Making The Most Of Ramadan In Lockdown – By Neelam @ The Tsundoku Chronicles

This Ramadan will be very different for us because of everything going on in the world and us having to stay home because of the masjids being closed. It means we won’t be able to go to the masjid for taraweeh prayers or even open our fast and go to pray at the masjid. And there won’t be anyone doing iteqaf or attending weekly reminders.

Ramadan normally has this wonderful community feel as we get to meet lots of people during family iftars and more, but this year we won’t be able to do any of that. This year, the only people we will be able to spend Ramadan with is the people who are living in the same household, and many people may even have to spend it on their own. This can mean that people will feel even more isolated or struggle through Ramadan which can affect our emaan.

So, as it will be very different and new to us, I thought I would share some ways that you can still make the best of this blessed month.

Also, as #RamadanReadathon 2020 is inspired by the themes in Once Upon An Eid, I will be sharing tips for each of these individual themes.

Community

We can’t actually meet each other in person, but we are lucky because a lot of us have access to phones and laptops where we can use apps like Zoom or Skype to have group video calls and still interact with each other.

You can arrange a halaqah over Zoom with your friends so you can still benefit from being with each other. Or arrange a video call iftar, which is a great time to get together and bond. While we can’t do that in person, we can still do it virtually!

Family

Pray your salah in jamaat if there are other people in the house. Make it a family thing. If you have kids, they can read the azaan which can help them build a great relationship with salah. Even taraweeh can be prayed in jamaat at home. And if you will be alone this Ramadan, I know that it will be difficult. But know that when you pray, angels pray behind you.

Even reading Quran as a family can be a fun experience. Read the translation together and discuss the verses and what you think they are teaching us. There are lots of resources of tafsir available online if you want to focus on a specific surah or theme.

Generosity

I know that this one can be tricky during this time, but making food for your neighbours can be really helpful to them, especially if they are elderly or have small kids at home with them all day.

You can do the shopping for your elderly neighbours when you do your own so they don’t have to put themselves at risk to go out for food. And don’t forget about your neighbours who are immuno-compromised, as they may not look like they are at risk but they are too.

Memories/Tradition

DIY Eid decorations! They can be as simple or as complicated as you want. And if you make them early enough, you can even put them up for Ramadan and get your family to do them together, especially kids!

Make it a fun thing for them to do, and have discussions about the importance of Ramadan and how it is such a blessed month while you make the decorations. It can become a tradition to do every year to make this month special.

There are lots of free resources online that you can print out, but even simple things like paper chains with coloured paper can be a fun way to mark this special month.

Sacrifice

Send money to a charity that provides food for the poor so that they can have food to open their fast with. Even donating to the local food bank will help those less fortunate than us to have food to eat.

Love/Belonging

Spend quality time with your family, sometimes one-on-one. Have date night with your spouse, or spend some alone time with your kids.

Especially try to keep contact with those who will have to spend Ramadan alone and may feel very isolated at this time of the year.

Joy

Have a family game night! You can even have a virtual game night on Zoom or Skype and include other family members. Make Tik Tok videos; teenagers are really into this and it could help you bond with them.

I know it can be difficult to have alone time with your spouse if you have kids, but even a short time for you to talk after the kids are asleep can be helpful to keep that bond and love strong. It will help keep everyone connected and feel like they belong.

Light

We can’t go to pray jumu’ah during Ramadan, but we can still complete other sunnahs for Friday, such as reading Surah Al-Kahf.

“Whoever recites Surat Al-Kahf on Jumu’ah will have illumination from the light from one Jumu’ah to the next.” (an-Nasa’i, al-Baihaqi, and al-Hakim)

We can still benefit even if we can’t go to jumu’ah. You can try learning at least the first 10 verses by heart, so when we eventually go back to normality you can still recite it.

Faith

We may not be able to attend our weekly halaqas or go to the Ramadan iftars at the masjid where we can feed our emaan, but there are other ways that we can still get that spiritual boost at home. If you like to read, there are lots of books available that can be emaan boosters.

I know that lots of imams/shaykhs will be doing online halaqas and reminders during Ramadan so try to watch those. One of my personal favourites is Imam Omar Suleiman and he does a Ramadan series every year where the videos are no longer than 10 minutes but are really great short reminders.

Gratitude

This is a stressful time for us all and being stuck inside can make things even more stressful. One of the things we can do each day is to think of at least one thing we are grateful for. Try doing this at the same time each day so it becomes a habit. It could be just before you open your fast or just after. Or any time that is best for you. If you have kids, get them to think of something too that they could write down or even draw.

Culture

We are stuck at home so we can’t do the things we normally would, but something I have noticed is that a lot of people have been cooking more and trying new recipes. This is an excellent way to learn about something new that is a part of your culture, especially when it comes to food. There are so many dishes that I love but have no idea how to make so we can experiment as we will be cooking for iftar.

Forgiveness/Hope

This is a blessed month that has the most blessed 10 nights in it so we should take advantage of being at home. I know a lot of us will still be working, but hopefully it will mean we don’t have to commute anywhere and can use that time to memorise some quran or learn some new duas. There is a specific one that we have been told by the Prophet (saw) to recite in the last 10 nights:

Allahumma innaka ‘afuwwun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa’fu ‘annee

Oh Allah! You are most forgiving, you love to forgive, so forgive me

So these are some tips that could help you make the most of Ramadan while being in lockdown. I know that not everyone will be able to do these and some may work better than others as everyone is in a different situation, but I hope that some of these will be of benefit to you all!

ABOUT THE BLOGGER

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Salaam everyone! I’m Neelam and I live in the UK with my husband and my cat, Sherlock! I am a blogger and bookstagrammer and I especially love sharing diverse books and books by Muslim authors. I am completely and entirely obsessed with Daevabad trilogy and I can talk about it non-stop.

Blog: thetsundokuchronicles.wordpress.com/

Instagram: instagram.com/thetsundokuchronicles/

Twitter: twitter.com/thetsundokuc

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