When successful and brilliant achievers narrate their stories of success, you always hear them say that in addition to hard work and perseverance, what got them to the top was that they were able to recognize when an amazing opportunity came along and then to seize that opportunity. If an opportunity comes along for you to advance in your career, you wouldn't want to miss it. When sales and discounts are advertised we rush to the shops to take advantage of the reduced prices. The optimal time to plant apple trees is in the spring. If a farmer procrastinates and delays planting the young apple tree until later on, when fall comes, he will have no apples to harvest. Similarly, a Muslim who is successful spiritually seizes the amazing opportunities of Ramadan, when sins are forgiven and the rewards for good deeds are multiplied by up to 700 times. With about ten days of Ramadan remaining, we need to use our time wisely and maximize our rewards in the remaining blessed days. We have suggested a program that you can follow for the next few days. Feel free to add to it and share with us the acts of worship that help bring you closer to Allah. Read one section of the Holy Qur'an each day. There are thirty sections of the Holy Qur'an and each section is about 20 pages long. Reading one section of the Qur'an takes no longer than one hour. Ramadan is the best time to improve our connection with the book of Allah. The believers are rewarded ten good deeds for every letter of the Qur'an that they read. The Qur'an brings guidance, solace, and remembrance of Allah and the Day of Judgment. Revise at least two pages of the Qur'an each day. When we were younger, we memorized portions of the Qur'an; it could have been two sections or ten or the entire book. However, as we get older and busier, if we do not revise frequently enough, we tend to forget some sections of the Qur'an. Ramadan is an excellent opportunity to go back and revise, relearn some of the sections that we have memorized before. Read four pages daily of a book of Hadith, sayings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). It is good to familiarize ourselves with the day to day life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and to get a glimpse into how kindly and mercifully he interacted with all those around him (peace be upon him). Pray the voluntary night prayers, qiyam ul-layl, on a daily basis. Those who regularly pray voluntary night prayers are the elite believers; meaning they have a high status with their Lord. Of the praiseworthy characteristics of the believers described in the Qur'an, one common trait is that they pray in the late hours of the night. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, "Keep up qiyam ul-layl. It was the way of the virtuous who came before you, it draws you nearer to your Lord, atones for your sins, forbids you from evil, and protects the body from sickness." [Tirmidhi] Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) also said, "O people! Spread the salams, feed others, maintain ties, and pray at night when others sleep and you will enter Heaven safely." [Tirmidhi] What is so amazing about Ramadan is that we can join the qiyam ul-layl prayers in the mosque, or we can pray at home. Perform umrah once during Ramadan. In the Islamic literature, we have learned that performing umrah during Ramadan is equivalent in reward to performing Haj in the company of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The reward for performing umrah in Ramadan is equal to the reward for Haj, but the Muslim must still perform one obligatory Haj in a lifetime, which is the fifth pillar of Islam. The sins of the pilgrim are forgiven, supplications are answered, and rewards are multiplied. Provide at least one iftar meal to someone in need for each day of Ramadan. Giving food and drink for someone to break their fast with is a kind act and a good deed that will be greatly rewarded by Allah. Giving out water, some dates, yogurt, rice, and chicken to a poor laborer can help you attain forgiveness of sins and receive plentiful rewards. Even when you invite friends and family for the iftar meal, you will be rewarded for providing food to the fasting believers. Give charity. Generosity is the trait of the believer all year long and more so during Ramadan. Giving to those in need is the duty of the believer, it will be rewarded by Allah, and it will bring blessings and bounty to your wealth, health, and children. Give to the poor people in your city and to the destitute in other parts of the world. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, "Charity extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire." [Tirmidhi, Ahmad, and Ibn Majah] Ask Allah for forgiveness one hundred times a day. Count the number of times that you seek forgiveness from Allah each day. Use beads, your fingers, or the clicking counter that has become widespread today; just make sure you make istighfar one hundred times. This was the practice of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). We all sin; none is perfect. We must have the awareness and mental consciousness to ask Allah to forgive us for our faults, sins, and negligence. Pray the 12 rakaat of sunnah or voluntary prayers. During Ramadan we should be taking our customary acts of worship to the next level. If you have been struggling with your five obligatory prayers before Ramadan, make the commitment to pray the five obligatory prayers on time each day during Ramadan, and with better concentration and awareness. If you have been praying the five obligatory prayers properly before Ramadan, now you can start adding on the 12 sunan prayers which are: two rakaat before fajr prayer, four rakaat before and two after dhuhr, two after maghreb, and two after ishaa. Maintain good ties with blood relatives. Now is a good time to nurture your relationship with your parents, family, and relatives. Visit your relatives or invite them over for iftar or for tea after the taraweeh prayers. Call up your distant uncle and aunt and wish them a blessed Ramadan. Guard your tongue. This Ramadan, abstain from backbiting, gossiping, slandering, lying, cursing, mocking, and belittling other people. Words do hurt. Remember the Hadith of our Prophet (peace be upon him), "The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand the Muslims are safe." (Sahih Al-Bukhari) There are many acts of worship that are pleasing to Allah and that spread goodness to our families and societies. One sign that you had a successful Ramadan is that all the good habits which you cultivated during Ramadan, you hang on to them after Ramadan as well.
