1. Print your “boarding pass to heaven”
We have made customized Ramadan calendars for 30 major US cities. Each calendar includes local salat times and the 30-day spiritual fitness challenge – remember the fridge magnets distributed last year to over 2000 families and downloaded nearly 500 times? Visit spiritualfitness.us, click on the name of your city, and print your boarding pass to heaven!
2. Bring along your spiritual ID
Don’t forget to bring your spiritual ID – a daily fast and five prayers. Besides allowing you a fast check-in, it entitles you to in-flight rewards like, “Whoever fasts Ramadan out of faith and in the hope of reward, he will be forgiven his previous sins”, and “the five (daily) prayers during Ramadhan are expiations for the sins…”(Bukhari)
3. Upgrade to first class by taking time off for Itekaaf
Talk to your boss. Take 3, 5, 7, or a full 10 days off from work during the last days of Ramadan because, “With the start of the last ten days of Ramadan, the Prophet (sa) used to tighten his waist belt and used to pray all night…(Bukhari). Aren’t you glad you received this reminder? Now go, talk to your boss.
4. Carry ons are free, so bring along a Holy Quran
It was Prophet Muhammad (sa)’s practice to complete one full reading of the Holy Quran during the month of Ramadan. We should do the same. If you are not fluent in reading Arabic, read it in any language. But don’t miss this in-flight inspiration. Track your progress on this Ramadan calendar.
5. Enroll in Allah’s Rewards Program: Offer Tahajjud
Get up in the wee hours of the night and present your supplications to Allah during – shall we say – the off-peak hours, because “Whoever prayed at night in (the month of Ramadan) out of sincere faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven.” (Bukhari)
6. Buy extra leg room (for the less fortunate)
The rules of this flight are different. You get to pay and someone else gets to enjoy; the poor, the sick, the neglected, who are crammed into the cycle of misfortune. So give charity and make someone else’s life more comfortable. Give Zakat, contribute to chanda, offer Fitrana. “(During Ramadan) Allah’s Messenger (sa) used to be more generous than the fast wind.” (Bukhari)
7. Pray – don’t pay – for your travel insurance
Prayer is the best insurance. Particularly, remember to offer tasbihat during the Ramadan flight because “A Tasbih in Ramadan is better than a thousand Tasbih in other months.” (Tirmidhi)
We leave you with a brief image of what awaits a spiritually fit traveler… “Their reward is with their Lord — Gardens of Eternity, through which streams flow; they will abide therein forever. Allah is well pleased with them, and they are well pleased with Him. That is for him who fears his Lord.” (98:9)
In other words, the destination weather is just marvelous!
