As we are still in the early stages of Ramadan, I really want to take a look at how we can all make this year's Ramadan to be more meaningful and with more blessings than the previous years. Only once in a year does this holy month comes to our life and we never know that whether we have chance to meet it again. No one knows if this might be our last Ramadan. So, it is up to us to make it great and meaningful. The following are a few things we should avoid during Ramadan. This is based on the normal phenomena amongst most Nigerians and Muslims worldwide. By doing so, i hope we can maximize the reward from Allah during this noble month.

1. Eating Too Much: Whenever you walk into a muslim home at Iftaar, you could mistaken it for a feast. Ramadan gives us the chance to select variety of food ranging from chicken, meat, fruits and drinks. Lots of traditional dishes are also made to complement the other dishes. Most people eat their hearts out which makes them too weak to perform Magrib or the other salats. Ramadan should the month that we can consume less since we don’t have to eat during the whole day. But contrarily most of people cook more and eat more in Ramadan especially for breaking the fasting as if that is the time for them to eat as replacement for not be able to eat all day. This is wrong and should be avoided as Allah likes things done in moderation and it is not good to overfill yourself on food.

2. Missing Taraweeh: We should note that Taraweeh is only available during Ramadan, and none of the other months. This in itself makes it special and appealing to muslims worldwide. Even though it is not compulsory, we should grab the opportunity and perform it until the end of month. What happens every year is that lots of people get excited and motivated to perform it and this lasts the first week. After that the desire dies down. So, you will see the masjids everywhere filled with people during the first couple days and basically as we move towards the end of month, you can count the number of people in the  mosque which is usually the old faces at the masjid. People should constantly make themselves available throughout the month and keep the spirit till the end of Ramadan especially for the last 10 days. While many people understand and have heard of the importance of the last 10 days of Ramadan, people take it rather too easy. Though all parts of Ramadan are full of blessings and rewards, its last ten days hold a special status reflected in the recommendations and practices of the Prophet (SAW) his companions.

3. Stay Away From Evil: One thing that is holy is we stopping ourselves from seeing something Makruh. So brothers, do not look at women especially the overdressed ones and if we set eyes on something evil, we should take our eyes away as one glance is not a sin until we set another intentional glance on it.

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said, “The outlook is one of the poisoned arrows of Satan, who has been cursed by  God. Whoever maintain his view, purely because of his fear, Allah (SWT) will give him faith, as the sweet taste obtained from the heart". (Hakim).

Jabir relates from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said, “There are five things that can cancel a person's fast: lying, cursing, spreading issues (defamation), false swearing and looked with great passion.”

4. Suhoor: Suhoor is the meal you eat before fasting. Some people don’t like to wake for suhoor and still can fasting the whole day as it is not mandatory. For that reason, they make it as routine to miss the suhoor. During the middle month of Ramadan some of us will get tired of waking up in the morning to have our suhoor so we sleep through it and forfeit the blessings of partaking in it. Even though the Prophet (SAW) stressed sahur as the blessed meal and some parts of the hadith mentioned the difference between fasting of a muslim and ahlul kitab is having a suhoor before dawn. Yet some of us take this practice for granted.

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) quoted the Prophet (SAW) as saying, “(Make sure to) have your suhoor meal, for suhoor is blessed.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Suhoor meal is blessed. The whole of suhoor is a blessing. Get up for suhoor even if you drink just a sip of water. Allah (SWT) and His angels shower salat and salam upon those who get up for suhoor -  Imam-i Ahmad.

5. Improper Dressing: This goes to the sisters. Remember that Islam is not just about one thing, its everything. Islam is a blanket that covers every facet of our lives. So sisters, please make sure you cover your aura not just during Ramadan but at all times. There is no point of you fasting and exposing parts of your body to others and Allah frowns on this.

The Prophet (SAW) said, “How many people who fasted did not get anything, except just hungry and thirsty!” (Hr’s Nisaa’i, Ibn Majah).

Ma Salam. Please read my other posts and share the blog. Also subscribe for email alerts of new posts as i post daily. May Allah bless and reward you as you do so.

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