How to Welcome Ramadan: 5 Steps to a Blessed Month

Embrace Ramadan: Prepare Your Heart for a Blessed Month

The blessed month of Ramadan is approaching, and every believer expresses joy in anticipation of it. This is the blessed month that a believer eagerly waits for throughout the year because it is the month of virtue, blessings, forgiveness, grace, divine assistance, worship, asceticism, piety, generosity, humility, equality, charity, seeking the pleasure of Allah, glad tidings of Jannah, and salvation from Hellfire. In this sacred month, a believer’s longing for meeting Allah awakens through the contemplation of the Hereafter. SubhanAllah! Such a pure and revered month! It is a great gift from the Lord for those who believe in Him.

Now, it is our duty to reflect on how we should welcome this magnificent month and how to reap the maximum blessings and virtues from it by filling our hearts with the pearls of righteousness.

How to Welcome Ramadan?

Imagine for a moment: When a distinguished guest arrives at your home, what do you do?

Your answer would be: We make a lot of preparations! We decorate our homes beautifully, adorn ourselves for the occasion, and create an atmosphere of happiness throughout the house. The children sing songs of joy, and their faces shine with excitement. Numerous lavish arrangements are made to honor and serve the guest.

Now, if such preparations are made for an ordinary guest, then what about the most esteemed guest of all—Ramadan—sent by Allah Himself? How grand should our preparations be?

Let me present a brief outline of how we should prepare for its arrival.

(1) The Awareness of Its Greatness

The month of Ramadan is immensely great, and we must instill a sense of its greatness and value in our minds before its arrival, so that when we enter Ramadan, we do not fall into heedlessness, laziness, negligence, ingratitude, ungratefulness, or a lack of enthusiasm for fasting and standing in prayer.

This is such a magnificent and precious month that even one of its nights is named “The Night of Decree (Laylatul Qadr).”

“Verily! We have sent it (this Quran) down in the night of Al-Qadr (Decree)

And what will make you know what the night of Al-Qadr (Decree) is?

The night of Al-Qadr (Decree) is better than a thousand months (i.e. worshipping Allah in that night is better than worshipping Him a thousand months, (i.e. 83 years and 4 months).

Therein descend the angels and the Ruh [Jibrael (Gabriel)] by Allah’s Permission with all Decrees,

Peace! (All that night, there is Peace and Goodness from Allah to His believing slaves) until the appearance of dawn."

(Surah Al-Qadr: 1-5)

Do not think that only one night of Ramadan holds such value; rather, each and every day and night of Ramadan is filled with blessings and significance.

(2) The Awareness of Its Blessing (Ni’mah)

While Ramadan is a guest from Allah, it is also a tremendous blessing from Him. However, human nature often leads people to undervalue blessings that they already possess while longing for those they lack.

For example, a person with eyesight rarely appreciates the blessing of vision and may misuse it by watching movies and sinful things. If he truly realized that sight is a great blessing from Allah, he would never use his eyes for evil. A blind person, on the other hand, understands the value of sight much more than a person who can see.

This lack of realization is a sign of weak faith. The stronger a person’s faith, the more they appreciate every blessing. True faith demands that we recognize Ramadan as a great blessing and express gratitude for it, as Allah commands:

And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: “If you give thanks (by accepting Faith and worshipping none but Allah), I will give you more (of My Blessings), but if you are thankless (i.e. disbelievers), verily! My Punishment is indeed severe.”

(Surah Ibrahim: 7)

Allah also says:

"Have you not seen those who have changed the Blessings of Allah into disbelief (by denying Prophet Muhammad SAW and his Message of Islam), and caused their people to dwell in the house of destruction?"

(Surah Ibrahim: 28-29)

Thus, receiving the month of Ramadan is itself a great blessing, and having health and well-being to observe it is an additional blessing.

Should we not then acknowledge these blessings, considering that they enable us to perform all forms of righteousness—fasting, prayer, charity, supplication, remembrance of Allah, repentance, recitation of the Qur’an, seeking forgiveness, and earning Allah’s mercy?

(3) Turning to Allah (Inabah Ilallah)

Once we have recognized the greatness of Ramadan and understood its blessing, our next obligation is to turn away from worldly distractions and return wholeheartedly to Allah.

“Inabah Ilallah” (turning to Allah) will strengthen our realization of Ramadan’s greatness and its value.

Turning to Allah should not be limited only to Ramadan; rather, a believer’s entire life should be devoted to Allah and aligned with His will. However, we are being reminded here so that we do not observe fasting merely as a ritual of enduring hunger and thirst.

If someone fasts but remains distant from Allah, their fast will be meaningless.

First, turn to Allah, establish a strong connection with Him, and strive to please Him—only then will all our acts of worship be accepted.

What does “Turning to Allah” mean?

• Strengthening true faith in Allah

• Making our worship purely for Him

• Placing complete trust in Him

• Acknowledging Him as the sole ruler of all affairs

• Recognizing ourselves as His humble servants

• Never looking down upon the poor or needy

• Supporting the underprivileged

• Turning to Allah alone in sickness and hardship

All of these actions fall under “Turning to Allah.”

