Japanese Muslims and the Coming of Ramadan

Ramadan is, again, around the corner in Japan and elsewhere.  Devout Muslims all over the world  are sharpening their muscles to renew their relationship with Allah by fasting.  As it is getting nearer and nearer, we need to get ready to make the optimum use of the opportunity Allah has bestowed on us.

For us, Ramadan has always been a wonderful month in Japan ever since we came to the country.  Japanese Muslims and others gather at their local mosques and musallahs to break their fast which, is, in itself, a great tradition as it provides us all an opportunity to gather and communicate with one another other.

The holy month, on the one hand, provides us ample opportunities to do more and more good deeds, on the other, it reminds us to reflect on what we have been doing up until now and what the areas for improvement are in our personal lives and in the lives of the people around us.

We are able to reflect upon what we have done wrong in the past and how we can fix it to improve our spiritual and religious lives.  In the following lines, there are some reminders for us all to give them a serious thought during this holy month of Ramadan.

1. Give charity to the needy wherever they may be. That could be in the form of Zakat and other charity programs being run by local brothers or in your home country whichever may be convenient for you
2. Make a firm determination to stop indulging in sins of every kind
3. Plan and take solid steps to improve your spiritual lives
4. Learn and renew your knowledge of the fundamentals of our Deen
5. Start giving Dawah of Islam to your non-Muslim friends around you in a positive without being overly persistent
6. Learn to recite the Quran properly
7. Memorize at least five short surahs during the month with their meanings in the language of your choice
8. Stop smoking once for all