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What
to do in the Last Ten Days of Ramadan?
By
Abdul Malik Mujahid
In
the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
All
praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon
His Messenger.
We can provide some useful advice on how one could spend the last
ten days of Ramadan, especially as these days are very special in
the life of every Muslim. In fact, every day is special for Muslim,
as long as he is always mindful of Allah in all what he does; every
day Muslim gets increased in piety and draws closer to Almighty
Allah. But these days of Ramadan are highly special in the sense of
their falling in one of the most blessed months of the year; the
month of Ramadan, the month of the Qur’anic revelation. May Allah
Almighty help us get closer to Him in this month and may strengthen
our faith in Him in a way that Satan will not be able to drive us
away from His Path, Amen.
Laylatul
Qadr (the Night of Power) is described in the Qur’an as, {better
than a thousand months}. (Al-Qadr: 3) Any action done on this night
such as reciting the Qur’an, remembering Allah, etc. is better
than acting for one thousand months which do not contain the night
of Qadr.
Allah's
Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, used to exert himself in
devotion during the last ten nights to a greater extent than at any
other time.
The
Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Whoever prays
during the night of Qadr with faith and hoping for its reward will
have all of his previous sins forgiven." (Narrated by Bukhari
and Muslim on the authority of Abu Hurairah).
Here
are some tips of things we can do on the Night of Power and the time
before and after it:
1.
Take a Vacation for Allah
We
take a break from our jobs for almost everything in life. Why not
this time to focus on worshipping and thanking our Creator.
If
this is not possible at least take a few days off if you can. This
can make it easier to stay awake at night to do extra acts of
worship, not having to worry about getting to work the following
day. This will also make I`tikaf easy.
2.
I`tikaf
It
was a practice of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, to
spend the last ten days and nights of Ramadan in the mosque for
I`tikaf.
In
I`tikaf one makes a spiritual retreat in the mosque all the time,
performing various forms of Zikr (the remembrance of Allah), like
doing extra Salat, recitation and study of the Qur’an. One does
not go outside the mosque except in case of emergencies. I`tikaf of
a shorter period of time, like one night, a day or a couple of days
is encouraged as well.
3.
Make This Special Du`a'
Aisha,
may Allah be pleased with her, said: I asked the Messenger of Allah:
'O Messenger of Allah, if I know what night is the night of Qadr,
what should I say during it?' He said: 'Say: O Allah, You are
Oft-Pardoning and You love to pardon, so pardon me.'"(Narrated
by Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and Tirmidhi).
4.
Recite the Qur’an
Perhaps
one can choose Surahs or passages from the Quran which one has heard
in Taraweeh this past Ramadan to recite.
On
attending a class for Qur’anic recitation, this is a great time to
put one’s knowledge into practice.
5.
Get Your Sins Wiped Out
Abu
Hurairah quoted Allah’s Messenger as saying: “Whoever stands (in
prayer) in Laylatul Qadr while nourishing his faith with
self-evaluation, expecting reward from Allah, will have all of his
previous sins forgiven.” [Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim).
6.
Evaluate Yourself
Ask
yourself those questions that need to be asked. Do an evaluation of
where you are and where you are going. Let this evaluation lead you
to feel happiness for the good you have done and remorse for the bad
you have done. This latter feeling should make it easier to seek
Allah's sincere forgiveness when invoking Allah and supplicating to
Him in these blessed nights.
7.
Make Long, Sincere and Deep Du`a’s
One
of the best times to do this is during the last part of the night.
Abu
Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, quoted the Prophet as
saying: “When the last one-third of the night remains, our Lord,
the Glorious One descends towards the lower heaven and proclaims: Is
there anyone supplicating to Me, so that I grant his supplication?
Is there anyone begging of Me for anything so that and I grant him
his wish? Is there anyone who seeks My forgiveness, so that I
forgive him?” (Narrated by Bukhari, Muslim).
This
means for instance, waking up one hour before Suhoor (pre-dawn meal)
time to invoke Allah for anything and everything is something
recommendable. This can be done using the Du`a’s (supplications)
recorded in the Sunnah, but one is also allowed to say Du`a’ in
one’s own language, with sincerity and conviction.
8.
Have Iftar with the Family
If
you've spent Iftar time on weekdays in your cubicle at work alone
with a couple of dates, now is the last few days you'll have this
Ramadan to spend with your family. Use it wisely.
9.
Take the Family to Taraweeh
Have
your spouse and kids missed Taraweeh most of Ramadan because you
weren't there to drive them to the mosque, which is too far away to
walk to? If so, do all of yourselves a favor and bring everyone for
Taraweeh in these last ten nights.
10.
Attend the Du`a’ After the Completion of the Qur’anic Recitation
Almost
all the mosques where the Imam aims to finish an entire reading of
the Qur’an in Taraweeh prayers in Ramadan will now be approaching
the end of the task in these last ten nights. They may try to end on
one of the odd nights and read the Du`a’ at the end of reading the
Qur’an. Attend this particular night's Taraweeh prayer with your
family. See if you can attend different mosques’ Taraweeh prayers
the night they finish reading the Qur’an.
11.
Finish Reading a Book on the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon
him:
Read
about the Prophet's life, which can increase your love for him and
Islam by seeing how much he struggled for Allah's sake. It may
inspire you to push yourself even harder during these last ten
nights. This community is built on sacrifice.
All
these are just some hints on what is recommended for a Muslim to do
in during the last ten nights of Ramadan. May Allah Almighty accept
our worship and devotions, Amen.
Excerpted
with slight modifications from www.Soundvision.com
To
find original article: http://soundvision.com/info/ramadan/10.16things.asp
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