By Haroon Balogun

With our unflinching resolve to make the best out of the month, carry out all the required ibadah, actively involved in acts of devotion, prayers, Tarawih, tahjud, Quran recitation, and other forms of worship, we have to work towards realising these goals. We will go into details of all these one after the other insha Allah.

We also have to bear in mind that these ibadah are geared toward increasing our fear and love of God, Allah.  Quran 2 vrs 183 clearly states that fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you in order to have the fear of Allah. The fear of Allah is a point that has to be emphasised. Fast in such a way that your heart and soul remember and love Allah, not only during the day but even when doing other thing during the night.

In one of the hadiths, the Prophet said (s.a.w) Allah creates the individual—his soul and his heart—in such a way that his natural tendency is to love Allah. However, as a person’s heart is gradually intruded upon by doubts, worldly desires, and temptations, that love and nearness to Allah has to be rekindled from time to time through faith, knowledge and worship.

Ramadan provides us with the perfect opportunity to increase the fear and love we have in our hearts for Allah by devoting this period to perfecting our Ibadah. Pick up your Holy Quran, get a translated copy of your native language or better still English translation. Read with the determination to digest and internalized up to a juz a day.

If you can’t cover up to one juz, never bother, what is important is to understand and digest the lessons. Then go according to your daily plan as you had clearly mapped out before now with the fear of Allah.  Broaden the scope of your good deeds and strive to do more that you had done earlier; do it with the fear of Allah.