Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Pondering Ramadan


It's already the 11th Sha'ban and with Ramadan a matter of only a couple of weeks or so away it's time to start preparing to welcome this blessed month and consider what I want to achieve this Ramadan.

All over the net I have been reading articles about Ramadan and how to be prepared; Oum Anas and Umm Raiyaan have written some nice pieces on looking forward to Ramadan that have made me think more.

  • First and foremost of course, I hope to be able to fast all of Ramadan as quickly as possible; any days I miss due to ha'id I intend to make up immediately during Shawwal and if there is time I also intend to fast the 6 days of Shawwal.

    "Whoever observes the Ramadan fast and follows it with six days of fast in Shawwal, it is as if he has fasted Dahr (the whole year)." (Bukhari)

  • Read the whole Qur'an in English, one juz (thirtieth) per day. M. A. Abdel Haleem's translation will be my copy of choice, chosen for ease of reading, minimal footnotes, absence of exessive explanations in parentheses and the smooth way that the text flows. This translation has great reviews even from non-muslims. I will make this my bedtime reading.




  • Aim to read at least half the Qur'an in Arabic. I still struggle with reading in Arabic those parts of the Qur'an which I have not memorised so I am setting myself a more realistic goal. In order to read the whole Qur'an in Arabic during the month of Ramadan I would have to read 6 pages after each daily prayer; I have set myself the task of 3 pages after each daily prayer...


  • Pray Taraweeh at home with my older daughters
    Narrated Abu Huraira:

    I heard Allah's Apostle saying regarding Ramadan, "Whoever prayed at night in it (the month of Ramadan)out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven." (Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 32, Number 226)

  • Be prepared with the cooking, get iftar (meal to break the fast) cooked early in the day and... keep it simple!


  • Go on umra towards the end of Ramadan if possible.

    The Prophet said, "Perform 'Umra in the month of
    Ramadan, (as it is equivalent to Hajj or Hajj with me (in reward)."
    (Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 29, Number 86)

Insha'Allah we all have a healthy and blessed Ramadan.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

as salamu alaykum ukhti,

the tip about reading the Qur'an in arabic after each prayer is a very good one mash'Allah tabarakAllah!I'll try it too!As I was wondering how I could start to read it in arabic too....alhamdulillah!

Insh'Allah is going to be a blessed Ramadhan for all the muslimeen!

as salamu alaykum

Anonymous said...

sallam

I'm seeking your help in something,I need sites that have authentic translation of hadeeth(English),got any?
and what is the search criteria? should I enter the number of the hadeeth or key words?

I would be very grateful :)

Umm Ibrahim said...

Assalaamu alaikum,

Insha'Allah the tip works for you and me Um AlMujahid!

Ruba, for hadith and other Islam searches I normally use: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/ There is a hadith search application there where you type in keywords but I normally just use Google. I type in my criteria i.e Ramadan and restrict my search to the above website only so the search looks like this: Ramadan site: usc.edu

Bitter marzipan said...

thank you very much ,I will try it now and if it works out I will add it to my favorites insha'allah

jazzaki allah khayran ;)

youngMuslimah said...

assalamu'alaikum welcome back! :)

are you guys fasting in sh'aban?

'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him - PBUH) used to fast until we thought he would never break his fast, and not fast until we thought he would never fast. I never saw the Messenger of Allah fasting for an entire month except in Ramadan, and I never saw him fast more than he did in Sha'ban." (Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim). According to a report narrated by Muslim, "He used to fast all of Sha'ban, he used to fast all but a little of Sha'ban."



It was reported in al-Bukhari and Muslim that Ibn 'Abbas said: "The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) did not fast any entire month apart from Ramadan." Ibn 'Abbas regarded it as makrooh to fast any entire month apart from Ramadan. Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "He observed more voluntary fasts in Sha'ban than in any other month, and he used to fast most of Sha'ban."


I too insha'Allah am planning go for 'umrah during the first week of ramdhan. talk about eman rush right before college! :)

Umm Ibrahim said...

Assalaamu alaikum,

Ruba, wa iyyaaki. Insha'Allah it works for you. :]

YM: Jazakillahu khair for the hadith about Sha'aban. Insha'Allah you get to make umra this Ramadan too!

Najeeba said...

Salam,
Good work sis, a simple reminder about how to welcome Ramadhan, when people are running here and there to store enough spices, flour etc to make their iftaar great one. Some are busy painting their houses to make it beautiful for the guests at iftaar. What an extravaganza when Allah, The Almighty, have made Ramaddhan simple. Its the sisters that are effected more by this, they get no time for the extra Ibadaths, and after cooking the big iftaars, they will be soooo tired to pray the Tharaveehs.

Umm Ibrahim said...

Assalaamu alaikum,

Subhan Allah sis Najeeba, you are soooo right. :( Awful when you are so busy in the kitchen that there is no time for ibaadah and by the time you have finally finished cooking and cleaning you are dead on your feet and too tired for prayer.

HF said...

Insha'allah im planning to memorize the last juz of the Quran insha'allah during ramadan. My family were planning on going for umrah in the last week of ramadan however they have put a quota now of issuing only 500 visas from now on for umrah so since ofcourse its already full now we will insha'allah go next time. Have a blessed ramadan!

Umm Ibrahim said...

Assalaamu alaikum,

Actually I'm not so sure about umra now anyway Habayeb as they are extending the sa'y area and I think the main sa'y area is still closed. I've been told that the area available for sa'y at the moment isn't acceptable for a valid umra at the moment. W~Allahu alem.