The mosques are empty once again, the Holy Qura’n on the bookshelf has started getting washed in dust, we have started missing Fajr prayers, and the humility we had acquired during the month has started leaving us. We are back into the modern life style that dictates us to be busy with the ornaments of dunya.

Ramadan was more than a special offer to us. It is the talisman of a believer. It was an empowerment program. It demanded more than just a month from us. Ramadan has left with us a legacy that we are to keep up. We fail ourselves when we fail to do that.

Here are some tips that will help us sustain the halo that Ramadan left around us:

1) Regular visits to the Mosque

We used to attend the Taraweeh prayer at Masjid. We should not forget the fact that Taraweeh is a voluntary prayer. We still have to pray the Fardh prayers and we being careless about them is worse than being ignorant. Fardh is a must on every Muslim and we not attending them in Masjid will mean that we have not successfully trained ourselves to love praying at the mosque during Ramadan.

In Islam, many of the prayers are considered better if done collectively which will actually nurture the feeling of being an Ummah. This way, Islam wishes to highlight that “this way of life is more social and not just personal or private”. So we have to try our best to give life to the prayers in the Masjid.

2) Sustained Charity

So is the case with charity. At least some of us believe that we have to provide in charity only during Ramadan. It’s true that Ramadan is the month of charity. But by providing in charity in Ramadan we are to make it a practice throughout the year. We can make practical moves to increase our investment in Allah SWT’s way by keeping a coin box to collect all the loose change and make it a practice to empty it every month at a Masjid or at the office of a Muslim organization.

Also we can make decisions like, “Every time I buy some new clothes, I will thank Allah and spend some amount in charity”. Decisions of this ilk can give the individual immense spiritual pleasure.

3) 2 hours of Taraweeh is now 2 hours of seeking knowledge

Now, after Ramadan, we have found some good free time. We used to pray Taraweeh during these hours. Since we don’t do it after Ramadan, we can utilize it for things like reciting the Holy Qur’an and reading Islamic literature. We are not to leave the relationship that we have made with the Qur’an soon after the holy month is over. Qur’an should be our light in every path we take in our life.

We should now concentrate more on learning the translation of the Holy Text. And if possible learn Arabic, one of the most beautiful languages on earth.

4) 30mins of Pre-dawn Meal is now 30mins Tahajjud Time

We used to wake up for Sahur (Pre-dawn meal) in the early morning before Fajr. Now that it has become a practice, why can’t we utilize the time for praying Tahajjud? These prayers are indeed Allah SWT’s most favourite, and choosing a time as mentioned in the hadith, will only take us closer to The Creator.

If Tahajjud becomes difficult, why not Witr after Isha’ at least? Why not we perform something more than that we used to perform before Ramadan? Why not mark some progress after Ramadan?

5) Make fasting a habit

We can also keep the practice of fasting regularly especially on Mondays and Thursdays, which are preferred over other days to fast for Sunnah (the voluntary fasts).

We have now become enriched with Spirituality that Ramadan has helped us to acquire. In order to feel its beauty we can also decide to concentrate over smaller Sunnahs like keeping a smile when you meet a brother, removing the obstacles from the way etc. These acts take us closer to Allah SWT and by this time we know how much it means to get closer and closer to our Rabb. Ramadan has trained us well enough to understand this factor.

Let’s wear this great change that we have achieved so that the non-practising Muslims and non-Muslims find it as an encouragement towards our Deen. Let’s keep the Ramadan spirit alive!

May Allah SWT help us attain the Tazkiyah (purification) that He has intended through blessing us with Ramadan.  Ameen.

Labeeb Ibrahim
Labeeb is a Post Graduate student at National Institute of Technology, Calicut (NITC), Kerala, India. A dreamer, thinker and a good reader. Aspires himself to be a social worker, aiming at world peace and anti-poverty.