Lelaki Bermata Biru, Al-Quran & Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine

"Hey Wanie, can I ask u something?" Tanya Nick, lelaki bermata biru itu teragak-agak.

"Yes?" Balasku bernada kehairanan. Aku bermain teka teki di dlm hati... apa yg ingin ditanyakan lelaki bermata biru ini. Pertanyaannya bernada serius.

"You are Muslim right? I understand that in the Quran... all of you Muslims believe in Torah & Bible... so does it mean that you believe in Christianity, Judaism... Jesus Christ? If you believe in Torah & Bible, yet why do you still need Quran?" Soalnya berhati-hati. Aku mendengar dgn teliti. Setelah menyampaikan maksudnya, dia menoleh memandangku menginginkan penjelasan.

Aku tersenyum... tersenyum kerana soalan yg sama pernah diajukan kepadaku 3 atau 4 tahun lepas. Teringat dikala soalan itu ditanya kpdku oleh seorang doktor Kristian. Aku sedikit memberontak sebenarnya dengan soalan itu. Memberontak kerana aku tak dapat menjawab soalan itu dgn baik. Dan kali ini, soalan yg sama diajukan kepadaku... aku meluruskan niat, dalam hati memohon agar Allah merungkaikan simpulan yg mengikat lidah ini dan semoga bicara yg keluar dr mulut ini dipandu oleh Allah.

"I'm sorry if I asked you a sensitive question." Dia memandangku dgn rasa bersalah.

"No. It's not a sensitive question at all" Balasku dengan sedikit tergelak.

"Actually I'm trying to find a simple explanation so that you can understand." Aku menerangkan kepadanya.

Aku terpandang buku Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine yg dipegangnya... 7th edition. Kalau aku tak silap buku Oxford Handbook yg ku miliki adalah edisi ke 6. Aku mendapat idea...

"Hey Nick... if you were to choose between Oxford Handbook 7th edition or Oxford Handbook 6th edition... which one will you choose?" Dia memandangku dengan kehairanan. Mungkin sedikit bengang kerana soalannya tak terjawab lagi, tp aku pula gatal menanyakannya soalan yg tak berkaitan!

"Of course the latest edition" Katanya dengan yakin.

"But why 7th edition not 6th edition? Is it because of the front cover a bit different? Or is it because the latest edition is much more colorful compared to the 6th edition?" Tanyaku lagi yg mungkin menambah kebenganggannya.

"Not really! The reason I choose the latest edition because the contents are up to date... I mean the management guidelines outlined in the latest handbook are based on current best clinical practice." Panjang lebar dia menerangkan. Aku mendengarnya dgn khusyuk.

"Nick, I'm so sorry for asking you such stupid-out-of-topic-questions! But I think you just answered your own question about Torah, Bible and Quran." Aku memandangnya untuk melihat reaksinya. Tekaanku benar. Dahinya berkerut, keningnya hampir bertemu... barangkali berusaha untuk mengaitkan Oxford Handbook dengan Quran.

"Nick, all Muslims believe in Torah & Bible. We believe in the original teachings of the Torah & Bible. In fact, this belief represents one of the pillars of the faith. Quran is the final scripture sent down by Allah to the Prophet Muhammad. The reason is because the previous scriptures were exposed to manipulation and alteration." Aku berhenti memberi penjelasan dan memandangnya.

"So Nick, what would you do if you found errors in the Oxford Handbook? Do you still want to apply the error guidelines into your patient's management?" Tanyaku meredakan suasana yang agak serius. Nick hanya menggeleng kepala, barangkali malas mengeluarkan suara.

"Same with me. I won't put my patient at risk. I will seek the best guidelines for the management of my patient. Same goes to Quran. The contents are up to date and will always be. Allah preserved and guarded the Quran from being manipulated by human. This is His promise. Back to your question of why Quran is because Quran is the complete manual to guide us. It is the best guidelines for us. Why do I need to read the previous editions since I have the latest and finalized edition?" Aku berhenti lagi dan memandangnya. Dia mengangguk-anggukkan kepala.

