It's Time to Make Your Home Ramadan Ready!

The holy month of Ramadan is about to begin and for Muslims, this is not just the time to fast and pray but also the time for polishing their spiritual sides, refreshing their minds, enlightening their souls and participating in charitable deeds more than ever. Mostly in Muslim countries, the working hours are short, work is no more burdensome and people get more time to spend with their families. People hold iftar parties to break the fast but like last year, thanks to Coronavirus, people will have to abstain from larger gatherings (even this year) and spend most of the time at home.

Every Muslim plan to welcome this glorious month in his own style but here at HomesPakistan, we think what better start can be than cleaning your space thoroughly, sprucing it up and creating an inviting ambience that goes till Eid ul Fitr and beyond. Let’s take on the challenge and see how we can make our homes Ramadan ready.

Clean and organize

The Messenger of ALLAH, Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) said, “Purification is half of faith.” Not only does this refer to personal hygiene but it includes surroundings too – because a clean place gives you peace and relaxation. Ramadan is a good time to manage the clutter and get your home tidy up. A deep cleaned house will not just give you peace of mind but allow you to focus on your prayers.

Add a special touch

If you have kids at home, it is essential to make them feel that Ramadan is a special month, since childhood. The visual reminder will not just help them understand the importance of this month but also raise their anticipation level, too. It is a festive month that must be welcomed in a special manner and it includes putting on Ramadan special decorating items such as lanterns, candles, tea lights or electric candles to welcome this month.

You can also plan with your kids and prepare a customized banner, a Ramadan calendar or a mosque for them using the cardboard. Moreover, you can create a display in your home featuring Ramadan decorations or dedicate a corner of your living room for this purpose. We would suggest preparing personalized charity jars for them in order to encourage them to donate (no matter, how small is the amount) from what they get.

Decide your menu in advance

Ramadan is the month that every Muslim eagerly awaits but the hardest part of this holy month is deciding what to cook on daily basis both for suhoor and iftar. Every member of the family has a different choice and it becomes tough to keep a balance between healthy food items and tasty fried items on daily basis. What a relief it will be if you prepare the menu in advance? Sit down with your family and pick the dishes that can easily be prepared while fasting. Preparing in advance will help you keep an eye on the menu and how to maintain the balance between healthy and light meals with junk items on the table. Moreover, assign duty to every member of the family and it will ease out your burden.

Replace your reading material

In almost every home, we find magazines and book on coffee tables but in Ramadan, you can replace this reading material with Islamic literature. Select books and Islamic reading material according to the age bracket of every member of the family. Do not forget to add Islamic storybooks for younger kids, too. There are several pictorial books that are about Islam, fun to read and are equally informative for their age. Make the ambience peaceful and spiritual such as you can play Quranic recitation on your TV, daily dua or a small lecture depicting Islamic values.

Dedicate a space of your home for prayers

How beautiful it is to prepare a mosque model with your kids, place it in a corner and let it stay there for the entire month. And do not just use it as a model but utilize that corner optimally. Dedicate that corner of the living house as a place of worship. Remember, it is always better to teach them young. It will help your kids understand that it is essential to take out time from your daily chores for ibadat (worship) and keep this corner tidy. Whenever it is Namaz time, just do ablution and stand for the prayer or whenever you have time, sit on the prayer mat and recite Quran.

Stock up your grocery essentials

We have previously discussed that deciding the daily iftar and suhoor menu is difficult but it will be of much relief, if you are fully prepared before the holy month. One of the best ways is to stock up your inventory, your fridge and freezer with the items of your choice for the entire month. In this way, you can spend a stress-free month and keep most of your time for Ibadat.

Make Ramadan special for everyone

Due to the Covid-19 led global pandemic, it is hard to host larger gatherings for iftar but you can still make it special for your own family members. Friday is considered a sacred day of worship for Muslims, you can make this day special for your family members by preparing some feast for them and making them feel loved.

Take a break from your routine

We all are busy and always have a lot on our plates that it becomes hard to take out time for ibadat. We may take out time for Farz ibadat (compulsory, five times a day prayers) but it is equally essential to tweak our schedule and make a room for additional prayers such as Taraweeh, Quran recitation and learning something new about Islam. How about breaking this habit this year? Let’s take intentional steps to make this Ramadan worthwhile by ditching social media activities, extra projects at the office and renovation projects at home or socializing with friends and relatives. Remember, all of these things can be picked up after Ramadan, when good deeds are not rewarded as high as in this holy month. Everything else can wait so make the most of this holy month.