dvices 20 Ramadaan for

1. Fast Ramadhaan with belief and truly seeking the reward of Allah the Most High so that He may forgive you your past sins

2 Beware of breaking your fast during the days of Ramadhann without a valid Islamic excuse, for it is from the greatest of sins.

3. Pray 20 rakats Salatut-Taraweeh and the night prayer during the nights of Ramadhaan – especially on Layatul-Qadr (last 10 odd nights) – based on belief and truly seeking the reward of Allah, so that Allah may forgive you your past sins.

4. Make sure that your food, your drink and your clothing are from halal means, in order that your actions be accepted, and your supplications answered. Beware of refraining from the halal while fasting and breaking your fast with the haram

5 Give food to some fasting people to gain a reward similar to theirs.

6. Perform your five prayers on time (in congregation for men) to gain the reward and Allahs protection.

7. Give a lot of charity for the best charity is that of Ramadhaan.

8. Beware of spending your time without performing righteous deeds, for you will be responsible and reckoned for it and will be rewarded for all you do during your time.

9. Perform Umrah in Ramadhaan for `Umrah in Ramadhaan is equal to Hajj

10 Seek help for fasting during the day by eating the Suhoor meal in the last part of the night before the appearance of Fajr.

11. Hasten breaking your fast after the sun has truly set in order to gain the love of Allah

12. Perform ghusl before Fajr if you need to purify yourself from the state of major impurity so that you are able to do acts of worship in a state of purity and cleanliness.

13. Sieze the opportunity of being in Ramadhaan and spend it with the good that has been revealed in it by reciting the noble Qur'aan and pondering and reflection of its meanings so that it be a proof for you with your Lord and an intercessor for you on the Day of Reckoning.

14. Preserve your tongue from lying, cursing, backbiting and slander for it decreases the reward of fasting

15. Do not let fasting cause you to cross your boundaries by getting upset due to the slightest of reasons. Rather, fasting should be a cause of peacefulness and tranquility for your soul.

16. Upon the completion of fasting, be in a state of taqwa of Allah the Most High, being aware of Allah watching you in secret and in public, in thankfulness for His favors, and steadfastness upon obedience of Allah by doing all what He has ordered and shunning all that He has prohibited.

17. Increase in remembrance of Allah, seeking of forgiveness, asking for Paradise and protection against the Fire, especially when fasting, while breaking the fast and during Suhoor, for these actions are among greatest causes of attaining Allah’s forgiveness

18. Increase making Duaa for yourself, your parents, your children and all Muslims, for Allah Ta’aala has ordered the making of Duaa and has guaranteed acceptance.

19. Repent to Allah with a sincere repentance in all times by leaving sins, regretting those that you have done before and firmly deciding not to return to them in the future, for Allah accepts repentance of those who repent

20 Fast the six days of Shawwal, for whoever fasts Ramadhān and then follows it with six days of Shawwal, it is as if he fasts all the time

