Tag Archives: sadaqah

Ramadan 2024 Reflections: First Third

We’ve already made it through a third of Ramadan!

Even though it’s far from my first time fasting Ramadan, I always have a slight twinge of apprehension before the fast starts.

How thirsty will I get?

Will I be able to manage alright breastfeeding, working, running errands and a household and watching children?

Am I going to reach maghrib each night hanging on for dear life?

Doubts pass through my head as the month approaches, but I also place my trust in Allah that this is a month of mercy and that He will make it easy upon us all. And thus, without fail, I complete (almost, a couple of days were still hard) each fast easier than I thought I would, alhamdulillah. There were some big transitions in our family that happened literally the same week of Ramadan starting that made me a little more nervous as well, but again, Allah helped us through.

Something that helped me get most of everything done at work and home while keeping my energy and spirits up is to try and slow down. I’m the type of person that approaches each day with a plan and idea of what I want to accomplish, and I’ve realized how much importance I place on seeing this plan through, that sometimes it can deeply affect my mood and well-being if I percieve that my day didn’t go to plan. I needed to shift this mindset for this month because I knew I would drive myself and others crazy trying to do all the things while fasting. I told myself that it’s to be expected that you may not be able to get absolutely everything done that you normally would at work or at home due to your energy levels and the extra ibadah you’re filling your time with, so I’m trying to remember to accept that I’m operating on an alternate mode — Ramadan mode — for these 29-30 days.

With that let’s enter into the second third of the month in high gear, settled in our fasts and our ibadah, and ready to continue making the most of each day and night!

Maximize Ramadan with This Grid

I have been waiting in anticipation for this year’s Ramadan to arrive: cleaning, organizing, decluttering, and decorating our home in preparation for the same disencumbering, polishing, and beautifying I hope our souls will witness during the month. Now that our physical surroundings have undergone a transformation, my mind was prepared to decide what and how I wanted to accomplish taking full advantage of the month.

I identified and planned out six key areas that I am giving extra attention to, insha’Allah, organized into thirds to help me accelerate my actions during the last 10 days of the month, during which we should all strive to seek laylat-ul-qadr. The key areas for me are: qur’an, salah, dhikr, du’a, sadaqah, and relationships.

Here is a grid that organizes my goals for each category for each part of the month. It is my intention to perform these acts for Allah alone, so I have retracted certain numbers of for fear of riya’, but left enough information to help you customize your own goals, insha’Allah.

First ThirdSecond ThirdLast Third
Qur’an-Read x0 pages after Fajr
-Read x0 pages during the day		-Read x0 pages after Fajr
-Read x0 pages during the day		-Read x0 pages after Fajr
-Read xx0 pages during the day
Salah-Pray tahajjud
-Pray taraweeh		-Pray tahajjud
-Pray taraweeh		-Pray x0 minutes earlier tahajjud
-Pray taraweeh
-Pray an extra X0 minutes of nafl after taraweeh
Dhikr-Istighfar x00 times
-Salawat x00 times
-La illaha illa Allah x00 times		-Istighfar x00 times
-Salawat x00 times
-La illaha illa Allah x00 times		-Istighfar x00 times
-Salawat x00 times
-La illaha illa Allah x00 times
Du’a-Read from dua list, after each fard prayer and tahajjud, and upon breaking the fast-Read from dua list, after each fard prayer and tahajjud, and upon breaking the fast-Read from dua list, after each fard prayer, tahajjud, after nafl, and upon breaking the fast
Sadaqah-Give $x amount -Give $x amount -Give double $x amount spread out over the nights of 21, 23, 25, 27, 29
Relationships-Remain calm and collected-Remain calm and collected-Remain calm and collected

This is my first time separating my goals based on thirds, but it really helped me to see how I can realistically stretch myself in the last 10 nights and I hope you get some inspiration from it as well.

Insha’Allah, we are all able to maximize our good deeds during this Ramadan and that they are all accepted and that we are able to catch laylat-ul-qadr.