil Qur’an

Ramadan is the month of the Qur’an. We listen to it, we read it and we try to implement it in our lives. This is the third habit to ingrain.

Allah says:

The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the Criterion.(2:185)

Make the reading of the Qur’an the first thing you do every day. Let the Qur’an be the first thing you see every day, the first thing you read, the first thing that has your attention. Read it in Arabic because only the Arabic is the Word of Allah . By all means read translations; but learn Arabic. The language of the Qur’an and its grammar is a miracle in itself. It is a tragedy that even those who memorize it are often completely oblivious to the miracle that brought many Sahaba to Islam. When will we learn to teach the Qur’an as Rasūlullāh taught it – with its meaning and with understanding? How do we expect people to practice it in their lives when we insist on teaching it without understanding and insist that understanding it is not required for memorizing? Open your eyes O! People! Before you answer to Allah about why you treated His Kalaam in this way. The Qur’an came to be read, understood and acted upon. Not merely to be recited in parrot-like fashion for thawaab.

4. Attention to du‘ā’: thanking Allah  and seeking His Forgiveness

Allah mentions the matter of du‘ā’ in one of the most beautiful ayat of the Qur’an which He has placed in the middle of the ayat about Ramadan. Ramadan brings us close to Allah and it is only natural that when he is close to His Rabb, the slave seeks the pleasure of His Creator and seeks to place his difficulties before the One who created him. Allah has opened the doors of His Mercy and Grace and taught us the way to connect to Him and to seek His Pleasure, Mercy and Forgiveness leading to Al Hidaya, when He says:

And when My slaves ask you (O Muhammad) concerning Me, then I am indeed near. I respond to their du‘ā’ when he calls on Me. So let them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be led aright. (2:186)

Make du‘ā’ a habit. Inculcate it in your children. Teach them to ask Allah for everything that they need. Du‘ā’ is our conversation with Allah . Du‘ā’ is the essence of Tawheed ur Ruboobiya. That is why Rasūlullāh called du‘ā’ ‘Mukhkhul ibaada (the essence – brain – of worship). This is the greatest resource that a Mu’min has. It is the greatest legacy that you can give your children if you teach them how to invoke the power of Allah and to take from the treasures of Allah , to give to the world. Talk to Allah because He knows and hears and responds. Make friends with Allah because He said that He is the Wali of the Believers:

Allah is the Wali (Protector or Guardian) of those who believe. He brings them out from darkness into light. But as for those who disbelieve, their Auliya (supporters and helpers) are Taghut [false deities and false leaders] , they bring them out from light into darkness. Those are the dwellers of the Fire, and they will abide therein forever. (2:257)

Make it a habit that for every situation you turn to Allah first before you seek any material aid. In every difficulty and in every ease, turn to Allah first. Thank Him because we owe every breath we take to His Mercy. Remember that the best du‘ā’ is to beg Allah for His Forgiveness. Remember that there are no secrets from Allah . Talk to Him, tell Him your story. Build a connection with Him while you can, because one day you and I will need that connection more than anything else, even if today we live as if we don’t need it. I ask Allah to make this easy for us. Finally, remember that Allah put conditions about those whose du‘ā’ He accepts. He said:

So let them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be rightly guided. (2:186)

Remember that there is no acceptance of du‘ā’ without acceptance of the uboodiyat of Allah . Allah accepts the du‘ā’ only of His obedient slaves. Those who think that they can live their lives in disobedience and unconsciousness, then turn to Allah only in times of difficulty are suffering from one of the most common forms of self-induced delusion. I ask Allah to cure this fatal malady and to open our eyes before they are opened for us by Malakul Mawth.