Day 2 - TIme Management is the key to survive Ramadan

One of the key aspects of having a successful Ramadan spiritually and physically is to manage your time well. Work, Family, Friends, Studies, Seher, Iftaar, Prayers, Quran, Dars, Fasting, Taraweeh, and the most important precious sleep. All of these things have to be managed on daily basis.

Photo by Ryan Hyde

Please make sure that you have a plan and order of priority for all of these. I recommend that you must try to steal sleep whenever you can. 30 minutes here, an hour there during the day, You will thank me for this. Any extra time that you may still have, try to spend it in something constructive. No Mafia Wars, No XBOX, PS3, Wii, and no soap operas for few days and you will realize that how much time you really have in your life despite all the commitments. 

Despite all the constraints, you will find yourself able to listen to others more keenly and yourself more critically and you will find that as the food consumption goes down (if it does) the brain activity goes up. This is remarkable but true. Give it a try. Gradually reduce your food consumption during the Seher, and Iftaar by few grams at a time and see how your body and brain responds. 

Regards,

MAC

Day 1 - Seher, Prayers, and Quran

For Seher, we had some delicious parathas (whole wheat loaf with butter) with some unsweetened cream with a cup of tea and it was a wonderful Sehar(breakfast).

Seher is important both for physical and spiritual reasons but all this wonderful breakfast is nothing compared to the real spiritual breakfast that follows it. The prayers in the morning have its special status among all prayers mainly because it is very early in the morning. 4:20 in the morning was the time of Fajr prayers today. 

When all the world sleeps and everything is quiet, it is the most spiritually satisfying time to pray. It is the time when one can concentrate (except in Mirdif, where it is one of the most frequent landing and take off times from the nearby airport :-p ) and can be assured that his / her prayer is not to show anyone, as no one is watching. The only reason one prays at morning is the spiritual purification one receives. 

This follows by the recitation / reading of Quran. With uncontested concentration, one ponders over the words that are sent as guidance and way of life. 

It is very important that one doesn't only read the Arabic but also reads the translation (except Arabic speaking people, of course). Arabic keeps reader in touch with the original text and provides the "pot" that keeps that real food fresh and unspoiled, while translation provides the nourishment that is way better than any paratha and cream. 

There are 30 parts in Quran and there are 30 days in Ramadan. One should strive to read one part per day so at least one round is complete during Ramadan. However, it is not something that is very easy to do and the least anyone can do is to acquire the taste, and follow the routine throughout the year.

What a perfect start of a morning! Fasting Day 1 and a long day ahead. 

Stay tuned, and feel free to share your experiences, comments, suggestions, tips, guides.

MAC