Ramadan has arrived and Allah The Almighty extended your life to witness its days and nights. So you should praise Allah The Almighty for this. In order to experience the joy of Ramadan and seek the bounties of Allah The Almighty, I will provide you with some quick tips.
1- Keep performing prayers in congregation from Takbeeratul- Ihraam (i.e. saying Allahu Akbar at the beginning of the prayer). In this regard, the Prophet said: “Whoever prays to Allah forty days in congregation from the first Takbeerah, two freedoms would be written for him; one is from the Hellfire and the other is from hypocrisy.” [Al-Albaani: authentic]
2- Keep performing As-Sunan Ar-Rawaatib (i.e. regular supererogatory prayers). The Messenger of Allah said: “Whoever maintains performing twelve Rak‘ah (units of prayer) every day and night will enter Paradise. Four Rak‘ah before Thuhr, two after it, two after Maghrib, two after Ishaa’ and two before Fajr.” [An-Nasaa’i and Al-Albaani: authentic]
3- Keep observing Wudhoo’ (i.e. ablution) especially since one will not be eating or drinking anything throughout the day. The Prophet said: “And none keeps observing Wudhoo’ except the true believer.” [Al-Albaani: authentic]
4- Ramadan is the month of the Noble Quran, so how do you welcome and celebrate it? Assign yourself the task of reciting a daily quota from the Noble Quran. The Prophet said: “Recite the Noble Quran because it comes on the Day of Judgment as an interceder for those who recite it.” [Muslim]
5- Attend funerals and follow the deceased until the burial. The virtue behind this was narrated when the Prophet said: “He who attends the funeral until the prayer is offered gets the reward of one Qiraat and for he who attends (and remains) until (the deceased) is buried is the reward of two Qiraats.” It was asked: “What are these Qiraats? He said: “They are equivalent to two huge mountains.” [Muslim]
6- In a season like this, one should earnestly seek to draw near to his Lord. Amongst these great acts that can bring one near to Allah The Almighty is to perform lots of prostrations. The Prophet said to Thawbaan : “You should prostrate to Allah a lot, for you do not make a single prostration to Allah but that He will raise you one degree (in status) therewith and will remove one sin from you therewith.” [Muslim]
7- Designate these hours and (even) minutes as a beginning of returning to Allah The Almighty and repentance. Souls and hearts are ready to change and receive what is good. So return to Allah The Almighty with repentance. You should renew your determination of not returning to sins and misdeeds. You should also ask Allah The Almighty to change your condition (to a better state) and accept your repentance and rejoice in being loved by Allah The Almighty. To this effect, Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {….Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves.} [Quran 2:222]
8- Breaking fasts early and delaying Suhoor (i.e. predawn meal). The Prophet said: “Have Suhoor, for in it is a blessing.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
9- Asking Allah The Almighty for forgiveness in the hours before dawn is the motto of good people. Allah The Almighty complimented them in His Saying (what means): {And in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness.} [Quran 51:18]
Shaykh As-Sa‘dy said:
There is a special virtue in asking Allah for forgiveness in the hours before dawn. It is a time in which it is expected that Allah would surely accept a supplication because He, the Exalted, is calling His slaves at this time, Saying: “Who would supplicate Me so I may respond to him? Who would ask Me so I may give him? Who would seek My forgiveness so I may forgive him.” [Al-Bukhari]
10- Give a great deal in charity in Ramadan. The Prophet was the most generous person ever known, and he was more generous in Ramadan. An idea that can help in this is by setting up a money tin at home and (encouraging) yourself, your wife and children to deposit money in it on a daily basis. Then, at the end of the month, you can open it and give the money to poor and needy people.
11- If you have not memorized the Noble Quran, you could review its short chapters. You should recite them from memory each day on your way to the mosque or while driving, sitting or reclining. Try doing this and, after a few days, you will discover that you will begin to care much for the Noble Quran and that you will experience the sweetness of the Book of Allah The Almighty. Moreover, this may entice you to memorize the rest of the Noble Quran.
12- The Prophet urged sitting in the mosque and making Thikr (i.e. mentioning Allah The Almighty) after performing the Fajr prayer until the rising of the sun. The Messenger of Allah said: “Whoever prays Fajr in congregation and then sits to remember Allah till the rising of the sun and then offers two Rak‘ahs (after the sun has risen), there is for him the reward of a Hajj and a ‘Umrah ... Complete, complete, complete." [Al-Albaani: authentic]
If you sat this period during all the days of Ramadan, then you would have the reward of thirty Hajj and ‘Umrah. Logically thinking, we would find that you may not be able to perform such a number in your life, so praise is due to Allah The Almighty.
