Ramadan: Expectations Vs Reality
Ramadan the month of countless blessings turns into struggle-trial relationship for us when we fail to manage the curve of expectation we set vs the reality curve that we achieve at the end of Ramadan. Prior Ramadan we all set certain goals but in the end it all ends on the battle between us and our inner demons. If we want to meet our expectations, we have to defeat our inner demons as they are deadly destructive weapon and are more fatal than the Satan outside.
Daily Routine Vs Ramadan Routine
We almost follow the same routine in our daily life, from dawn to dust i.e. office, home, social surfing, TV and sleep. This cycle continue 24/7/365 even in weekends except that we wake up late in the morning. The expectation for Ramadan is to make our bond strongest with Allah, to extract the message He has revealed upon Muhammad (PBUH) in the form of Quran by reciting it and to help others as good practicing Muslims but reality is far from our expectations and result is mere disappointment.
Goals for Ramadan
The goals that we usually set for the holy month of Ramadan are:
- To refrain from all bad habits and to control our temper
- To spend maximum time in Zikar and Duaas
- Complete the recitation of holy Quran
- Offer Tarawih as congregational prayers in Masjid
- Less social networking to form strong spiritual bond with Allah
The fault In Our Goals
Now let us analyze that why we fail to achieve our goals for Ramadan and where exactly the fault lies.
- Fail to Control Our Temper
Expectation: We expect to hold on our Anger in any case while fasting to ward off the Satan and to remain calm so that the anger cannot evade us from our actual goals.
Reality: We totally fail in achieving it!
All our problems go in vain when we are stuck in traffic and started to curse all those standing in long queues. We lose our temper when any of our siblings yell and if we come across anything that we hate the most.
Solution: The only solution lies in working on us by diverting our attention in all such situations. The best solution to control temper issues is to offer Nawafil that will lower body temperature by doing wadhu and will evade Satan.
- Less Time For Zikar And Duaas
The foremost goal of all Muslims is to do maximum Duaas and Zikar in this month of Ramadan to seek refuge from Allah wrath on the Day of Judgment yet again we all fail in doing so in the month of Ramadan.
Expectation: To wake up early for Tahajud before sahur and to offer Salat-tu-tasbih along other Azkaars.
Reality: Reality is far beyond this. We stay awake till late night, surf internet, face booking with our friends or some of us try to complete their remaining seasons. These activities exhaust us enough that we fail to get up for Sahur in time, miss our Tahajud and halfheartedly offer our Fajar prayers.
Solution: Solution is easy if we want to adopt and it is to turn off your Wi-Fi. No Wi-Fi no social surfing, you will sleep early after Isha prayers and will wake up fresh to offer Tahajud before Sahur. This will lead to create strong bond between Allah an us while we can continue our social routine later Ramadan.
- Refraining From Bad Habits
Ramzan teaches us to refrain from all bad habits and to improve our behavior towards society and fellow being but we succumb to worldly desire and fail in this aspect either.
Expectation: To be a good person in all possible ways, to avoid useless gossiping and backbiting, to utilize much of this time in recitation of Quran.
Reality: Reality is that we have indulged ourselves much in worldly activities that when this month approaches it is hard to refute backbiting rather the spare time of “lunch and dinner” makes us more vulnerable to these bad habits.
Solution: Solution is to avoid social interaction in this entire month and to stay focused on professional work. Stay quiet whenever such situation creates so that we cannot fall for these negative traits.
- Completion of Quran
As Ramadan is the month in which Quran has revealed hence we want to complete the recitation of Quran in this month along translation to gain maximum virtue out of it.
Expectation: Recite Quran in Fajar and in spare time to complete it within month and if possible to complete it twice.
Reality: Daily lousy routine of ours exhaust us much that we find little time for Quran and if fortunately we find any time for recitation, our mind is absorbed much in daily routine stuff that we cannot concentrate on what we are reading and what Allah has said in following verses.
Solution: Recite Quran when we feel our heart and mind free of worldly concerns. Recite Quran little but with full concentration and ponder on its actual meanings this will engage our mind in verses rather in other activities.
- Act of Tarawih
Tarawih is an integral part of Ramadan, performed after Isha prayer to complete the entire book of Quran in it.
Expectation: Expectation is to be there in congregational prayers for offering Trawih in entire month of Ramadan with zest and active state of mind.
Reality: Due to excessive eating at time of Aftar and lack of sleep the human body lagged behind, feeling drowsy due to which if we reach for Tarawih in time yet fail to stay focused and eventually left Tarawih in middle.
Solution: Sleep at proper intervals and should not stuff our stomach with too much eatables. Eat with the thought that it is our stomach and be mercifull on it. Drink more to stay hydrated for the entire session of Tarawih.
Where We Fail to Meet Our Expectations?
If we scrutinize our daily routine of Ramadan and analyze ourselves thoroughly we will get where we lack and why we are fail to meet our expectations. We are in the mid of Ramadan and if we will continue doing so, we will miss the blessings of Allah Almighty and who knows might we see next Ramadan or not. Do not stress too much to mould, work in small steps, and try to achieve small goals then aim for the bigger. If not 90% then surely we will achieve 60% from this month of Ramadan by working well on ourselves.
