Ramadan Countdown 2021: Preparing for Ramadan

Alhamdulillah, Ramadan 2021 (Hijri year 1442) is just around the corner. Most of us are counting down the days to Ramadan. So how are we preparing for Ramadan?

What to do to prepare for Ramadan

1- Replace Your Missed Fasting

We all know that Ramadan is the month of obligatory fasting. However, some are exempt from the obligatory fasting in Ramadan, due to sickness, or women on their menstruation, or postpartum, or travelling, and so on.

So, in order to prepare yourself for Ramadhan, the first thing to do is to make up for all of the missed Ramadan fastings last year, by fasting before the new Ramadan begins.

2 – Get Ready Mentally

Ramadan is more than jus restraing ourselves from food and drink, its about restraining our nafs (our egos, our desires). Every person has his or her own weakness.

What is your weakness? Too much socializing? Too much time spent on social media, or watching TV? Or you get angry too easily? Whatever is your weakness, learn to pinpoint it and then work on reducing them. If its too much TV or social media, then learn to time yourself, If you get angry too easily, find out what is the trigger point, and learn some anger management issues.

Because all of these weaknesses will impact our quality of how we practice our Ramadan.

3 – Eat In Moderation

Learn to reduce your food intake prior to the month of Ramadan, as this will be easier when the fasting month begins. Choose healthy food instead of junk, or heavy food.

4 – Get Your Ibadah In Order

Sure, we can all go and dive in to the deep end, and turn up for Taraweeh prayers, right on the first night of Ramadan. However, it is normally much easier to slowly adapt to the rigours of ibadah in Ramadan, when you’ve started weeks before the real start. This can be done by first praying the tawbah (the repentance prayer), making extra solah (additional prayers), regular dhikr, making du’a and reciting the Quran.

5 – Set Your Ramadan Goals

Whether it is to pray all of the Taraweeh prayers, completing the recitation of the entire Quran, praying Qiyamullayl, and trying for Laylatul Qadr with the last ten nights of Ramadan, it’s all depends on the person’s capabilities and capacity to achieve these goals. Whatever it is, keep it real as you know best your situation and ability.

6 – Trust in the Qadr of Allah s.w.t.

Last but not least is to trust in the will of Allah. This global pandemic is the will of Allah s.w.t, and while last year saw a global shut down of masaajjds (mosques), and which led to having to break one’s fast at home, and performing one’s Taraweeh prayers at home, a believer should always think good of God and see the benefit in everything.

Not all places are free of the pandemic, and some mosques may still not be open to the public, so whichever case it may be, think good of God. For example, last year the mosques were all closed which led to Muslims reviving the sunnah in Ramadan during the lockdown.

Farah I, Writer & Researcher

Farah Ishak is a Content Writer at Halalop. She grew up in the United Kingdom where she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Management. Later, she completed her MBA and held senior-level positions in Malaysian based MNC. She left the corporate world to be with her young kids. She is passionate about issues concerning Muslim women, Startups and Muslim businesses in general.