Alhamdulillaah, we are now in the month of Rabi al Awwal. According to the Islaamic calendar, we are less than six months from Ramadhaan.
Every year, the first ten days of Ramadhaan are a flurry of activity as we try and intensify our worship because we know of the virtues of this special month. But as Ramadhaan speeds by, very few of us actually manage to sustain the intensity in our worship and good deeds, in fact, by the end of Ramadhaan, many of us are... tired! As soon as Eid comes and we bid another Ramadhaan goodbye, we take a "vacation", completely reducing our ibadah to the bare minimum! So while we would hope that Ramadhaan, with the benefits of heightened eemaan and chaining of the shayateen would give us the opportunity to prepare ourselves to be better Muslims in our worship as well as in our deeds, very few of us are able to achieve this goal and sustain it after Ramadhaan.
The salaf (pious predecessors) used to anxiously await it six months in advance, then they worked diligently through Ramadhaan and then, for the next five months, they asked Allaah to accept it from them. Just like an athlete trains himself everyday so that his body builds strength and capacity to achieve the phenomenal speeds and expertise, we should take the example of the salaf and prepare ourselves so that when Ramadhaan arrives, we are ready to welcome it, to maximize our benefit from the month and to be set to achieve the goal of being better Muslims every year.
It has been reported that when the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wasalam) sighted the moon of Rajab (two months before Ramadhaan) he used to pray to Allaah in the following words:
اَللّهُمَّ بَارِكْ لَنَا فِى رَجَبَ وَ شَعْبَانَ وَ بَلِّغْنَا رَمَضَان
Allahumma baarik lana fi Rajab wa Sha'baan wa ballighna Ramadhaan
O Allaah! Make the months of Rajab and Sha'baan blessed for us, and let us reach the month of Ramadhaan (i.e. prolong our life up to Ramadhaan, so that we may benefit from its merits and blessings)
اَللّهُمَّ بَارِكْ لَنَا فِى رَجَبَ وَ شَعْبَانَ وَ بَلِّغْنَا رَمَضَان
Allahumma baarik lana fi Rajab wa Sha'baan wa ballighna Ramadhaan
O Allaah! Make the months of Rajab and Sha'baan blessed for us, and let us reach the month of Ramadhaan (i.e. prolong our life up to Ramadhaan, so that we may benefit from its merits and blessings)
[Narrated by at-Tabarani and Ahmad. Note, this is a weak narration]
Athletes have coaches to guide and encourage them, to suggest a plan of action and motivate them to follow it. InshaAllaah we are starting a series of articles/ audio reminders, geared to motivate you to plan and prepare for Ramadhaan. Each reminder will have an action item, something for you to start implementing right away. Work on the action item EVERYDAY, so that by the end of the week, it is part of your normal routine and you are ready to implement the next step.
Action item for this week:
Make the intention to prepare for Ramadhaan from now. Make dua to Allaah to help you achieve your goal, make your intention pure and your effort fruitful. Ask Allaah to enable you to achieve the maximum blessings of Ramadhaan and to be granted the tawfeeq to continue the good habits and actions throughout the year. Make the dua in your own words, at least once a day.