"And your last question is about Jesus Christ... we the Muslims believe Jesus as a Prophet not as the son of God as what the Christian believes." Aku memberi penjelasan yg pendek kepadanya.

"I hope I answered your questions. Hey... I just made a simple comparison between Quran and Oxford Handbook so that it is easier for you to understand. Quran is superior to that Oxford Handbook. If Oxford Handbook is all about medicine... the Quran has everything from medicine/science to engineering, from economics to politics, you name it you'll find in the Quran!" Aku melihat dia tersenyum.

"Well, thanks mate. Simple yet comprehensive explanation. I have another question for you about polygamy..." Erkk... aduhhh banyak pula soalan mamat ni. Penat melayan soalan-soalan darinya.

Semoga segala kata-kata yg terucap dibimbing dan diilhamkan oleh Allah s.w.t. Sekadar berkongsi cerita. Bila ingat balik terasa lawak pun ada... May Allah guide him.

'Bukanlah kewajibanmu (Muhammad) menjadikan mereka mendapat petunjuk, tetapi Allah-lah yang memberi petunjuk kepada siapa yang Dia kehendaki... (2: 272)'

'Sungguh, engkau (Muhammad) tdk dpt memberi petunjuk kpd org yg engkau kasihi, tetapi Allah memberi petunjuk kpd org yg Dia kehendaki, dan Dia lebih mengetahui org2 yg mau menerima petunjuk. (28: 56)'

Daie: Choose Your Words With Care

Sahl bin Sa'd narrated that Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever can guarantee (the chastity of) what is between his two jaw-bones and what is between his two legs (i.e. his tongue and his private parts), I guarantee Paradise for him." (Al-Bukhari)

What we can understand from the hadith is... Paradise is guaranteed to those who according to Prophet Muhammad pbuh is taking care of his/her tongue (from foul language, backbiting, being rough and temperamental) and his/her private parts (from committing adultery act). SubhanAllah... we will be guaranteed Paradise by Prophet Muhammad pbuh just by taking care of our tongue & private parts. It sounds easy but in fact it's difficult restraining our tongue from talking non-sense/gossiping. Hmmmm... especially women. Because women like talking.

I still remember one situation back in Malaysia. My friends and I were having a religious discussion. The discussion was attended by our juniors. I couldn't recall perfectly what had happened at that time and how it started. But my friend was assigned to give a short tazkirah to the juniors. From what I can remember, she gave her tazkirah from a book. During the lecture, someone interrupted her and said that the information was incorrect and a bid'ah. She mentioned that my friend should double check the infos before hand. I guess at that time she sounds a bit harsh. The intonation was up. Well, from what I can remember that person is quite out spoken and almost always has something to say during the discussion. I guess there's pros & cons. Depends... depends on the situation & circumstances. I heard that some of the sisters were very afraid to give a tazkirah or opinion because of that person. One of the reason I heard was that incident was very embarrassing. Hmm... (again depends... depends on the mentality of people)

Well, this kind of thing always happened to young duat. Sometimes, they are easily get carried away by their anger when someone committing act opposite to the sunnah and even if it's regarding a small matter (for example in khilafiyah matter).

Well, what I'm trying to say here is... as a Daie, we have a responsibility towards our mad'u. And the responsibility is to spread the words of Allah. But before we expect them to listen to us... we should first have a very good relationship with him/her. Why? Because why should I listen to stranger's advices! That would be my answer if I were to be in that situation. Or may be after that person lecturing me about what I did wrong, I might avoiding him/her or the worst thing would be revolting. We have to make a sincere effort to get to know them (mad'u) so that a trusting relationship can be developed. This will help us to understand the reason why he/she might not be practising. Hence, this will also encourage them to listen to your wisdom. "Seek first to understand, then to be understood!", heard this somewhere before. But where?

"Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious." (16:125)

Da'wah is incumbent on all Muslims and must be done in compliance with the methodology already established by the last Prophet Muhammad pbuh. Although it is the duty for a Muslim to advice another Muslim, if it is not in a proper way it can sometimes lead to a negative outcome such as the case above. There was a story during the life of Prophet Muhammad pbuh...

One day, the Companions saw a Bedouin who was urinating in the Mosque. The Companion were very angry to the Bedouin. But what Prophet Muhammad pbuh did was telling the Companion not to be angry to that Bedouin and instead asked the Companion to clean the urine with a jug of water. A people like the Bedouin are our object of da'wah. Look at how Prophet Muhammad tackled the situation. I wonder what would happen if all the people were angry at him... I think he will never come back to the mosque to learn about Islam ever again...

And here's another story...

Hassan and Hussin (ra), grandchildren of Rasulullah pbuh, once saw an old man doing wudu' incorrectly. Though very young, they were very perturbed and talked among themselves on how to best correct their elder without disrespect. So they decided to tell the old man that they were having a contest between them on who could do wudu in the best way and asked him to be their judge. The man agreed and so they both proceeded to do wudu exactly the same, correct way. The old man realized his mistake and said "You both are correct".

Well, what I'm trying to say here is if we want to correct the person's mistake, do it in a respectful way. Don't make him/her embarrassed in front of other people. Get a private place or meet him/her privately to talk about that instead. As a dai'e, we are so busy correcting other people mistakes and not knowing that we hurt someone with our words (knowingly or unknowingly?). We break the fragile heart of our beloved friend and scarring the feelings of that person, like nothing else could. Astaghfirullah... May Allah guide us...

Just remember this... Just because they are Muslim does not mean they have enough knowledge. And from my personal opinion, our priority as a Dai'e is to invite mankind to worship Allah alone and bring others out of the darkness of disbelief and into the light of Islam. How can you possibly preach people to perform a solah if he/she does not belief in Allah and the presence of the Day of Judgment. How can you possibly advise a woman to wear hijab if she never prays. How can you possibly arguing with people about khilaf matter if they never perform solah, not wearing hijab, have doubts about the Hereafter and the Day of Judgement etc.

May Allah forgive us for our errors and our sins, hidden and known.

Muslim Saviours During Rwandan Genocide

(Got this from email)

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullah

Dear Brothers and Sisters

Please be patient with me, for the sake of Allah, for I have an important story to tell.

In 1994, the winds of ethnic hatred were blowing across the lush mountains and fields of Rwanda, a small African country sandwiched between Uganda, Tanzania, Zaire and Burundi.

After the winds, came the blood. In a carnage which lasted 100 days, about 800 000 innocent people, mostly members of the Tutsi minority, were killed by the majority Hutus.

Neighbours were killing neighbours. Friends were killing friends. Co-workers were killing co-workers. Priests were killing their own congregations. It was a genocide of the worst kind. No one was spared.Not women, not children, not the elderly. Such was the brutality of the killings that some of the victims had offered money to their killers in exchange for being killed quickly and mercifully.

The Tutsis were Christians as were their killers, the Hutus, and most were members of the same church, the Roman Catholic Church. In fact, Rwanda was at that time the most Catholic country in the whole of Africa. Yet churches and monasteries became killing grounds as those who seek shelter there did not find the sanctuary they were hoping for. There was even one instance of a priest instructing his own church to be bulldozed to the ground while 2000 Tutsis were still hiding inside it.

However, in the midst of this madness, there was sanity. Numerous lives were saved by complete strangers.

While Hutu Christians were hunting down and slaughtering innocent Tutsi Christians, Muslim Hutus were providing thousands of Tutsi Christians with sanctuary. Muslim homes and mosques throughout Rwanda in those 100 days were filled with Tutsi Christians.

