In line online: Striking gold with technology in Ramadan

Barely a decade ago, our lives were free of the social media construct. Sadly despite being a construct, its distract and disrupt cannot be underestimated or is it overestimated.

Estimate: that is the middle ground either way. Proponents have argued for and against social media use based on specific factors.

But as it is with social media, so is the case with the bigger picture of technology. It's like the proverbial "fire is a good servant but it can be a bad master too."

As I have previously averred, it's important to plan towards a key event as Ramadan - but in today's tech-bossing world, to not plan its use even on a normal/ordinary day costs key resources of time and even relationships.

A friend and I entered a discussion on how each uses technology in Ramadan, the basis on which I share a few points - if it is the will of Allah, that it benefits us all. No hard and fast rules, modify to suit your particular circumstances.

1. Avoid the impulsive regime of checking especially social media - Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp,  Instagram - a regulated regime helps save and to free time for other things.

2. Instead plan materials you wish to post. Update and leave till next designated entry. Example, post in the mornings and evenings.

3. If it's a Ramadan series you are following example Mufti Menk, check them and leave - take notes if need be. Have an Islamic site where you go to read relevant rulings on Ramadan. Save pages and bookmarks for later reading.

4. When going to sleep have Qur'an playing through the night - could be with your phone or laptop.

5. If you have constant internet - utilise the blessing of YouTube, log on to LIVE MAKKAH/MADINA page where there is all day round recitation of Qur'an, supplications and prayers. You could lower the voice if at work for example.

6. Avoid social media especially in mosques if you know un-Islamic materials are likely to pop up on your timeline - kinda desecrates the sanctity of the masjid.

7. Buy data for persons you know are good content sharers - feed off the good they are engaged in.

8. Share/retweet/like as much Islamic material as possible - but be sure to read and understand what you are "sharing."If need be, verify them especially hadith (prophetic sayings).

9. Avoid by all means, overindulgence in matters, use direct messaging if need be, for other online "litigants," you can only pray for them, please do.

10. Start use of social media with "seeking refuge from Allah" and with "In the name of Allah."

The gold referred to in the headline is time - the irredeemable asset once wasted. The asset of which many sayings of the Prophet has centered on.

And the prophet said of time: "There are two blessings of which many people are heedless of: health and time." An Arabic adage adds: Time is like a sword, if you don't cut it (streamline) it'll cut you (sideline) you. Time is gold, y'all make the best of time and may Allah guide us so to do. Ameen.

Merry X’mas prop, Ramadan Mubarak flop: Muslims businesses must wake up!

How Muslim businesses celebrate ‘Merry X’mas,’ but fail with ‘Ramadan Mubarak’

Christmas and New Year, ordinarily should not concern the Muslim. Ordinarily meaning “all things being equal,” yet we are glued to a dating system that forces them to matter to us.

As a Nigerian Sheikh once intimated, we know close to zero of the Islamic calendar but thanks to the monthly salary, Muslims religiously keep track of Gregorian dates.

So in Sharia-compliant parts of Nigeria, New Year is 1st Muharram (first month on Hijri calendar), no one observes January 1 as such.

Muslim shops conveniently play along with the Christmas and New Year hype during that time of the year. Shop painting and decoration even with gifts and X’mas boxes are prominent. Again, for purely business reasons because the celebration concerns us not.

But when it comes to Ramadan, the main pointer is that Muslims are not eating during the day, so sales of especially food drops.

The Muslim shops are bereft of any vibe and fervor about the blessed period for which each and every Muslim yearns.

In my lay man’s view, ceding our opportunity to hype Ramadan in its beauty and prominence to tow their Christmas buzz is a missed opportunity over the years but one that needs to change forthwith.

And so I dream: I dream of / envisage a time when Muslims shops will have zero Christmas décor but rather Ramadan Mubarak inscriptions.

When these shops will have small booklets with tips on what Ramadan means and offer it to customers along with dates – with the reason that it is the main fruit we use to break our fasts.

The two-pronged result, educating people about Ramadan (stressing the Muslim identity) and sharing of the goodness of the period.

We may be living in a Gregorian calendar dominated society but what we can do and effectively so is to inculcate and effectively fuse our Islamic calendar at crucial junctures.

The first step, after Ramadan 1439H, kindly let’s all keep track of the Islamic calendar in the lead up to 1440 and beyond, may Allah be our helper, may we be aided, guided and guarded by HIS providence and mercy. Ameeen.

