Answer
Short Answer: Increasing sunnah prayers and reading the Quran in Ramadan are among the deeds which help us increase in spirituality. But there are more small good deeds new converts can do. Ablution is a gift that has been given to us to help us prepare for our meeting with Allah, so try to focus more when making wudu’. Ramadan is truly a wonderful time, but Allah Himself is even more wonderful.
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Salam Adam,
Thank you for your question and for contacting Ask About Islam.
Ramadan is a time when all of us, whether we have been Muslim for fifty years or for five minutes, want to get closer to Allah.
It is a special month, given to us by Allah (God) the Almighty, to renew our commitments, to be sorry for and forget the mistakes of the past, and to resolve to go forward, with Allah’s help, as better Muslims.
How Can New Muslims Increase Their Spirituality?
Those who are new to Islam have accepted so many new things into their lives.
They have learned to pray and maybe even to recite the Noble Quran, which Muslims believe is the word of God, in a different language to their own.
Even the routine of praying five times a day and of doing so according to a particular formula can seem very strange at first. In what ways, then, can they come closer to Allah during the month of Ramadan?
Optional Prayers & Quran
I am going to suggest one small thing, but there are so many we could look at.
Ramadan, for example, is a time for prayers, so increasing one’s efforts and time for prayers would be a good way of coming closer to Allah.
Aside from the regular prayers, there is the prayer of Taraweeh after the night prayer.
We will probably have recited the whole of the Quran, or most of it, during Ramadan if we attend to the prayers each evening.
Making a special effort to pray in congregation in the mosque during Ramadan is a good way of becoming more familiar with the Muslim community.
Reciting the Quran on one’s own is without a doubt a good deed, but we should not be too ambitious or set impossible goals for ourselves.
This has been the downfall of so many good intentions in the past. So, be realistic and set yourself goals that are achievable.
If our knowledge of Arabic is limited, we might resolve to learn more verses, rather than reciting many which we don’t understand.
We might even learn a verse in Arabic and then spend some time at night reflecting on the meaning of that verse, and how it addresses our own lives.
Caring for Others
There is no doubt that we will come closer to Allah by thinking of those less fortunate than ourselves and doing something to help them.
I know one lady, for example, who regularly stops her car to distribute cartons of juice to poor people when she is on her way to visit friends for Iftar (a meal to break the fast).
There are some small suggestions, which might be unusual, yet simple ways of remembering Allah and so coming closer to Him in Ramadan.
The good thing about them is that they can be carried forward from Ramadan to the rest of the year.
Ablution Excellence
The first of these is to examine the way we perform wudu— the ablution before prayer.
So many people tell me that they get distracted in prayer and ask how they can become more focused.
I believe that the way we perform ablution is a key answer to this question. What do I mean?
Well, take the example of someone who will go to meet the President of the United States in the White House. What preparations will he make for the visit?
He will bathe and get out his best suit, shirt, and tie.
And he will go over in his mind the kind of things he will say when he meets the President.
No one would dream of going to the White House for such a meeting without washing first and dressed in an old pair of jeans.
As Muslims, we pray five times a day. Five times a day we place ourselves consciously in the presence of the One who created the world and everything in it.
The One we pray to is more powerful than any president or prince.
So, how much more should we prepare for the encounter?
And yet, too often we rush the prayers so that we can get back to watching our favorite show.
Ablution is a gift that has been given to us to help us prepare for our meeting with Allah. It is a time of transition between our daily business and the time we set aside for prayer.
As we wash the dust from our hands and face during the ablution, we prepare to wash away the dust which clings to our hearts and keeps us from Allah.
Thank Allah & Calm Down
In Ramadan, we are fasting during daylight hours, so the time of ablution is a special time when we feel the cool water on our arms and our head.
It is a time to thank Allah for the gift of water and for the gift of life itself, remembering all those in the world who have no access at all to water or to clean water.
The few brief minutes of ablution, then, give us a chance to calm down. In a few moments, we will be touching our foreheads on the ground in praise of the Creator of all life.
What a gift we have been given.
During these moments of preparation, we can remind ourselves of the very gift of being called to be Muslim, when many in the world have not been given that gift.
So, you see, ablution is not just an empty ritual. It is not just something to be rushed, to be got out of the way, before we get down to the serious business of praying.
If we take it seriously, we are more likely to be settled and calm when the prayer begins.
If we take this small idea to our heart, it will have its effect not only on Ramadan, but it will help us to be better Muslims when Ramadan is over because we will take our prayers more seriously and give thanks more often for the blessings with which we are showered every day and we take for granted.
Ramadan is truly a wonderful time, but Allah Himself is even more wonderful.
I hope this answers your question. Please keep in touch.
Salam.
(From Ask About Islam archives)
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