8 Tips for a Mind-Blowing #Taraweeh Experience By Shabab Shahriar Khan #Ramadan has come and gone in our lives, but how many of us could really connect to Allah in our prayers? How many of us were able to actually enjoy standing behind the Imaam in Taraweeh? Already half the month is over this year as well, yet how many of us can claim they had that one sensational spiritual experience listening to the recitation of Allah’s Words? This article aims to share some tips which, if implemented properly, have the potential to redefine the sweetness of Taraweeh and Ramadan in your life. #1 What’s the Purpose? Take a deep breath and try to clear your mind. Now ask yourself sincerely, why do you pray Taraweeh? It may seem simple and silly at first, but try to really think about it. There are multiple answers to this question, the most common of which are probably “to attain the pleasure of Allah”, “to be rewarded by Allah”, “to be forgiven by Allah” [1], “to get the reward of ‘khatam’ (completion) of the Qur’an” and so on and so forth. All of these are valid and praiseworthy answers but there is a huge ‘if’ behind them all – if our Taraweeh is accepted. Our Prophet ﷺ taught us that the portion of our prayers that are accepted can decrease to 50% to 25% to even 10% of the whole prayer, depending on how much we concentrated. [2] While we do hope and pray that Allah, the most Merciful of those who show mercy, will overlook our shortcomings and accept our good deeds, we need to ask ourselves how much effort we are actually sincerely giving to somewhat ‘deserve’ His Mercy. The other aspect to this issue is that we can never really connect to our Lord if we don’t try to understand His message to us. Imagine how desperately you would want to get and understand the message of someone you really love and care about. Would you then choose to stand blank and distracted when the Lord of the heavens and earth has a message for you? #2 Plan and Prepare! So one of the main purposes of Taraweeh (and prayer in general) is to understand Allah’s Words and connect to Him. But how can one achieve that goal when, firstly, the message is recited in supersonic speed and, secondly, the language is totally foreign to him? Imagine a friend of yours speaking to you at the speed that your Imaam recites during Taraweeh, and that he is doing it in Chinese. Imagine deeply and I’m sure you’ll be having the best laugh of the day, if not the entire week. Here are some things you can do to prepare for a memorable Taraweeh: Find out a Masjid near to your place where the recitation speed is the slowest among all others in the area. AlHamdulillah, this type of Masjids are increasing these days and hopefully you can find one in your vicinity just by asking around (or from statuses and groups in Facebook!). Don’t hesitate to go a little further (rickshaw distance maybe?) – Remember who you are doing it for and that He will recognize your sacrifice and reward you perhaps many times over both in this life and the next. < ibanaway > Find out which portion will be read by the Imaam tonight. This may vary from masjid to masjid but traditionally 1.5 para/juz of the Qur’an is recited in the first six nights of Ramadan and 1 para each day for the next twenty-one, thus trying to complete the entire 30 parts in 27 days. So, for example, if tonight is the 20th Taraweeh, the 23rd para will be recited and if it’s 21st Taraweeh, the 24th para will be recited and so on. < ibanaway > Now that you know which part of the Qur’an you will be listening to tonight, start reading the translation of that part! Additionally, you can read a Tafseer book to understand the context better. You may be busy during the day with work or school/university, but that is exactly why you need to plan properly. Read in chunks of 20 to 30 minutes or as long as you can concentrate. Set a number of fixed timings for this Taraweeh prep, from morning till evening. It won’t be as boring as scrolling down your Facebook newsfeed aimlessly, trust me. < ibanaway > A better alternative to reading is watching videos! Just search for the Surah in YouTube and you will find a lot of videos of Qur’an recitation with the English translation as subtitles. Here is a playlist that I found which you can use. < ibanaway > This is often more helpful since it helps to concentrate more, prepares your ears for the same recitation during Taraweeh at night and often requires lesser time than reading. Each para/juz usually is about 1 hour long and, like reading, if you divide it up in chunks of 20 or 30 minutes, it really doesn’t take too much of your day. Also, you can mash it up a bit – watching the video of an entire Surah and reading bits and pieces of the rest. < ibanaway > Try to be attentive while reading or watching videos. This is absolutely essential. Notice which story and character comes up after which and try to remember the contexts and lessons. You will be amazed by how much more you can concentrate in prayer by just knowing the usage of particular words like names of Prophets and nations, jannah, naar (fire) etc. in proper context. Make a habit of writing down your tasks and allocating time slots for each task. Do use your gadgets – smartphones, tablets, laptops and headsets – for the sake of Allah and preparation won’t be too big of a hurdle insha’allah, no matter how busy you are. #3 Why pray Taraweeh behind Imaam when I can do it at home? This is a very valid question, the answer to which should come from you. Ask yourself, which optional prayer in the whole year has been made so special that people around the