The Muslim community in Rwanda constituted a very small minority at that time, perhaps between 4 to 7 percent of the population, and like the Roman Catholic majority, the Muslim community had both ethnic Hutu and Tutsi members.

The Muslim community is the only religious community which had survived the genocide virtually intact because Muslim Tutsis were protected by Muslim Hutus. In fact, it is only in the Muslim community that ethnic lines were essentially ignored. Muslim Hutus, by and large except for a few individuals, were not influenced by Hutu racial extremism and its call to murder.

While some Hutu Christians did put themselves in danger to protect and save Tutsis, the only community which has acted together as a unit to protect and save as many Tutsis as it could was the Muslim community.

What makes what happened especially remarkable is because traditionally in Rwanda, Muslims were looked down upon by the Christian majority. However, the decades of being placed on the fringe of mainstream society apparently did not stop the Muslims from sheltering those they could from certain death.

The various acts of life-saving on the part of the Muslim community are astounding and deserve to be read and shared with others. For example, some Christian Tutsis were saved when Muslims paid ransom money for them. Some Muslims died because they refused to give up the Tutsis they were protecting. In some places, Muslims set up road blocks to prevent the Hutu extremists from coming into their area thus saving the Tutsis in their midst.

The Muslim community handled itself so well during those 100 dark days that within ten years, the numbers of Muslims in Rwanda grew twice as much as before 1994. Hundreds of mosques had to be built in order to accommodate the swelling Muslim population. Now, there are mosques in almost every district, town and city in Rwanda. Alhamdulillah.

The reason ?

Conversions to Islam.

Some converted to honour those who had protected them. Some got acquainted with Islam for the first time and saw its beauty. Some converted to protect themselves from future genocides. Some converted when they discovered that Muslims had saved their family members. Even some Hutus converted to Islam as a way of showing that they did not have any role in the genocide.

The role of the Muslim community during the genocide and the subsequent conversions to Islam are unfortunately not well-publicised records. While there are few articles here and there such as "Islam blooms in wake of Rwandan genocide " by Laurie Goering ( Chicago Tribune ), " Rwanda's religious reflections " by Robert Walker ( BBC) or "Ten Years After Horror, Rwandans Turn to Islam " by Marc Lacey (New York Times ), they are essentially unknown events especially among Singaporeans, Muslim or non-Muslim despite these being more than ten years old.

I don't remember the Straits Times or Berita Harian or Channelnesasia carrying news like these. Of course, I'm not surprise. At all.

The life-saving actions by the Muslim community in Rwanda were the teachings of Islam being put into practice. The genocide had started about four to three days after the end of Ramadan, and during the Ramadan of 1994, Muslim religious leaders especially imams had openly preached against local Muslims getting involved in any ethnic conflicts in Rwanda.

As though being prophetic, the Muslim religious leaders repeatedly told Rwandan Muslims that "murder is a sin". In fact, Muslim religious leaders continued to openly calling Muslims to reject the killings during the genocide.

In the media today, including our own local media, the image of Islam is always negative. Not because Islam is negative and not because Muslims are all bad but rather through misrepresentation of what Islam actually is by way of fallacious emphasis on one hand and deliberate omission of facts on the other hand.

For this reason alone, the Rwandan Muslim experience needs to be told. It needs to be exported. It needs to be shared. It needs to be on every blog. Here is a great example of Muslims practising Islam in motion. This is a great example of what Islam actually is, as opposed to what the media wants everyone to believe.

I have attached a pdf file of a study done by the Steps Toward Conflict Prevention Project about the role of the Rwandan Muslims during the genocide. It is rather long and detailed but I promise you insha allah it would be worth your while.

I have read it more than once, more than twice, more than three times. Subhanallah, it is that wonderful.

Please don't keep this email to yourself but share it with others. Your Muslim as well as non-Muslim friends, relatives and family members.

You'll never know whom it may reach, whom it may change, whom it may inspire.

