Ramadan Journal: Salawat And Salad

Salawat and salad: we like to layer our fruit with duas for peace, patience and blessings on Prophet Muhammad, salallahu `alayhi was-salam.

My young brother and I always compete in learning Qur'anic prayers, salawat and prophetic duas. Doing this in Ramadan helps both of us because as the 'grown-up' I'm able to keep my memory sharp and he in turn wants to prove his ability. The point really isn't to win but rather to put the effort in and above all, to learn how to love the process of learning.

See our Ramadan du`a and Arabic copy sheet. (pdf, opens in new window)

I have mentioned our salawat chart since Ramadan began which is a personal space in our journal to write and tick off which salutations we sent upon Prophet Muhammad, and how many times. I've been reading one new salutation upon Prophet Muhammad a day.

Today's Salawat is a general one for all the blessed Anbiya (prophets):

Qulil Hamdulillahi wa salaamun `ala `ibaadihil-ladheenas tafa...
"Say: Praise be to Allah , and peace upon His servants whom He has chosen..."
(Qur'an, 27:59)

Ramadan Du`a Day 9:

Rabbana fagh-fir lanaa dhunubana wa kaffir `anna sayyi'atinaa wa tawaffanaa ma`al abraar.
"...Our Lord, forgive us out sins and remove from us our miseeds and cause us to die with the righteous." (Qur'an, 3:193)

Craft Ramadan
Finally in the field of reading prayers, for every new short du`a that I think my young family will be able to memorise, I make a point of taking 5 minutes out of the day to read it together at least 3 times. Then I write this out for display so that every time we pass it by we stop for 30 seconds to read it again.

See our Ramadan du`a and Arabic copy sheet. (pdf, opens in new window)

What happened in week 1 of Ramadan.

Iftar at the Iqbal house: A plentiful meal of fruit, stuffed dates, rice and kebabs. Day 8 of Ramadan was spent with my paternal grandmother, visiting for a month. Despite her old age and the ills associated, she has kept every fast and could probably beat me in a race. Alhamdulillah.

Ramadan babies: Rohaan, aged 7 months, our youngest member of the family, can now use the TV remote (and bang it on his head *ouch), grip his feet to study them, stand on his tip-toes in a beautiful ballet pose and fall asleep sitting up, in a monkey-hug. Ma-sha-Allah, may Allah bless and keep baby Rohaan and his family in peace. Ameen.

Waiting for Iftar: this is the view of the same sky at the same time from two different windows. Allah's creation is exquisite. Subhan-Allah.

In need of your prayers.

Zaufishan.