The Philosophy of Fasting in Ramadan:

Fasting kills the desire of the self and the appetite of greed, and from it comes purity of the heart, purification of the limbs, cultivation of the inner and the outer being, thankfulness for blessings, charity to the poor, increase of humble supplication, humility, weeping and most of the ways of seeking refuge in Allah; and it is the cause for the breaking of worldly desires, the reducing of evil things, and the redoubling of good deeds. It contains benefits which cannot be counted. It is enough that we mention some of them to the person who understands and is given success in making use of fasting, if Allah wills.”

Guide To Preparing For Ramadan 2020

4 Step Guide To Preparing For Ramadan 2020

Here goes my 4 step guide that will help you prepare for Ramadan this year which include the following;

1. mental preparation for Ramadan
2. physical preparation for Ramadan
3. Consider making a Ramadan checklist
4. Keep a daily Ramadan journal during Ramadan

Perform the first three steps before Ramadan and the last step during Ramadan to keep yourself on track.

1. Prepare Mentally for Ramadan

You could have many thoughts, feelings, and fears about the month of Ramazan, but tackle those thoughts and feelings before Ramadan. Therefore to solve such issue we will give you three useful tips on how to mentally prepare for Ramadan?

1. Just believe in Allah: Allah is the one who created us in a way that we human body can bear fasting hence Allah has prescribed fasting for us. So put your trust in Allah that you can easily fast during the month of Ramadan and constantly reminds yourself what Allah has said.   “Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope” (Surah 2, Ayah 286). Therefore cleanse your thoughts by saying that Allah has made you strong enough to fast during the month of Ramzan.
2. Start preparing yourself now for the upcoming month to ease your worries about it.
3. Try distracting your mind: Your mind will keep thinking about the physical aspects of the fasting, long hours and the weather, what I will eat to break my fast, etc all such questions will make it hard for you to fast so try to keep yourself busy in chores like work, reading Islamic books, tasbeeh, listening lectures spiritual reflections and others.

2. Prepare Physically for Ramadan

The essence of Ramadan is hidden is the spiritual aspects of fasting. We can’t attain spiritual level underlying fast before taking control of physical aspects of fasting so prepare yourself physically before the Ramadan. Here find effective tips about how to physically prepare for Ramadan?

1. Try Fasting before Ramadan: Therefore use the month before Ramadan as training, start eating major meals at sunrise and sunset to tune your body for suhoor and iftar.
2. Start to eat healthy before Ramadan: healthy food and drinks will bring away the big difference in your overall health, and you will be ready for the main event of Ramazan. For example, drink plenty of water, eliminate tea or coffee and have plenty of fruits and vegetables. See what to eat and what not to eat during Ramadan and plan it now.
3. Adjust your sleeping routine: Instead of having a shock during Ramadan try adjusting your sleeping patterns now so that you can cope up during Ramadan.
4. Plan your meals:  Avoid spending lots of time in supermarkets or on the internet for what to cook. Plan your meals ahead so you can spare enough time for tasbeeh, salah, reading Quran, good deeds, Quran reflections and ibadah which is the purpose of this holy month.

3. Prepare Ramadan Checklist

Preparing a Ramadan checklist might keep you on the right track to achieve the goals of this month of mercy, maghfirat and nijaat from fire.

1. Write down reflections of your previous Ramadan and point out where you were lacking, what I achieved and how I can improve my shortcomings this Ramadan. In short, analyze your previous fasting experiences this year, which in turn would help you prepare for this Ramadan.
2. Write down your goals for this Ramadan on a piece of paper and for convenience, you can divide them into spiritual goals or ibaadah, meal planning and work goals, but make smart goals so that you can easily achieve them.
3. Then write down how you would achieve these goals.

4. Keep a Daily Ramadan Journal

Keeping a journal during Ramadan would keep your stress level controlled because doing so you feel more structured, organized and even more satisfied. I hope the Ramadan journal below might serve you well this Ramadan and you may also add in this journal to adjust your needs.

Prepare for Ramadan

Seven Ways to Prepare for Ramadan

1. Fast Voluntarily: This month—Shabaan—is the prime time to start fasting those extra fasts or making up your missed fasts from last Ramadan. ...
2. Recite and Reflect Upon the Qur'an: ...
3. Follow the Sunnah and Pray Extra Prayers: ...
4. Repent and Make Dua'a: ...
5. Give Charity: ...
6. Improve Your Character: ...
7. Eat Healthy and Moderately:

Planing of Ramadan

Our dear Prophet  said: “He who observes fasting during the month of Ramadan with faith while seeking its reward from Allah, will have his past sins forgiven.” Reported by Abu Hurairah  [Bukhari].

We are now at the most important yearly spiritual experience of a Muslim’s life. During these 30 continuous days of rahma (mercy) and maghfira (forgiveness) the announcement of the month. Start collecting reward from this moment!

1. Try to look for the new moon with the family, make the little ones busy with this. However, if the religious authority in your country announces the beginning of Ramadan and you are still not able to see the new moon, you should accept the decision without any fuss.
2. Send greetings to family members and friends. If you live in a non-Muslim community, try to explain the significance of Ramadan to your neighbours. It is important to explain to them that Ramadan is more than just abstaining from eating and drinking.
3. Share the joy of Ramadan with your children. And don’t refer to the night of Eid! Kids should feel that the coming of Ramadan is a special event to celebrate even if they do not fast it yet. Involve them in decorating the house, making lamps using craft work etc.
4. Do not miss taraweeh: Many people miss the first taraweeh for different reasons. Some say the first day of Ramadan starts after midnight, so they don’t attend the prayer, or between the joy and many phone calls, they get exhausted and nod off and some may just forget it!
5. Keep niyyah:

The Prophet  said: (The value of) an action depends on the intention behind it. A man will be rewarded only for what he intended. Narrated on the authority of Umar b. al-Khattab. [Bukhari].