Wassalam

Faris Abdat

XPDC Lailatul Qadar dan Ukhuwwah Fillah

Semalam or pagi tadi sisters Dune ade program XPDC Lailatul Qadar. Walaupun tak ramai yang menghadirkan diri ke program tu, tp Alhamdulillah kesyukuran dipanjatkan kehadirat Ilahi... semuanya berjalan lancar. Walaupun yang ikut sedikit cuma, sesungguhnya ukhuwwah diantara yg sedikit ini amat mengharukan. Teringat senda gurau, gelak tawa dan sahur bersama2 kalian. Rasa geli hati pun ada... rasa sedih pun ada. Sedih kerana mengingatkan mungkinkah ini puasa terakhirku bersama2 kalian yang dikasihi. Isk isk isk... {self-reflecting mode (-.-)}

Sesungguhnya Allah telah menggerakkan hati-hati hambaNya... sesungguhnya Allah jualah yang telah memilih kita untuk bersama-sama dalam program semalam. Berbahagialah mereka2 yang terpilih. Tapi sesungguhnya Allah juga menguji kita dengan ujian sakit. Kesian juga dekat adik-adik yang tak dapat nak join disebabkan demam dan flu symptoms. Tapi tidak mengapalah kerana niat itu sudah ada. Semoga Allah menganugerahkan pahala atas niat yang baik itu. Tapi tak kurang juga yang sakit-sakit tekak, demam etc yang tak nak melepaskan peluang untuk mengejar malam yang lebih baik dari seribu bulan ini. Terpaksalah dikuarantinkan mereka-mereka yang sakit ini dalam satu bilik dan yang tak sakit dalam bilik yang lain.

Lauk sahur tadi, pengat dan cake chocolate utk moreh... two thumbs up! Sodap... terima kasih kepada tukang-tukang masak yang handal yang dibawakan khas dari 83 York Pl & 153 Leith St. Huhuhu... paling best sekali tazkirah Subuh. Walaupun sudah berkali-kali mendengar tajuk yang dibawa, tp tak pernah jemu dengan tajuk ni. Ukhuwwah... satu perkataan yang ringkas... tapi nilainya amat tinggi dalam diri seorang Muslim. Kita selalu merasakan perkara ini dah settled dalam diri kita. Tapi sejauh manakah kebenarannya? Sejauh mana kita memahami ukhuwwah itu sendiri? Ukhuwwah fillah... yang mengikatnya adalah Allah, yang mengikatnya adalah risalah. Insya Allah takkan terpisah ukhuwwah kita selagi mana ianya disandarkan kepada Allah dan beralasankan risalah yang dibawa. Ukhuwwah takkan dapat diukur atas berapa jauh kita dipisahkan oleh benua asalkan ianya kerana Allah semata-mata. Ukhuwwah itu takkan dapat dipisahkan oleh perbezaan bangsa hatta warna kulit sekalipun apabila ukhuwwah itu disandarkan kerana Allah dan atas tujuan membawa risalah. Sungguh aku malu... kerana sesungguhnya aku fikir aku arif tentang ukhuwwah. Sungguh aku malu... kerana ku fikir ukhuwwah yang ku jalinkan 100% fillah. Tapi bila ujian timbul dalam ukhuwwah... rupanya aku 'fail'.

Sesungguhnya syaitan akan mencari ruang untuk merosakkan ukhuwwah sesama kita. Kerana ukhuwwah itu titik kekuatan Islam. Ukhuwwah bukan dinilai terhadap berapa ramai kenalan yg kita ada. Ukhuwwah juga bukan dinilai atas keramahan kita. Ukhuwwah bukan diukur atas berapa lama kita mengenalinya. Tapi ukhuwwah ini dinilai sejauh mana hati-hati kita diikat dengan tali Allah. Ukhuwwah lebih berkait rapat dengan kesediaan kita untuk berlapang dada, tanasuh atau nasihat menasihati, budaya bantu membantu... sudahkah tercapai benda2 ni dalam ukhuwwah kita?

