Ramadan in Lockdown (Day-4 & Day-5)

Here's what usually happens to us at the beginning of Ramadan. We get this spritual high and do more than required only to tire ourselves out not realizing the month has just started. Trust me this is what I've been feeling in the last couple of days. So I thought I should put my thoughts to this post and think through the problems in sha Allaah.

How can we get out of this situation?

First of all, let's just relax. Let's not try to complete the Qur'an in one sitting. Read one page after each salaah. Doing otherwise would only make it a chore and we do not want that at any cost.

Also you'll see that you're not feeling anything in your heart when you're praying even after leaving sins. I think this is just natural. It takes time. Repentance, I believe, will help our hearts to open up more in sha Allaah. It is said that Prophet (s) would do istighfar more than 100 times a day. SubhanAllaah if the prophet(s) did that we should be doing that 1000 times a day at the least surely! Well practically we can't but we can surely follow the sunnah in sha Allaah by reciting the bare minimum 100 times only.


I think the best way to soften one's is to constantly remind oneself of the destroyer of pleasures, the death. The prophet (s) said: "Death is true." If you think about death more and dunya less, you would see that your heart has changed. It will have less and less attraction to the dunya and all the pleasures that it has to offer. We shy away from the topic of death because it makes us feel uncomfortable. But is there any more true than death? Does anybody ever claim that they will not die?


Although we hate to think about death, doing so can bring numerous benefits to the life of the Muslim. He will realize that he will one day die and will have to answer Allaah for his evil deeds. Hence, he will automatically repent from his sins and seek refuge from the punishments of the grave.


In this topic, I highly recommend the life in Barzakh series by Sheikh Yasir Qadhi. The series will be easily found in the playlist of YQ's YouTube channel in sha Allaah. Another one to recommend is Imam Awlaki's Hereafter Series ( I ABSOLUTELY do not support his views on jihaad, by the way).