13- Keep supplicating Allah The Almighty, submitting to Him, observe the times in which Allah The Almighty responds to invocations, avoid the causes of not accepting it and ask Allah, the Most Generous, to bestow His bounties upon you.
14- A portion of your time should be allocated to inviting people to Allah The Almighty. The Prophet said: “One who tells another about something good will get a reward like the one who does it.” [Muslim]
15- Maintaining ties of kinship is obligatory. In this month, one should purify his heart from any grudges against other people. Making visits may help in this provided that we do not prolong them or make them undesirable. Also, do not forget (to give) gifts, even if they are simple.
16- Make endowments in this great month. Actually, endowments are among the greatest and most expansive means to benefit. You could make an endowment by donating a copy (or even three or ten copies) of the Noble Quran. In some countries, Muslims cannot find a complete copy of the Noble Quran, only a handful of pages of it would be distributed among the people in the mosque before the arrival of the Imam who gives the khutbah (i.e. sermon). Then, it would be collected (from them) again. The Prophet said:
“Among the rewards and good deeds that follow the believer after his death are knowledge that he taught and distributed among others, a righteous child that he left behind, a copy of the Noble Quran that he left to others, a mosque that he built, a house that he erected for the wayfarer, a river that he mitigated, or charity that he spent from his money in his (times of good) health and life. They all follow him after his death.” [Ibn Maajah and Al-Albaani: authentic]
17- Observing dutifulness towards parents, for it is a great duty, whether they are alive or dead and whether it is in Ramadan or at any other time. You can be polite towards them by pleasing and obeying them. Among the greatest forms of dutifulness are to please them, fulfill their needs, and speak leniently with them. The Prophet said: “May his nose be rubbed in the dust. May his nose be rubbed in the dust. May his nose be rubbed in the dust.” It was said: “Who, O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “The one who lives to see his parents reach old age, one or both of them, and he does not enter Paradise because of them.” [Al-Bukhari]
18- Being beneficent to co-workers; servants who work for you; or laborers whom you meet in the streets, roads and mosques. This can be done by greeting and pleasing them. If you invited them to your house to break their fast with you, it would be more beneficent for yourself and them.
19- Observing kindness towards your wife and children, teaching them the teachings of their religion and urging them to observe obedience, worship and beneficence to Allah The Almighty. Be beneficent to them all because this is the month of beneficence.
20- Seek beneficial knowledge even if it is little. Also, it is good to learn about monotheism, how to dedicate worship wholly for Allah The Almighty and prayer; its pillars and obligatory and supererogatory acts. There are books and tapes that describe the prayer of the Prophet .
The following are some things that could help you be excellent in this month:
1- Try to purify and heal your heart, through five things, from the corruption that afflicted it; reciting the Noble Quran thoughtfully, not eating much, praying at night, invoking Allah The Almighty before dawn, and keeping righteous company.
2- Close the windows of evil in your home by turning off evil television stations and getting rid of evil magazines because they are not a good means for receiving the month of Ramadan or seeking the mercy and forgiveness of your Lord.
3- Get rid of bad and prohibited customs such as backbiting, gossiping, cursing and insulting. Make Ramadan a month for attaining excellence and seeking nearness to your Lord, the Almighty, by all prescribed means so that He may Bring you nearer (to Him).
4- Praise Allah the Almighty for the grace of life and for living these blessed days because you may not live to (witness) the next Ramadan and you may not even complete this Ramadan. Your life is simply a number of counted breaths.
5- Abandon sitting a lot with people unless it is necessary and abandon places of recreation, fun and wasting time for this is an opportunistic time that may not return.
6- Adhere firmly to submitting to Allah the Almighty and to supplicating Him. Display your weakness to Him and direct your complaints and requests to Him because you need Him every moment and even in every twinkling of an eye.
7- Think about the rewards (for your obedience) and praise Allah the Almighty for extending your life to witness this blessed season. Amongst the forms of thanking Him for it is to do all what is due to it.
8- Perform different acts of worship and obedience such as prayers, reciting the Noble Quran, Tasbeeh (i.e. saying Subhan Allah), Tahmeed (i.e. saying Al-Hamdu-lillaah), performing funeral prayers, supplication and other such acts to gain their rewards and be more energetic and active. Actually, doing different things makes one more active and dissipates boredom.
Make your motto (as Allah the Almighty Says what means): {So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it.} [Quran 99:7-8]