Followers

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Ramadhan Objectives Revisited

Salam!

Bismillah

Hey sisters. I've been kind of dreading this post a little bit, because honestly I didn't do as well as I had hoped. Of course I will continue to work on each of these goals throughout the year inshaAllah. I know you all know how excited I was for my first Ramadhan and alhamdulillah it was excellent, but it seems everything started at the same time and I was so swamped... hence no posts.

Anyway here is my goal evaluation post Ramadhan

1. complete all 5 fard prayers PROMPTLY on time
Occasionally I would be a little late, and I slept through fajr once or twice, astaghfirullah. I think this is something we all struggle a little with.
2. pray/incorporate sunnah prayers into my day
I did this as much as time would allow. I tried to do at least one of the sunnah prayers every day.
3. give at least $1 to charity per day
I gave to my masjid, but unfortunately I didn't have enough money to give every day. I tried instead to give my time by volunteering.
4. spend at least one Saturday working at our local soup kitchen
The management of our local soup kitchen has changed and I can't figure out who to contact for this, so I did not achieve this goal.
5. memorize one of the longer surahs
Definitely did not complete this goal. Memorization in a foreign language is way harder than I anticipated it to be, but inshaAllah I will keep trying for this goal!
6. help provide food for iftar at our masjid at least twice (mashaAllah our masjid does iftar every day during Ramadhan!)
I did one iftar and one sahoor after tahajjud and also made food for the Eid morning. Our masjid also had tahajjud prayers every morning the last 10 days.
7. try to cultivate real friendships with women who will help me grown in my deen (thanks to all of you bloggers out there who already help me with this!!!!!!)
AWW YAY I DID THIS ONE!! :-D I made a lot of friends this Ramadhan alhamdulillah!
8. avoid gossip and television
Tried to do both as much as possible, and I watched a significantly less amount of TV than usual. I never turned it on, but would occasionally be in a room with it going.
9. attend Arabic class every day with the intention of learning so that I might read and understand the Qur'an in order to worship Allah better (I will be taking Arabic 1 at university in the fall, inshahAllah)
This was just a question of intention, and I tried to make this my intention before I even stepped into the class the first time. This is always in my mind when I am leaning Arabic.
10. not eat too much at iftar, try to be moderate
I limited myself to one medium sized plate per night, I was only really full once, and I never felt hungry after
11. get in the habit of saying "bismillah" with the intention that everything I do will be in the sight/will of Allah
I did this a little bit, but could do better.
12. attend as many tarawih prayers as possible at the masjid
I only missed a few days while I was sick
13. try to give dawah
A girl I met converted to Islam, alhamdulillah!!! Also 5 Christian girls came to the masjid to learn more about Islam, I think so they can become missionaries, but they were very respectful. I talked to them a lot. The women at our masjid know that I am very familiar with Christianity, so they usually like for me to talk to these people.
14. try to incorporate niqab: I admire the modesty and believe it is better for our hearts. If I believe it is better, why do I not do it? (Please let me know what you think of this one sisters, because I'm not 100% yet!)
I did wear the niqab a few times when I went to the store. It was okay really, and I think that I like it a lot, but my mom has become more and more and more anti niqab as I become more interested in it. Now she is moving toward not liking my abayat as well, so I am trying not to push it because she is the only one in my family on my side.
15. keep my home and myself as clean as possible
I stayed pretty clean, and my room didn't do so bad either :-)

How did you all do on your Ramadhan Goals????

7 comments:

Stacy K. said...

That's still pretty impressive. I finished my goals of reading through the whole Bible and Quran during Ramadan too. It took me one extra day to finish the Bible at the end though. It was especially useful for me to read the Quran in this way, as I feel like I understand the way that it is written a little better now. At times it seemed to change topics too quickly, only to start on that topic again in another surah. Its important to remember this when undertaking a topical study or a study on how a particular prophet is covered in the Quran.
I'm not planning on converting, but I do have a lot of good things to say about Islam and about my Muslim sisters. I also met some new Muslim friends and some American people who have ESL classes in their basement, so I've been volunteering with them on Thursdays to teach preschool and translate for some Somali women afterwards. I love it!

Banana Anne said...

Masha'Allah, that is terrific that you were able to accomplish so many of your goals during your first Ramadhan! My goals were to read the whole Qur'an (the translation of the meaning in English, that is) and to miss as few days of fasting as possible. I thought that this was going to be very hard given the fact that I was at home for the first two weeks and was forced to hide my fasting, but Alhamdulillah I was able to fast at home every day without getting caught!
About the niqab: I agree that it is better to wear it, but I don't think that it is required. Insha'Allah I will wear it someday, but because of the situation I'm in I just think it would do more harm than good. Also, like you, I feel like my intentions wouldn't be totally for the sake of ALLAH, so I'd rather lay off until I am very ready to do it.

NeverEver said...

Stacy: Wow mashaAllah on finishing all that!!!!! I don't think I could even finish the Bible in a year... I tried once and failed miserably. That ESL class sounds like wicked fun! There is a big ESL school here in my own that is associated with the University. Maybe this is too personal a question.. but how do you classify yourself now? Christian, monothiest, etc?

Anne: Alhamdulillah I'm really glad that you got to finish your fasts! If it weren't for my parents feelings on the subject, I really think I would be wearing niqab right now. I really really really don't want to push my parents away from Islam and I think this might do it. InshaAllah one day they will understand more and I will be able, but for now I think it is best to hold off. InshaAllah we both make it to a state of Iman in which we can wear niqab for Allah subhana wa ta'ala, Ameen.

Stacy K. said...

At this point I guess I would call myself a Christian still, but I'm more culturally like a Muslim. Can be difficult at times, but most of my other Christian friends also hang out with a lot of Muslims, so it works for us I guess ;)

NeverEver said...

You know I have always thought that Muslims were the best Christians (in the sense of following the words of Jesus, not Paul) that I have ever met. They take their faith and they apply it to their lives, the way Jesus instructed you know. If you are Christian there should be a marked difference between your behavior and that of a non-Christian or non-believer.
I really respect the people who take their Christian faith seriously and try to make their actions show that they are trying to be a different kind of person. I was not this kind of Christian.
I think there is a lot that Christians and Muslims can learn from eachother, and I think the more our communities come together, the better off we will both be in the long run.

Anyway, what I was getting at is taht you're my favorite kind of Christian, mashaAllah :-D

Altitude said...

13. try to give dawah
A girl I met converted to Islam, alhamdulillah!!!


are u serious? like u converted somebody? helped convert?
Rubber

NeverEver said...

alhamdulillah yeah. A girl I met was really interested in Islam, and after we had a few long talks, she felt more comfortable knowing someone else who had converted to, so she decided to take the plunge if you will, lol. Alhamdulillah we were all so excited. That is 3 new women converts at our (pretty small) masjid since spring!

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