There are many people who pray, fast, and even stand for long hours in night prayer, but they invoke beings other than Allah, believing that saints or the deceased can help them in times of trouble.

How can the fast of such a person be accepted? Their entire Ramadan and all its rewards would be lost!

Allah clearly warns:

"And indeed it has been revealed to you (O Muhammad ﷺ), as it was to those (Allah’s Messengers) before you: “If you join others in worship with Allah, (then) surely (all) your deeds will be in vain, and you will certainly be among the losers." (Surah Az-Zumar: 65)

Thus, engrave this in your heart and mind—without sincere devotion to Allah, all deeds are rendered void.

(4) Pioneering

It has two aspects:

(a) Avoiding Munkar (evils)

(b) Inclination towards Ma’roof (good deeds)

(a) Avoiding Munkar (evils):

One of the important aspects of welcoming Ramadan is that we sincerely repent from our past sins and make a firm determination not to commit sins in the future. It is observed that while people perform good deeds on one hand, they also engage in evil on the other. In this way, their good deeds do not accumulate; rather, they drown in the ocean of sins. Moreover, we already have a deficiency of good deeds, so if they are wasted, what is the benefit of performing them? Therefore, if we want to protect our good deeds and safeguard the blessings, mercies, bounties, forgiveness, and virtues of Ramadan, we must completely abstain from evil.

Allah Almighty says:

Say: “Spend (in Allah’s Cause) willingly or unwillingly, it will not be accepted from you. Verily, you are ever a people who are Fasiqun (rebellious, disobedient to Allah).” (At-Tawbah: 53)

This verse indicates that Allah does not accept charity due to acts of transgression and spending with an insincere heart.

A hadith states that the Sahabah narrate:

“We were with Buraidah on a cloudy day, and he said: Perform the prayer early, for the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Whoever abandons the Asr prayer, his deeds are nullified.'” (Sahih Bukhari: 594)

A person who performs worship but also commits sins—there is no doubt that his good deeds are rejected.

Allah says:

Verily, As-Salat (the prayer) prevents from Al-Fahsha’ (i.e. great sins of every kind, unlawful sexual intercourse, etc.) and Al-Munkar (i.e. disbelief, polytheism, and every kind of evil wicked deed, etc.) (Al-Ankabut: 45)

There is no doubt that prayer prevents one from immorality and wrongdoing. Thus, any Salah or fasting that does not restrain a person from indecency is liable to be rejected by Allah.

(b) Inclination towards Ma’roof (good deeds)

Ramadan is meant to earn goodness. Allah Almighty bestows numerous opportunities for goodness upon believers in this blessed month. To attain these virtues, we should prepare in advance and willingly create a framework to maximize our benefits.

This framework should include:

• Reciting the Qur’an with understanding (at least one complete recitation)

• Performing obligatory prayers along with voluntary acts of worship

• Giving charity and performing good deeds

• Engaging in Dhikr, supplications, and seeking forgiveness

• Observing night prayers (Qiyam-ul-Lail)

• Gaining knowledge of fasting and its etiquettes, including recommended acts of Ramadan

• Attending religious lectures and discussions

• Striving for righteous deeds with sincerity

• Strengthening piety and detachment from worldly desires

By following this framework, we can spend the sacred and spiritual month of Ramadan in the best possible way.

In Ramadan, every good deed is multiplied, and engaging in righteous actions while fasting further increases one’s rewards. Therefore, even the smallest act of virtue holds great significance, such as following the Sunnah of using Miswak. Performing Miswak before every prayer, waiting for the Adhan in the mosque, attending Taraweeh with enthusiasm, encouraging others towards righteousness, organizing religious lectures, actively opposing Munkar, and striving for the formation of a pious society should all be part of our Ramadan plan.

(5) A Better Transformation

Prepare yourself fully for welcoming Ramadan. A strong passion for good deeds should emerge, and a transformation towards righteousness should already be visible. One should adopt the path of truthfulness and virtue more than ever before. Since Ramadan is a special month, its effects should start reflecting even before it arrives.

Adopt the means of Taqwa and awaken a sincere desire to become a pious person through worship. However, it must be remembered that self-improvement should not be confined to Ramadan alone but should be cultivated for the entire year. Many people pray regularly only in Ramadan, but once the month ends, they become negligent towards Salah—some even become heedless towards Allah altogether.

Therefore, the correct approach is that the transformation towards goodness should not be temporary for a month but should last throughout the year and one’s entire life. Such a transformation will lead to the acceptance of all Ramadan deeds by Allah and will improve one’s Hereafter.

Final Message

There is no specific supplication, special act of worship, fasting, or any fixed method prescribed in Shari’ah for welcoming Ramadan. The Hadith prohibits fasting one or two days before Ramadan. Therefore, one must avoid any form of Bid’ah (innovation) in religion and also prevent others from engaging in it.

May Allah grant us the ability to welcome Ramadan in the best manner, enable us to fully benefit from its blessings, and grant us the strength to perform numerous righteous deeds during this month. May these deeds become a means of salvation in the Hereafter. Ameen.

Author: IslamicHelper