Without thinking of death in abundance, we will have no inclination to reform. Life will rotate around eating, sleeping, and accumulating. We will be lulled into a false sense of security until the bubble of life bursts. Rasûlullah ﷺ forewarned us: “Think of the obliterator of pleasures (death) in abundance ” Thoughts and discussions of death, extinguishes the joys of life Observe how the T V is not only switched off, but even covered and stored away, in a funeral home Everyone forgets the World Cup, the World News and their favourite programs Maut’s icy presence freezes all debates and pleasures Rasûlullah ﷺ advised Hadhrat Umar to count himself amongst the dwellers of the Qabr. The thought of the Qabr as one’s home, will lessen the love of the World. Rasûlullah ﷺ said: “Love of the world is the root of all evils.” By thinking of the evil nature of the world; the violence, bloodshed, wars, crime, sicknesses, hypocrisy, jealousy and pain, we will treasure our Imaan which has taught us about another existence – the existence of a beautiful Hereafter However, the quality of that life is dependent upon the deeds we perform in this life If our actions are wrong, they require reformation; if they are right, then we need to be grateful, and with the Fadhl (grace) of Allah Ta’ala, they need to be constantly supervised and taken account of. Good deeds are only good, if they are in tune with The Shari’ah and The Sunnah, otherwise they are rejected by Allah. Ramadaan is supposed to affect both the stomach and the heart. We all experience empty stomachs; but what about empty hearts? The purpose of fasting is to fast the heart from pleasures and feast the heart with Allah Ta’ala’s Dhikr, Love, and Fear Once Rasûlullah ﷺ pointed at his Mubarak heart and said thrice: “Taqwa lies here ” Allah Ta’ala states: “But their hearts are blind”, and “but their hearts are diseased” A sick heart, a blind heart is the worst calamity that can befall one – for such a heart cannot see the Truth, nor sense its own evil. Thus, let us exercise great caution: Let the heart not become blind, let the heart not become diseased! Not only is an empty stomach the key to the heart, it also empties the brain of self-deception, etc. Ramadaan is a time to open the door of the heart and look into it. Is it immersed in Tauheed – fully comprehending that harms and benefits are ONLY from One Allah? Does it possess such Taqwa that it beats in tune with The Shariah? Is the heart free to wander and roam in the Divine Love of Allah Ta’ala? Is its state of Dhikr a wall of fire against Shaytaanic Wasaawis (whisperings)?

Can the Taqwa of the heart crush the craving for name, fame and wealth? Most importantly, has its Taqwa sufficient power to spotlight our own deficiencies to us? Yes, Ramadaan is the time to have that nice, thorough annual “check-up” As we all know, fasting is the ultimate form of submitting the heart to Allah Ta’ala, because the heart is forced to surrender its joys of eating, drinking and cohabitation. This is exactly the type of submission which our Rabb wants from us daily in every aspect of our lives. In our Ibaadah, our business dealings, our relationship with our families, our laughter, our sorrows, our sleeping, our eating, our seeing, our hearing, our walking and in our breathing – this submission, this Taqwa is to be the goal Taqwa and only Taqwa matters Ramadaan is ONLY the starting point and a training period for the Rooh to make Taqwa its mission in life Cut the desires, chop the Nafs, trim the heart, let the Imaan be strengthened and the Rooh be enslaved to Allah’s Commands. Whilst fasting, the entire body is in a state of Sabr, in submission and in obedience. The Rooh, dressed in this garb of Taqwa, will then happily submit itself to Malakul-Maut. ONLY then will it submit itself happily to Malakul-Maut, otherwise it will rebel! How to judge our fasts? Are we only staying hungry and thirsty or is our Taqwa becoming stronger? Fasting without contemplation, is denying the fast of its essence Hadhrat Moulana Maseehullah (Rahmatullahi Alayh) explains how to monitor and build up Taqwa :“Just as strategies and tactics are employed in worldly affairs, so too should they be utilized in Deeni Affairs With the Fadl of Allah Ta’ala, this lowly servant has formulated a strategy in order that a Taalib-eSaadiq (a sincere seeker of the Truth) may beforehand be prepared for combating his Nafs and Shaytaan. Think deeply over what you will do if Allah Ta’ala tests you. By conducting the following spiritual exercises, we will be able to discern whether our fasting is merely a ritual or whether it has benefited us Someone made a mistake in a transaction involving thousands of rands You are in a desperate financial situation and need the money Shaytaan tells you to take it and that you will somehow repay him later Will you give in to the urges of greed of the heart? Your spouse makes you angry. You are furious and upset. Do you lose your temper or do you have Sabr (patience) and Hilm (tolerance)? What effect is the fast having upon your heart? Humility or arrogance? No matter how difficult, we should turn our gazes and hearts away from sin; let us return the money to its owner, let us make a little Sabr at the anger of our partner. Yes, let us please Allah Ta’ala! Only then, would Ramadaan have benefited us Otherwise, know that a lifetime of Ramadaans, a lifetime of I’itikaaf and a lifetime of Laylatul-Qadrs will come and go – and we will remain where we were – just like last year and the year before! Until, one day, when Maut will come unexpectedly