Preparing Oneself For Ramadhan

Assalamu’alaikum !

Ramadhan is not only a month in which one gives up their food and drinks, remaining hungry from pre-dawn till dusk, but rather this month is much more than just that. It is a month of spirituality in which a believer is given the opportunity to gain a closeness to Allah (swt) not only by fulfilling the obligatory acts and increase in other types of worship such as charity and recitation of the Qur’an etc…, but more than that; by abstaining from sins and acts of disobedience.

Abstention from sins is all the more important in this month, particularly abstaining from sins related to the faculties of hearing, seeing, thinking and speaking. This is a month of purification in which we as believers are given the opportunity to cleanse ourselves of our sins and purify ourselves both physically and spiritually, through fasting and increased worship.

So, fasting is not just to abstain from taking food and drinks, but also to prevent our ears from hearing forbidden things such as irreligious songs and music, to prevent our eyes from viewing forbidden things, to prevent ourselves to the best of our ability from thinking about sinful things and finally last but not least to safeguard the tongue, ‘the boneless wonder’ which is responsible for and has so many sins related to it, such as lying, backbiting, slandering, gossiping etc… It is very important to safeguard the tongue from sins in this month, and it is for this reason why one of the pious predecessors used to refer to Ramadhan as ‘The Month of Silence’.

“And ask forgiveness for your sins and also for the believing men and believing women”

(Muhammad:19)

May Allah (swt) allow us all to gain the full blessings from this month and make it a month of reformation for us, so that we once and for all abandon disobedience to our Creator and become His (swt) obedient, pious and sincere servants. Amiin.