Ramadan and social media: The threat of idle talk, overindulgence

Ramadan will coast along for some and not so much for others – depending on specific circumstances. All in all, may Allah ease our affairs and grant us the blessings of our feeble efforts at pleasing HIM.

There are many things we are entreated to shun during Ramadan. To shun them and to cultivate better attitudes more especially for the post-Ramadan period.

A decade ago, social media would not have made the list of things to avoid in the month of Ramadan. Roll on the years, it is a key marker when Ramadan comes along.

But really, the pros and cons of social media in and even outside of Ramadan is hinged on the mode of use by a person. As it is for any neutral structure, the negative or positive effect it produces is squarely the prerogative of the person in charge.

But how many of us ever sat down to draw a plan for how they set out to use say Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp et. al. in the month of Ramadan? It seems that for many, the pre-Ramadan use is the same mode in which they continue to run affairs on that rather “slippery” arena.

The position that people should shut out social media would most likely be met with the “fightback” that it can be used for good, sharing Ramadanic material and exhorting people to do good with reminders, cautions and what have you, this I 100% agree with!

Problem: Exactly because many of us hardly plan out our use of social media, the everyday idle talk and overindulgence, which comes with consequences is prominent in our dealings. Idle talk simply means “idle or foolish and irrelevant talk.”

The guidelines of idle talk are all but clearly streamlined in Islamic text – Quran and Sunnah. Among others: talking about people behind their back, casting insinuations, maligning and dragging people in the mud.

Indeed, in the case of some people, there is an out and out overspill where they openly insult – something expressly frowned upon in a hadith (saying of the Prophet Mohammed). As at 2018 this time, people on Ghana's social media space were raving mad with posts on one violent Muniru and the Kwesi Nyantakyi corruption exposé saga.

Many wake up all emotional and join the social media highway speeding, overspeeding at a point and damning the consequences. The dodgy posts and fishy “shares” are all symptomatic of a lack of social media preparedness before Ramadan.

My little social media policy has been kinda “silly” if you may but the thought that Facebook, whatsapp and Twitter could go down – as has been the case in the past…

The fact that the data companies could have issues with service provision and even that our phones could be faulty or get lost, shows that we must all cultivate the habit of self-policing. Weigh the use and or otherwise of social media and cut down if need be.

The fact is that many are stuck on here than they are to the Quran – mind you, we are in the month of Qur'an. It is social media that can eat cumulative 2 hours of a day yet we struggle with 30 minutes of Qur’an and forget of Azkaar – remembrance of Allah.

As we launch into this blessed period, it is not too late to switch gears and change lanes. Plan the social media “show.” Don’t you bow to the fact that others are here, if you need to check out, please do. There is plenty of life beyond social media.

And whiles at it make it a point to pray for the underprivileged Muslims across the world, it’s the best Ramadan gift you and I can give to them.

May HE continually ease the affairs of the Ummah (Islamic community), idle talk and overindulgence on social media is a reality, very much like a priest in a sacristy – Wai Allah, I remember my St. Thomas Aquinas school days.

First published on May 27, 2018.

The Fajr Reading Index: A cover-to-cover plan for Qur'an in Ramadan

How to read Qur'an cover-to-cover in Ramadan: The Fajr Index

All praise is due to Allah. We seek his choicest blessings for Muhammad and all who follow his ways till the last day.

Ramadan is the month of Qur'an as says Allah and his prophet - and their words are true and will so remain till the last day.

What Allah said about Ramadan: "The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Quran, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion (between right and wrong)..." Qur'an 2:185

Narrated by al-Bukhaari (4614) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: Jibreel used to review the Qur’aan with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) once every year, and he reviewed it with him twice in the year in which he passed away.

It is not mandatory but highly desirable (Mustahab) to at least read the Qur'an from cover to cover once in the month of Ramadan. That feat requires planning and discipline on the part of the reader.

Luckily, the Qur'an, standardised as it is, is already divided into 30 parts. Every thirtieth is known as a juz'i. Half a juz'i is called a hizb. In effect, 60 hizbs is one full Quran.

How then can we implement a Quran Performance Index (QPI) in seeking to complete the Qur'an in 30 or even 29 days?

What you need is the standard King Fahd type of Qur'an. It has 604 pages in total. Divide that by 30 and you get at least 20 pages daily. The known format for completing the Quran is four pages before / after each daily prayer (Fajr, Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib, Ishae.)

