How to not lose motivation mid-Ramadan {}

A Ramadan "dip" halfway through the month is completely normal. It is a challenge that, due to this year's circumstances requires a unique solution. Know that you are not alone in struggling.

Omar Ibn al-Khattab when asked about the spiritually of different believers once said, a believer who constantly makes mistakes and comes back to Allah is better than a believer who never made any mistakes at all. Understand that mistakes do NOT limit or take away your progress.

In order to maintain our spirituality and keep our Iman strong, there are some things we can do to better ourselves.

1. Set goals that you know you can accomplish-- focus on what you can do consistently and build it into your own schedule. Disappointment often comes from lofty goals, so take time to physically write down some goals that you would not do normally, but nothing unimaginable.

2. Increase the quality of the actions you are already doing. For example with salah, find ways to increase your focus by reflecting over your intention BEFORE each prayer. Really think about your "why?" before you perform any prayer.

Another thing to increase your focus is to not get up right away after prayer. Making duaa and tasbeeh in the place where you just prayed is very beneficial.

The Prophet (SAW) once said in a genuine hadith, “So long as the servant remains in their place of prayer, the angels make duaa on their behalf for forgiveness to Allah.” Even sitting and doing nothing in the place were you prayed can bring immense reward, subhanAllah.

3. Change your behavior. Allah (SWT) reassures us that Ramadan has been here for generations before us, so if we find that we cannot change ourselves, it's not the month that doesn’t work, its something within us.

You must strategize in order to change your behavior-- it doesn’t just happen on its own. The believer must have Muraqabah and Muhasabah.

Muraqabah is being aware of what you are doing and why you are doing it. This is important because it allows believers to reflect on their own actions and discover their spiritual triggers/checkpoints.

Muhasabah is the ability to go over your actions at the end of the day and reflect deeply upon them. An easy way to do this is to keep a journal of your actions for each day.

Writing down the actions you are proud of and not so proud for each day allows you to track which deeds reflect who you genuinely are and which deeds just happen sporadically. It also keeps you aware of your behaviors over the long term.

Omar Ibn Al-Khattab in a genuine narration once said: The reason why we have Eid after Ramadan is to celebrate the believers' changes or transformations.

So if we don’t change, then do we have a reason to celebrate?

Insha'Allah Allah(swt) allows us all to increase our Iman and decrease our struggles as we enter the second half and near the last ten days of this blessed month.

All information derived from the May 8th, 2020 lecture of Ustadh @AbdelRahmanM