Marilah sama-sama refleksi diri bagaimana ukhuwwah kita sehingga ke hari ini... Apakah ukhuwwah kita sekadar ukhuwwah atas ikatan bangsa, warna kulit, negara atau apa?

Hadis Nabi s.a.w, "sesungguhnya mukmin itu bersaudara."

....juga hadis Nabi s.a.w yang lain,

"3 perkara yang jika ada pada diri seseorang akan mendapat halawatul iman(kemanisan iman) - mencintai Allah dan RasulNya melebihi segala-galanya,mencintai seseorang hanya kerana Allah,membenci untuk kembali kepada kekufuran setelah Allah menyelamatkannya dari kekufuran itu seperti dia membenci untuk dicampakkan ke dalam api neraka."

Moga selepas ini ukhuwwah kita fillah. Aku sayang kalian semua FILLAH. Semoga ukhuwwah kita diikat dengan tali Allah dan semoga ukhuwwah ini dapat membawa kita pergi jauh dan lebih tinggi selagi risalah menjadi agenda kita. Amin3X

Sesungguhnya aku mencintaimu kerana agama yang ada padamu...

Jika kau hilangkan agama dari diri mu,

maka hilanglah cintaku pada mu...

16 things you can do on the Night of Power

by Abdul Malik Mujahid

Laylatul Qadr (the Night of Power) is described in the Quran as, "better than a thousand months" (97:3). Any action done on this night such as reciting the Quran, remembering Allah, etc. is better than acting for one thousand months which do not contain the night of Qadr.

Allah's Messenger used to exert himself in devotion during the last ten nights to a greater extent than at any other time." (Muslim). Allah's peace and blessings be upon our beloved Prophet.

Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, related that the Prophet said: Look for Laylatul Qadr on an odd-numbered night during the last ten nights of Ramadan (Bukhari).

The Prophet said: "Whoever prays during the night of Qadr with faith and hoping for its reward will have all of his previous sins forgiven." (Bukhari and Muslim recorded from Abu Huraira).

Here are some tips of things we can do on the Night of Power and the time before and after it.

1. Take a vacation for Allah

We take a break from our jobs for almost everything in life. Why not this time to focus on worshiping and thanking our Creator.

If this is not possible at least take a few days off if you can. This can make it easier to stay awake at night to do extra Ibadah, not having to worry about getting to work the next day.

It will also facilitate doing Itikaf.

2. Do Itikaf

It was a practice of the Prophet to spend the last ten days and nights of Ramadan in the masjid for Itikaf.

Those in Itikaf stay in the masjid all this time, performing various forms of zikr (the remembrance of Allah), like doing extra Salat, recitation and study of the Quran. They do not go outside the masjid except in case of emergencies, therefore, they sleep in the masjid. Their families or the masjid administration takes care of their food needs.

Itikaf of a shorter period of time, like one night, a day or a couple of days is encouraged as well.

3. Make this special Dua

Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: I asked the Messenger of Allah: 'O Messenger of Allah, if I know what night is the night of Qadr, what should I say during it?' He said: 'Say: O Allah, You are pardoning and You love to pardon, so pardon me.' "(Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and Tirmidhi).

The transliteration of this Dua is "Allahumma innaka `afuwwun tuhibbul `afwa fa`fu `annee"

4. Recite the Quran

Perhaps you can choose Surahs or passages from the Quran which you have heard in Tarawih this past Ramadan to recite.

If you attend a class where the recitation of the Quran is taught, this is a great time to put your knowledge into practice.

5. Reflect on the meaning of the Quran

Choose the latest Surah or Surahs you've heard in Tarawih and read their translation and Tafseer. Then think deeply about their meaning and how it affects you on a personal level.

