4 Ways To Prepare For Ramadan 2022

How are you preparing for Ramadan this year?

In these past two years, Ramadan was particularly different compared to previous years due to the pandemic. To comply with SOPs, we had to  reduce our community gatherings and prayers while observing more private worship.

However, for this Ramadan 2022, many of us can head back to the mosque to break our fasts together and attend nightly congregational prayers, or tarawih, in addition to committing ourselves to worship at home.

To have an optimal Ramadan experience which resonates with us on a personal level, it’s important to plan out the specifics of how we want to perform our ibadah, or worship during this holy month.

Check out these tips to prepare for Ramadan 2022:

Tip #1 – Set Powerful Intentions

Niat or intention, is the basis of the worship practice and good deeds of a Muslim. One makes a pure and powerful  intention to ensure they are fulfilling a duty for the right reasons and maximizing the blessings they will receive from doing so. Trust that with the Grace of Allah, your intentions will manifest.

You can set specific intentions for each spiritual practice you wish to perform or even set an overall intention for the entire month of Ramadan as a whole. Examples of setting powerful intentions include intending to stay the course and fast for the entire month,  perform charity towards others, work on unhealthy habits  or simply bring joy to those you care about. Keeping an intention journal can be a fun and helpful way to keep these intentions in mind and encourage you to reflect on your progress during and after Ramadan.

Consider the intention that this Ramadan 2022 will be the month in which you dedicate more than just yourself and perform actions that will serve those around you.

Tip #2 – Plan Your Worship

After setting your intentions, you can begin to plan how you want to implement them.

This planning can include goals for making regular important duas, reading certain portions of the Quran, praying a certain amount of additonal prayers and donating your yearly zakat to causes or even people who  matter most to you. Be sure to include important occasions like the weekly Friday prayer, the last 10 auspicious nights of the month and the Night of Miracles, or Laylatul Qadr.

Similar to the idea behind keeping an intention journal, you can also make your own Ramadan 2022 worship schedule or journal to keep things organised.

Tip #3 – Practice Your Worship

With just a few weeks left until the start of Ramadan 2022, there is room to practice adjusting our habits and schedules to meet the unique demands of the month. Thankfully, we are in the blessed month of Shaa’ban , in which our practice will gain even more blessings.

Depending on the worship you intend to commit for the month, you can start fasting for a few days or every other day in the coming weeks, reading larger portions of the Quran than you usually do, or even control any impulsive emotional reactions by taking time to think of a kinder and more positive response before being reactive to triggering situations.

Ramadan 2022 is our chance to be intentional with our worship and kindle the special spirit of the month within ourselves and those we care about. Let’s make Ramadan 2022 our month to heal and rejuvenate our souls.

Tip #4 – Plan  How You Want To Give

Whether you are planning to donate to give, or just want to ensure you reap the extra blessings that Ramadan provides, it helps to find out avenues and options of giving are available ahead of time. Set aside a consistent daily budget to spend on giving so that you can make it a daily consistent good deed. For Infaq, you can consider sending food baskets to several charity bodies or homes . If you miss a fast or break a fast, you can even pay your Fidya via this way.

To ease your giving this holy month of Ramadan, Gogopasar has prepared a variety of  food baskets which include grocery essentials like rice, oil, canned food and fresh produce. Simply order these online and send them to the locations of choice to do your part in helping to ease the burden of those less fortunate in our community.