The holy month of Ramadan is upon us. Ramadan is a time of deep prayer and fasting. It brings many special gifts, and recommendations for many extra practices. If your life and schedule are already full, it can feel daunting to try to fit all the practices into your day.
Alima Moosa, a community leader from our Austin community, offers a glance at how she schedules her day during this month.
Note: If you do not have time to fit in all of these practices, look at what might fit where for you, and start there. Especially if you are new to the path, start simple and work in more as you feel ready.
Here’s a general overview to help you decide where to focus (from Alima):
The 2nd 10 days are about Forgiveness. This is a time for reciting and sitting with Qualities associated with His Forgiveness, asking for & anticipating His Forgiveness.
The 3rd 10 days are about Freedom. This is a time for reciting and sitting with Qualities as you feel guided to; seeking refuge in Allah (especially from the fire).
It’s my intention to rise around 4:35am for Tahajudd – the night prayer prior — sometimes i naturally wake about 4am. Currently, Fajr prayer, the dawn prayer, is just after 5am.
A typical /day insha’Allah (God willing):
4:35am – Tahajudd, the night prayer prior.
4:45am – We make a light breakfast, like a protein smoothie or egg with avocado, and we hydrate well.
5:05am – We pray Fajr and then do al-wird practice.
…I Continue with reciting YaSiin, Wazifa and the Qualities. Specifically during this time I’m committed to read (transliteration) a few pages per day from the Qur’an holding a sincere desire to draw close, not worried about pronunciation so much, going as far as i can.
Mohamed Moosa recites at 7:30am mornings on the Sufi Communities conference line, alhamdulilah (thank Allah), so I hear the resonance and read along via transliteration or sometimes in English.
In the afternoon, I read, write and contemplate, aiming for 2 pages from Sidi’s books. A few days a week, I’ll do a healing exchange.
Regular work gets done too: I’m developing a website and working on a syllabus (in guidance & research still). I sit w/guidance and books outlining what to teach in my recurring Thursday class. I attend meetings, make travel arrangements and juggle many moving parts coordinating details for the upcoming Sufi school in October… And do regular salat prayers (daily prayers) throughout the day, too, of course.
In the beginning of the month, my energy usually drops about 5:30pm, and I’ll nap (kitties’ favorites time to nap too). I don’t do regular exercise this month, but will go for a walk instead.
6:30pm – I’m checking emails then trying to figure out what to make for dinner. Once I get something going, I’ll break for 20 minutes to do al-wird recitation. We’ll break fast with dates, have a meal and pray Maghreb (sunset prayer). After Maghreb is a good time to draw closer to the Qualities — I’d like to do a special practice with them this month.
Inshallah, some nights after Isha (night prayer) may include tarawih (extra) prayers and time with beloveds, attending or hosting iftars (community meals for breaking fast together). Mostly, I look forward to being quiet and alone with my Lord, especially in the last 10 days. I cherish that time.
I pray that Allah writes for me good deeds during this time especially and gives me a heart full of Light, a soft smile and kind words. — and Allah knows best.
Ramadan Mubarak
‘Alima
Thank you Alima for sharing your life with us. We hope you can pick from this schedule what works for you to enrich your heart and spirit during this special time.
May you have a blessed weekend and ease into the beauty and richness of this special time.
Mastura Graugnard on behalf of all your friends and family at UOS