6. Get your sins wiped out

Abu Huraira narrated that the Messenger said: Whoever stands (in prayer) in Laylatul Qadr while nourishing his faith with self-evaluation, expecting reward from Allah, will have all of his previous sins forgiven. [Bukhari and Muslim).

Don't just pray using the shorter Surahs that you know. Try to make your prayers longer, deeper and meaningful. If you are familiar with longer Surahs, read the translation and explanation and then pray reciting these Surahs, carefully reflecting on the meaning while you pray.

Even if you are only familiar with the shorter Surahs, read the translation and explanation beforehand, and then pray reflecting on the message of the Surahs.

This is a good way to develop the habit of concentration, even in regular prayers, where many of us tend to be fidgety and/or easily distracted.

7. Make a personal Dua list.

Ask yourself what you really want from Allah. Make a list of each and everything, no matter how small or how big it is, whether it deals with this world or not. Allah loves to hear from us. Once this list is ready, you can do three things:

• Ask Allah to give you those things

• Think about what actions you have taken to get those things

• Develop a work plan to get those things in future.

8. Evaluate yourself.

Ask yourself those questions that need to be asked. Do an evaluation of where you are and where you are going. Let this evaluation lead you to feel happiness for the good you have done and remorse for the bad you have done.This latter feeling should make it easier to seek Allah's sincere forgiveness when making the Dua mentioned in tip number one above.

9. Make long, sincere and deep Duas

One of the best times to do this is during the last part of the night.

Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, related that the Prophet said: When the last one-third of the night remains, our Lord, the Glorious One descends towards the heaven of the earth and proclaims: Who is that who supplicates for Me, and I grant his supplication? Who is that who begs Me for anything and I grant it to him? And who is that who seeks My forgiveness, and I forgive him? (Bukhari, Muslim).

That means for instance, waking up one hour before Suhoor time to ask Allah for anything and everything you want that is Halal. This can be done using the Duas of the Sunnah, but also Dua in your own language, with sincerity and conviction.

10. Memorize a different Dua every night

They don't have to be long. They can be just one line. And be sure to know what they mean generally at least, even if you don't know the exact translation in English.

You can put them on index cards (or and keep them with you during the day, glancing at them during work, while driving, waiting in line, etc.) Then practice them at night in prayer.

11. Have Iftar with the family

If you've spent Iftar time on weekdays in your cubicle at work alone with a couple of dates, now is the last few days you'll have this Ramadan to spend with your family. Use it wisely.

12. Take the family to Tarawih

Have your spouse and kids missed Tarawih most of Ramadan because you weren't there to drive them to the Masjid, which is too far away to walk to? If so, do all of yourselves a favor and bring everyone for Tarawih in these last ten nights.

13. Attend the Dua after the completion of Quran recitation

Almost all Masjids where the Imam aims to finish an entire reading of the Quran in Tarawih prayers in Ramadan will be completing their recitation in these last ten nights. They may try to end on one of the odd nights and read the Dua at the end of a reading of the Quran. Attend this particular night's Tarawih prayer with your family. See if you can attend different Masjids' Tarawih prayers the night they finish reading the Quran.

14. Finish reading a book on the Prophet

Read about the Prophet's life, which can increase your love for him and Islam by seeing how much he struggled for Allah's sake. It may inspire you to push yourself even harder during these last ten nights. This community is built on sacrifice.

15. Plan for the next year

Once you've done a self-evaluation, you can plan on where you want to go, at least in the next 12 months. Laylatul Qadr is a great night to be thinking about this (without taking away from your worship), since you'll Insha Allah, be in a more contemplative state. You may choose to dedicate one night of power for evaluation and one night for planning for the next year.

16. To do list for the Night of Power

Make a to do checklist for each Night of Power. This should define how you would like your night, the one better than a thousand months, to be used. Pick things from this list and define the sequence you would like to do things in. This will help you avoid wasting your time in unproductive chats which common in the festive atmosphere of Masjids at the Night of Power.

Read the original article HERE