Things to Avoid During Ramadhan

As the Ramadhan is around the corner, let’s take a moment to prepare ourselves to make Ramadhan this year is more meaningful and bless full than last year. Only once in a year this holy month comes to our life and we never know that whether we have chance to meet it again. Who’s know, this might we our last Ramadan. So, make it great and meaningful.

Here are the things to avoid during Ramadan. This is based on the normal phenomena amongst Malaysian. By doing so, hope we can maximize the reward from Allah.

1. Don’t buy/eat food excessively.

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The presence of bazaar Ramadan give chance to select variety of food ranging from chicken, meat, fruits and drinks. Lot of authentic traditional dishes are sold there that you would find hard to get it at any other time of the year. But try not to choose stalls that have a lot of customers as this is also the time of the year where some people just want to make easy money even if they don’t cook well. Also, Reminder tries not to follow your nafsu by buying food a lot. Estimate how much you need to buy during Ramadan and ask yourselves, is it I will be able to consume all? Or some of the food after breaking fasting will go to dump waste basket? Or even if I can consume all, is it will be full enough for my stomach and as consequences I will so lazy to perform maghrib.

Ramadan should the month that we can save money since we don’t have to eat during the whole day. But contrarily most of people spend more money in Ramadan especially for breaking fasting as if that is the time for them to eat as replacement for not be able to eat from morning till maghrib.

When I was in university, I used to eat date/kurma and directly go to musolla for maghrib.Only after maghrib I ate heavy food like rice with chicken. The truth was I feel more energy by doing this.

2. Not Maintain the Taraweeh

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Taraweeh is only available during Ramadan, no other months. Even it is not compulsory, Muslim should grab this opportunity and maintain to perform it until end of month. What happen every year that most people excited and motivated to perform it only in first week. So, you will see the mosque and musolla will fill with jemaah. When it comes to end of months, you can count how many people in mosque. Sometimes, you see the same face that constantly come to mosque or musolla for the past 11 months.

People should constantly make themselves available throughout the months. Some might busy with their job but try to allocate time for it by eliminate the unnecessary thing. If you always watch news on TV every night and malay drama that show during taraweeh time, it’s better to sacrifice it. Ramadan once a year and you will never know whether you will meet it again in future.

Keep your spirit till the end of Ramadan especially for the last 10 days. While many people understand and has be told so many time by ulama/ustaz regarding about 10 days of Ramadan, people take it easy.Though all parts of Ramadan are full of blessings and rewards, its last ten days hold a special status reflected in the recommendations and practices of the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam, and his companions.

3. Improper Dressing

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This goes to ladies. Remember that Islam is not just about pray, fasting and etc. It’s everything. It’s covered the whole thing in our life. So ladies, if you fasting please make sure you cover your aurah. There is no meaning if you are fasting at the same time your expose part of your body to others. Especially if you are overdressed. ya overdressed!!!If you wearing a tight shirt and jeans till and men look at you. What you get?

Prophet said, “How many people who fasted did not get anything, except just hungry and thirsty!” (Hr’s Nisaa’i, Ibn Majah).

4. Not Seeing What’s hated Allah.

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One thing that is holy, stop ourselves from seeing something objectionable (Makruh), or who may be the heart of the disquiet and neglect the remembrance of Allah swt. Prophet Muhammad. said, “The outlook is one of the poisoned arrows of Satan, who has been cursed God. Whoever maintain his view, purely because of his fear, Allah swt. will give him the faith, as the sweet taste obtained from the heart. “(H.r. al Hakim, the hadith saheeh).

Jabir relates from Anas that the Messenger of Allah. hath said, “There are five things a person can cancel the fast: lying, cursing, spreading issues (defamation), false swearing and looked with great passion.”

So, people especially guy, don’t look at women especially overdressed one.

5. Mega Sale

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When it comes to end of Ramadan, tekstil store, electronic store and furniture store will offer incredible lower prices for their product that you will never get it in normal months. Something the offer is up to 70%. Wow, most of people especially women must ‘rambang mata’ with this offer. Not to mention of offer that allow people not to pay for few moths for the item they want to pay. Following their enthusiastic, they buy not one but a lot of the offer which include sofa, furniture to replace the old ones. Consequence, they have to take burden of debt after hari raya.

Remember people, what is important hari raya is not the new furniture, sofa or new curtain that you may want to show off to people who visit your house during hari raya. I don’t say you are not allow but just make sure ‘ukur baju dibadan sendiri’ before have intention to buy anything. Don’t fall trap with mega sale tactic that after hari raya you have to pay for debt that might cause your life.

6. Forget the Sahur

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Sahur(Suhoor) is meal you eat before fasting. Some people don’t like to wake for sahur and still can fasting the whole day. For that reason, they make it as routine.

Rasulullah peace be upon him said:
Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) quoted the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as saying,

“(Make sure to) have your sahur meal, for sahur is blessed.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

During the middle month of Ramadan some of us will get tired waking up in the morning to have our sahur meal. Even though our beloved Prophet stressed sahur as the blessed meal and some parts of hadith our Prophet mentioned, the difference between fasting of a muslim and ahlul kitab is having a sahur before dawn. Yet some of us take this practice for granted.

(Sahur meal is blessed. The whole of sahur is blessing. Get up for sahur even if you drink just a sip of water. Allahu ta’ala and His angels shower salat and salam upon those who get up for sahur.) [Imam-i Ahmad] (That is, Allahu ta’ala forgives those who get up for sahur and angels pray for them.)

Happy Ramadan and may will this Ramadan will more meaningful and shape our attitude to be a better person. Remember, Ramadan is a ‘training course’ for us to be a good servant of Allah. So, grab it…

P/s: Anytime I write an article, it is a reminder to myself first before any of you.