How to Prepare for Ramadan
By: Noor Chaudhry
Tags: Quran, Religion, Fasting, Ramadan, Islam

With Ramadan approaching we need to ask ourselves, what can we do to prepare for this month? Previously we went over some of the virtues of Ramadan, but there is one virtue in particular that is extremely valuable and that is the Night of Decree. Allah tells us in the Qur’an,

إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ Indeed, We sent the Qur’an down during the Night of Decree. وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ And what can make you know what is the Night of Decree? لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months. تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِم مِّن كُلِّ أَمْرٍ The angels and the Spirit descend therein by permission of their Lord for every matter. سَلَامٌ هِيَ حَتَّىٰ مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ Peace it is until the emergence of dawn.¹

Worship on the Night of Decree will be equivalent to 1000 months or 83.3 years of worship. The benefits of this night however will be fully attained by the one that spent time before the beginning of Ramadan to prepare for it. Even when we look at the companions of our prophet Mohammad (ﷺ) we see how they would prepare themselves for moments like this well in advance. A narration from our mother, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), highlights this when she asked the messenger of Allah (ﷺ),

“O Messenger of Allah, what do you think I should say in my supplication, if I come upon Laylatul-Qadr?” He said: “Say: اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي ‘O Allah, indeed You are Pardoning, You love to pardon, so pardon me.’”²

The fact that she asked about the Night of Decree in advance of its approach shows us that she was preparing herself in order to gain the benefits of this night. Like our beloved mother, we also need to start preparing for Ramadan from now so that when we reach it, with the will of Allah, we are ready to benefit from what this night has to offer.

Another reason that we need to start preparing from now is because if we have bad habits, it will be difficult to break those habits right away when the month of Ramadan arrives. A beautiful analogy that I once heard from a friend is that when we are stirring a cup of tea, and we take the spoon out of the cup, the water will not come to a complete stop at once, rather it takes time for the water to sit still. Our habits are like this cup of tea, when we attempt to be rid of a habit suddenly it becomes very difficult to adjust to the abrupt stop, therefore, we should take time before Ramadan to get rid of these bad habits which will only weigh us down.

So what can we do to prepare?

Renew our Intentions

In the famous hadith narrated by Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, he mentions the saying of the prophet (ﷺ), “Indeed all actions are by intentions, and every man will have that which he intended for.”² While none of us know whether we will live to witness Ramadan or not, it is very important that we set our intentions for this month from now. By doing this, even if we do not live to see Ramadan, we receive the reward for our intentions.

In addition to renewing our intentions, we also need to increase in our actions.

Praying on time

Our prophet (ﷺ) was asked, “Which deed is the dearest to Allah?” He replied, “To offer the prayers at their early stated fixed times.”⁴ Therefore we need to be praying our 5 daily prayers and at their earliest time. If we aren’t praying our 5 daily prayers it is very important to focus on establishing them, as it is a pillar of our religion and the first thing we will be held accountable for on the day of judgement.⁵

Fasting

Ramadan is the month of fasting, so one of the best ways to prepare for it is, well, fasting. We find many ahadith (prophetic traditions) which mention that the prophet would fast a lot in Sha’ban, the month before Ramadan. Consider fasting a few times a week. There is the famous sunnah fast of Monday and Thursday, which is a great way to prepare ourselves. Also, keep in mind the reward for each day of fast, which is as our messenger (ﷺ) said:

“There is no slave who fasts a day in the cause of Allah except that Allah, the most high, recompense them for that day by distancing his face and the fire seventy autumns.”³

Reading Quran

Ramadan is the month of the Quran, therefore we should to try and make a habit of reading the Quran from now. We also need to remind ourselves that reading the Quran in and of itself is worship of Allah and comes with a great reward. The prophet (ﷺ) informed us,

“Whoever recites a letter from Allah’s Book, then he receives the reward from it, and the reward of ten the like of it. I do not say that Alif Lam Mim is a letter, but Alif is a letter, Lam is a letter and Mim is a letter.”⁶

I hope that this article was able to highlight the importance of why we need to prepare for Ramadan now, as well as explaining some of the ways that we can do this. I pray that Allah allows us to reach Ramadan and achieve His forgiveness, ameen.