world would stand behind Imaams for hours in it? Listening is a very, very different experience than reciting it yourself, so why miss out on its rewards, that too in the month of blessings and forgiveness? Our Prophet ﷺ would ask the companions to recite the Qur’an so that he could listen to it and be in awe of its magnificence. The Prophet ﷺ called people to Allah by reciting the Qur’an to them. The Qur’an mentions several times that the proper response of believers to the Messenger and the message he delivered is “we hear and we obey”. [3] Do we not want our hearts to be humbled and softened before Allah on hearing His Words? #4 Quality over Quantity We have this notion in our country that we have to complete listening to the Qur’an in Taraweeh. While it is indeed a praiseworthy act if done properly, we need to understand that in our religion, quality is preferred over quantity. This means that if doing half of your voluntary acts of worship helps you to connect with Allah more, then cutting off the other half is actually better for you. Don’t focus on the number of rakahs you pray or the number of pages of Qur’an you read in one sitting, rather focus on its effect on your Taraweeh and Qur’an experience. #5 I don’t feel like it today/I’m busy today Maybe you had a rough and super tiring day at work or university or you had to sit and sweat for hours due to the traffic and the scorching heat. Maybe you have an exam or too much work to prepare for the next day. Maybe you feel that you hadn’t prepared enough for the day to understand the Imaam’s words in Taraweeh. Or maybe you just don’t feel like it today or it’s something as silly as you feeling too lazy to go to the Masjid. We are human beings and we may not always have the same level of Imaan (faith). Fatigue may overcome us, but let us remind ourselves in those moments that this month will be over in a few days’ time and who knows if we would be blessed to witness another Ramadan? While maintaining the quality of worship is important, we should be conscious about not restricting our potential due to Shaitan’s whispers and our nafs (evil self). Try to pick yourself up and go to and stay in the masjid as long as you can. Sometimes you may feel like not doing as much, but don’t make it an excuse to leave an act of worship altogether and hence miss out on its blessings. [5] #6 Preparation of the Body Preparing includes being conscious about what and how much you have for Iftar! I’m sure you already know this but try to go easy on the oily stuff. And don’t forget to take a bottle of water (cold, if you can handle it) with you to hydrate and refresh yourself in between the Taraweeh prayers. Take one or multiple power naps throughout the day so that you don’t find yourself almost tripping over while standing in prayer at night. Try to have as few commitments for hangouts this month as possible. It is absolutely amazing how people make this month a month of get-togethers and parties when they have 11 whole months for all that (and oh yes, ‘Eid vacation as well!). Understandably, some invitations cannot be turned down but the point is being conscious about your priorities rather than going with the flow. #7 The Best Solution Remember it was mentioned above that the Prophet ﷺ would ask the Sahabas to recite Qur’an to him? It was often found that his beard had become wet with tears and he would request the reciter to stop because he could not take the powerful words anymore. What made the Prophet cry 1400 years ago and believers to this day by just listening to Allah’s words? They understood what Allah wanted to say to them. I’m here to tell you that you and I can have that sort of spiritual experience as well. Make a resolution this Ramadan to learn the language of the Qur’an, so that you can have the best Ramadans ever, next year onwards. Think long term and prepare yourself. It will also be your way of being grateful to your Lord for granting you the privilege to witness another Ramadan. People want to learn French, Spanish, German and what not, but what about the language chosen by Allah to send His last message to hundreds of billions of people? And trust me when I say that it’s the easier one to learn compared to all those languages. There are so many Arabic words common to Urdu, Hindi and Bengali that you will be totally amazed. Do we not know Allah’s promise to us: “And We have certainly made the Qur’an easy to learn and understand, so is there any who will take heed?” [4] Sibawayh Arabic Program offers both online and offline courses at the most affordable rate for learning a language in the country. What excuse will we give to Allah if we don’t even make an effort when the opportunity is just a few clicks away? sibawayh promo - 2 #8 Du’a Lastly, constantly remind yourself that any good that you do is a blessing from Allah (swt). And He can help you do more and do better. So make sure you make a lot of du’a for fantastic spiritual Taraweeh experiences all throughout Ramadan – make du’a while fasting, before iftar, after prayers, in the depths of the night. These are some things that benefit a lot of people. You may not have had a very satisfying Ramadan so far, but the last ten nights are upon us, the best nights of the entire year. Make a start, it’s never too late. Try to make the most of the rest of this blessed month, prepare for it every day and once you taste its sweetness, you would definitely want to have the same experience again, insha’allah!
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 04:55:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015