Ramadan Reminders; Day 6

Assalam Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu! :)

May the peace, mercy and blessings of Allah swt be upon you!

Daily Reminders 6:

Ladies! For some reason our inner cooking skills comes to light during Ramadan! We looovveee trying out various dishes, different cuisines while failing to realise the amount of time we lose during the process.

Ramadan comes only for a limited period of 29 days (or maximum 30 days). It is the time for spiritual retreat, rejuvenation and renewal of our Imaan. Our focus should be on repairing our relationship with Allah and His Book that hasn’t been on our “to-do” list the entire year. It is a grave situation when our time in the kitchen takes precedence over our time with the Quran. 

Cooking scrumptious and nutritious meals for your family is indeed a very noble act and it turns into Ibadah when done with the right intention. But that does not mean we spend most of our time and energy in preparing Suhoor and Iftaar meals and by the time we sit with the Quran or attend Taraweeh prayers, we’re already drowning in sleep and fatigue.

Here are a few tips you can follow to ease your kitchen routine this Ramadan In sha Allah (or any other time as well):

• Plan your meals well ahead of their times. You could write on a paper (or use your phones cause it’s a digital world right now) the dishes you want to prepare and its quantity.
• Prepare a limited number of items. You’re nullifying the purpose of Ramadan if you over-indulge in eating during Iftaar. Keep it light, follow the rule of thirds (one-third food, one-third water & one-third air) and experience how enjoyable and refreshing your Taraweeh can get!
• Keep your dishes less complicated. Make meals that you’re well versed with. This will take minimum time and effort. You have an entire period of 335 days to try new food items!
• Engage in constant Dhikr or Istaghfar during your time in the kitchen or you could play the recitation of the Quran on your phones or tabs during any of your household chores. It’s a great way to earn abundant rewards, In sha Allah!
• SHARE the work. The house that has a mother-daughter duo or even a trio can relate to this point. Divide the tasks among yourselves and work them out efficiently and quickly. This can save a lot of time. 

May we all be blessed with a Productive-Ramadan-Kitchen-Routine!

Verse of the Day:

Juz: 6

Surah: Al Mai’dah

Verse: 16

يَهْدِي بِهِ اللّهُ مَنِ اتَّبَعَ رِضْوَانَهُ سُبُلَ السَّلاَمِ وَيُخْرِجُهُم مِّنِ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ بِإِذْنِهِ وَيَهْدِيهِمْ إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ

“By which Allah guides those who pursue His pleasure to the ways of peace and brings them out from darknesses into the light, by His permission, and guides them to a straight path.”

As Muslims, we know that Guidance or Hidayah is from Allah. He guides whomever He wills. And He has mentioned this fact in many places in the Quran. One such verse is from Surah Al Fatir (8);

فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يُضِلُّ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَهْدِي مَن يَشَآءُ

“For indeed, Allah sends astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills”

Does that mean it is pre-decided by Allah about who’s going to be guided or not? 

Let’s answer the following question first.

Do you think being a Muslim is to be on Guidance? Think about it.

Over 1 billion of the world’s population are Muslims. And every Muslim knows that the Quran is the Book of Allah. How many do you think would be able to recite the Quran? How many do you think can understand the word of Allah? And how many among those would be implementing the obligations and laws of Allah? 

How many out there are not Muslims and yet they study the Book of Allah and have reverted to Islam…?

Had Allah willed, He would have guided all of mankind to the truth, a statement Allah Himself gives in the Quran [Surah An’am, verse 149];

فَلَوْ شَاء لَهَدَاكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ

“And if He had willed, He would have guided you all”

But Allah, in His Wisdom, gave us the ability to choose and the free will to either believe in the word of Allah or disbelieve.

In order words, you have the syllabus in front of you. What you choose to do with the syllabus is in your hands. Either you focus on it, study, work hard and achieve your goal or you play ignorant. 

Allah is The Most Just. But He is also The Most Kind, The Most Merciful and The Most Loving! 

If you ask Allah for Guidance and intend to seek His pleasure and His forgiveness and start working towards it, you’ll begin to see His help and His mercy in all that you do! Subhan Allah! Just ask for Guidance and Allah will take you out of the darkness of ignorance and sins bring the light of His mercy and blessings into your lives and also keep you on the right path, the path of Guidance!

There are so many things we ask for in life right? Clothes, accessories, watches, bags, phones, water bottles, coffee mugs? What about promotions, grades and opportunities? Well we even ask for shawarmas, pizza, pasta, McDonalds and chocolates! 

Why not ask Allah for the most valuable gift we could ever ask for, Guidance…?

May Allah swt bestow on us and all Muslims with Hidayah, help us follow His Laws and Obligations, make the road to Jannah easy and save us from His Anger and Punishment! Ameen.

Sunnah Challenge 6:

After a long tiring day, what most of us would first do is crash the bed!

But before we go to bed, we need to remind ourselves of an important etiquette to follow from the footsteps of Rasulullah (saws).

Dust your bed before sleeping! 

Al-Bukhaari (6320) and Muslim (2714) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (ra) said: The Prophet (saws) said: “When one of you goes to his bed, let him dust off his bed with the inside of his lower garment, for he does not know what came onto it after he left it. Then let him say: 

“Bismika Rabbee wada’tu janbi wa bika arfa’uhu wa in amsakta nafsi farhamhaa wa in arsaltahaa fahfazhaa bimaa tuhfaz bihi ‘ibaadika al-saaliheen” 

(In Your name, my Lord, I lie down, and in Your name I rise. If You should take my soul then have mercy on it, and if You should return my soul then protect it as You protect Your righteous slaves).”

Doing this may be a hard thing to do after a tough day, but these little acts of Sunnah not only reward us for following it, but also benefit us in various ways!

Every night, the human body sheds thousands of skin cells which get accumulated in our sheets. When these penetrate the skin they could cause many diseases.

Thus a simple act such as dusting off our bed can keep us away from various infections or diseases that can be lurking off in an unkempt bed.

Subhan Allah! How wise and meaningful were the actions of the Prophet!

Assalam Alaykum.