What does QPI with Fajr leverage propose?

Against the backdrop of the verse talking about reading Qur'an after Fajr being a witness for us. A reader in this case should put emphasis on reading after Fajr.

Allah said in Qur'an 17:78: "Perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) from mid-day till the darkness of the night (i.e. the Zuhr, 'Asr, Maghrib, and 'Isha' prayers), and recite the Quran in the early dawn (i.e. the morning prayer). Verily, the recitation of the Quran in the early dawn is ever witnessed (attended by the angels in charge of mankind of the day and the night)."

Game plan:

1. Read a hizb every Fajr. Approximately 10 pages.
2. For each of the remaining four prayers, read quarter of a hizb - Which equates to 2.5 pages or so.
3. For obvious reasons, you could combine Magrib and Ishae (i.e. read 5 pages) after iftaar - because of Taraaweeh.

An illustrative situation - Starting project on Ramadan 1

After Fajr = Suratul Fatiha 1 - Suratul Baqara 74 [page 11]
After Zuhr = Suratul Baqara 75 - Suratul Baqara 91 [page 14]

After Asr = Suratul Baqara 92 - Suratul Baqara 105 [page 17]

After Magrib = Suratul Baqara 106 - Suratul Baqara 123 [page 19]

After Ishae = Suratul Baqara 124 - Suratul Baqara 141 [page 21]

With this, insha Allah, one should comfortably finish the Qur'an in Ramadan. Don't forget to try reading meanings and explanations as you go along. Get a reasonable and doable quota on this.

And whiles at it, plan for a post Ramadan structure for Qur'an reading, a page per day, juz'i per week. It all depends on you. May this Ramadan bring us great fortunes. Ameen.

Plan, pray, play: A must-do list for Ramadan, month of Quran

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful; All praise and thanks is due to HIM, Lord of the Worlds. May HIS peace and blessings be on the father of Qaasim – Muhammed Ibn Abdullah and his household, companions and all who tread in his steps till the last day.

First, an explanation of ‘Plan, pray and play,’ as contained in the title. Planning is an essential part of the Muslim life, but we plan and Allah plans and HE is the best of planners. Ramadan more than anything needs a plan. Spontaneity will likely breed inconsistency and fatigue.

Pray, when we make our plans, we turn to Allah in prayer seeking that HE guides us through the good parts of our plans and shields us against the not so good part.

Having done that, when Ramadan kicks in, we ‘play’ – play by the rules of Ramadan – which rules you must know to play by – refresh your notes, read, listen to lectures, seek clarification where need be. May Allah ease our affairs.

Below are ten plans on welcoming and going through Ramadan if Allah makes us of those that witness the period. Feel free to make additions and disagree same if need be.

1. Have sincere intentions and get ready to work hard. Make lots of dua (supplication) for an ultimate productive Ramadan.

2. Plan, Plan, Plan. Do a review of last Ramadan and ask where you can improve upon. If need be write down exactly what your goals are and categorize them – example: Crucial, important, average.

3. A key planning point is Qur’an, you should have in place before Ramadan, a concrete/workable Qur'an routine to be implemented, after all, it's the month of Qur'an.

4. Find at least one underprivileged person and help them with material for Ramadan. During the period get actively involved in helping the less privileged, contribute your strength, money and time to helping others. Bring along others to share in the good.

5. During Ramadan, always do a five day minimum appraisal of your Qur’an progression. Check especially for consistency and motivation.

6. Plan your Ramadan days around salah time (masjid for men if possible). Do well to say all optional prayers (12 daily) and make Taraaweeh (post Ishae session) a permanent fixture.

7. Do not play with food. Do well NEVER to miss suhoor (dawn meal) and Iftaar (the fast breaking meal) – do them as instructed by Rasool, example breaking fasts with date and or water etc.

8. "Spoil" your free time with Adhkaar (remembrance of Allah) and or listening to Qiraa'a or Islamic lectures. Helps free your mind from clutter, negative thoughts and meaningless worry. Focusing more on your relationship with Allah SWT.

9. See if your schedules will allow you to go on seclusion or I’tikaaf, it is highly recommended, try to get a taste of it as did advice our beloved Messenger.  

10. Master the usual Ramadan specific prayers. Supplications for breaking fast, what to say when someone antagonizes you: "Verily I am fasting. I am fasting. I am fasting." etc.