Intention (niyyah) in Islam has immense importance. During the first night of Ramadan, make a lot of good intentions which Allah  will help you fulfill. Examples:

• Fasting for Allah ’s sake
• To have a productive month
• To attain inner peace
• To forgive friends/ family members who have wronged you
• To attend the night of Qadr and get its reward
• That all efforts in the kitchen during Ramadan is to break the fast of family members

Daily and Monthly Planning

Daily Planning

To make the most use of this blessed month, we should not pile tasks on our schedule and wait till the appropriate minute to fulfill it! Instead, we should allocate a time for each goal. In Ramadan, there are blessed moments that we should not miss by focusing on other tasks. For example, you cannot visit people during taraweeh, or watch a religious program right after fajr when you are supposed to do dhikr and read the Qur’an!

• Divide your day into at least 6 parts:
  • The morning: suhoor, tahajjud, fajr, reciting Quran after fajr, istighfar
  • Work: Remember fasting is not an excuse to be inefficient at work; neither does it justify being ill tempered because you miss your coffee or cigarette! Concentrate on dhikr especially while waiting in traffic, while driving to and from work etc.
  • From asr to maghrib: 30 minute nap, family time: discussion, reciting Qur’an, watch an educational program, narrating the prophets´ stories, prepare Iftar, any other task you planned etc.
  • Breaking fast: Please refer to my article on meals in Ramadan for more details about suhoor and iftar
  • Isha/ taraweeh: It is not necessary to spend hours in traffic to go to a mosque with the best sheikh/ imam in the city. Choose a masjid that is in your neighbourhood!
  • Night: This time depends on when you complete the Taraweeh prayers. (Family time, completing other tasks, Qiyam)
• Keep each salah as a time interval between tasks, so you can pray at the masjid if possible.
• Intention for i´tikaaf (to stay in the masjid for a particular time period in the worship of Allah  while maintaining certain conditions)

Monthly Planning

• Divide the month into three parts where each part consists of 10 days. This is an efficient way to accomplish your schedule according to the spiritual importance of the month.
• Set the goals you want to accomplish in each of the 10 days. Write them in a separate column. You could concentrate on social tasks in the first 10 days, family tasks the following 10 days, dua and dhikr (personal spirituality) in the last ten days. I do not mean to totally separate your tasks, but give you a rough time period to focus on.
• Start dividing these tasks and goals. If your lifestyle is organized with minimal surprises, you can plan these 10 days in advance. If not, try and make a draft for 2 days. Making a draft makes you feel less guilty if something unexpected happens. This does not mean you get out of your actual task but, you might need to double the effort for the next 2 days. Place an X on completed tasks, to give you a sense of accomplishment!
• For the last 10 days of Ramadan, try to intensify all kinds of Ibadat, especially the prayers of the night. You can pray to recover some prayers you may have missed before.
• Recite the whole Qur’an. In case you cannot read, listen to it and read the translation juz’ by juz’.

‘Aishah  reported: I asked: “O Messenger of Allah! If I realize Lailat-ul-Qadr (Night of Decree), what should I supplicate in it?” He  replied, “You should supplicate: Allahumma innaka ‘afuwwun, tuhibbul-‘afwa, fa’fu ‘anni (O Allah, You are Most Forgiving, and You love forgiveness; so forgive me).” [At-Tirmidhi]

Tips for the Last Night of Ramadan

After all the effort of planning, helping others, praying, fasting and keeping good intentions, we will reach the last night of Ramadan desiring the great reward of being saved from the fire and accepted in heaven. It is important to trust Allah  that He will accept your hard work. At the night of Eid, the joy is not only because we are not supposed to fast the next day! It is also because we are labelled as heaven’s future habitants In sha Allah!

1. Ask dua that Allah accepts all of your efforts done in Ramadan, and that He supports you to sustain your productivity after Ramadan
2. Share greetings for Eid
3. Give the kids the joy of Eid (new clothes, money, decorating the house, gifts, going to the park, making plans for the day of Eid)
4. Do not forget to pay Zakat al-Fitr, which you can pay from the first day of Ramadan till the last night of it. The sooner you pay it, the better it would be for those who receive it!
5. Do not forget the families with limited income. Although you pay your Zakat al-Fitr, you can still do a few more things which won’t cost much, but may make a huge difference for others. Example: buying boxes of sweets, Eid decorations for the house, little toys or even plastic jewellery for the little princesses of the family.
6. As soon as the authorities prove it to be the end of Ramadan, start repeating the Takbir and teach it to the young ones

Ramadan 2020 when will be start

Ramadan for the year 2020 starts on the evening of Thursday, April 23rd lasting 30 days and ending at sundown on Saturday, May 23. Islamic holidays always begin at sundown and end at sundown the following day/days ending the holiday or festival.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is a month of fasting, prayer, giving and self-evaluation observed by Muslims. The month lasts 29-30 days depending on the sightings of the crescent moon.

Days to the start of Ramadan 2020

Friday, April 24th is day number 115 of the 2020 calendar year with 10 days until the start of the celebration/ observance of Ramadan 2020.