Get What You Want This Ramadan

There’s something pretty awesome I’ve  been doing for the past three years, and it has blown my mind, each and every year. 

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If you do one thing this Ramadan, this is it! This won’t only revolutionize your Ramadan, but your whole life and akhirah, no exaggeration. 

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I’ve been compiling a dua list full of my dream duas, every Ramadan. It’s what gets me excited to welcome Ramadan, which gives me butterflies. Each and every single thing that I have prayed for, has come true. 

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This has worked for me so much so that I have to update my dream dua list every six months because within that time period I have already received my answer! Although Ramadan is the ultimate time to make dua there is no stopping you in making awesome duas all throughout the year and reaping its benefits.  

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I am not claiming sainthood or that I have a special connection, thats why I have all my dreams come true. Neither do I always feel close to Allah (swt) yet He gives, He gives and He gives. Sometimes instantly. 

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With all my flawed intentions, missed prayers and misguided deeds, I still applied, I still knuckled down, and made ultimate dua, every Ramadan for all the things I could think of. I testify to the fact that I see them in my life today. Not because I have special powers, but The One that I am praying to, has The Power over all. 

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The biggest misconception is that Allah swt  asks for perfection, people make these assumptions that if you’re a saint or your Knowlegable about Quran, or you’ve done so much Ibadah, only then can you be selected, to be favourable to His blessings. 

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We forget that He made us, He made us with flaws. He blesses us everyday, with things that we never asked for, even if we don’t pray for it. He blesses us even when we are unaware of it. Just imagine if we actually asked for it! 

What’s beautiful is that Allah (swt) in His Quran says ‘The caller’ instead of saying  ‘believer’ as He does countless other verses in the Quran. 

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This is Allah personally inviting you, me and all, you don’t need to be Muslim to apply, you just need to call. Ask from Him, The Higest Power that is All Encompassing, that is bigger than this universe and all it contains, for whatever you need help with. 

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He is the King of Kings, he made the universe and beyond, whatever you are asking for is peanuts in comparison! so ask away till your heart is content. 

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From small things to huge things, I always pray for ten things, and I pray my heart out, all through Ramadan, saying the same ten things and intensify the pleading to Allah (swt) during the last ten nights of Ramadan.

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And I’m talking big things, things, that I thought would never happen, things that have been dragging for over two decades. Once I started praying this way, with intensity and purpose, I have seen my prayers manifest, like dominoes falling one after the other, it’s amazing!
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I learnt this kind of purposeful dua making when I came across the Muhammad Al Shareef videos on Facebook and his visionnaries programme. I haven’t done the programme or the retreat, (which I would still looooove to do one day) but he shares the winning formula of how to formulate your duas, tapping into your passions, and really digging deep, to release a new found energy back into making dua. He offered a free eBook called the Sandal Strap of the Believer, which I lapped up and applied to my life and I have never looked back. 

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This is not your average self help guru cult, I assure you neither do I get paid for saying it neither does he. Because to benefit you don’t even need to take the programme, he gives the nuggets of gold for free, on his Facebook videos anyway, so go check it out here, and start changing the way you make dua!

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See below all the things that I apply in my dua making, as learnt from Muhammad Al Shareef videos.  He shares his videos especially during Ramadan ting ting ting because there is no other time of year that is as favorable than Ramadan, where crazy big dreams come true! So hurry and start doing it today! 

Are you ready for the start of the rest of your life? Ok let’s go…

Beautify your duas

Don’t make your duas monotone and bland. Your duas should make sense to you, they shouldn’t be rushed through mindlessly at the end of salah (five daily prayers) just as a ritual. This is a huge opportunity we are missing. Be selective, be purposeful. Call Allah by his beautiful names. 

If you don’t know any of His 99 names  you can easily google ’99 names of Allah and meaning’. If you still can’t remember His name in Arabic, call him by the quality that most draws you to Him, His mercy? His protection? His Guidance? Choose the names that resonate with you, and that which connects to what you seek from Him. 

Speak in a language that you understand. We may memorize duas from the Quran, and may get the jist of it, but break it down and say it in your own words, what is it that you are praying for. You will personalize your duas this way, be present and not just repeat what you’ve been doing for years or decades.

Prayers that go unanswered are the heedless kind, the ones that slip off the tongue out of habit but don’t come from the depths of your heart. Be sincere, be specific, choose your words, shake it up a little if you’ve been saying the same dua for x amount of years, visualize how it would make you feel to have your duas answered, conjure up these emotions when speaking to Allah (swt).

Ask for Forgiveness

Firstly admit that you are full of flaws, accepting yourself and humbling yourself in front of your Lord. It gives so much peace, realizing that perfection is not the goal, when you self reflect on your own behavior, admit and know when you’ve erred and try to rectify yourself daily. 

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Stay away from what’s making you repent so much, whether it’s bad company, your anger management, having to lie to get yourself out of a sticky situation. Whatever it is, just by saying sorry is not enough, you must make sincere intention to improve on this with active steps. 

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Remember Allah doesn’t want perfection, the fact that he gave us a way to repent is a testimony to that. Repenting humbles us continusly. We are always reminding ourselves of our human flaws and striving to better ourself , keeping ourself in check. By recognizing that nothing good comes except if Allah (swt) bestows you. Putting the ownership of good on Allah (swt).

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The mere act of admitting to your faults, and asking for His forgiveness, you have this bond that Allah (swt) has your back, you’re confiding in Him with your inner most worries about your self worth. He is Most Merciful, and He will catch us when we fall, He will always forgive as long as we keep repenting. And none should despair of the forgiveness of The Most Forgiving, The Most Merciful.

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If you want something, you should increase the times you repent. 

Allah (swt) promises in the Quran.

• Perpetual forgiveness of sins [Surah Nuh:10]
• Increase in wealth and children [Surah Nuh:12]
• Provision of gardens and rivers [Surah Nuh:12]
• Increase in strength  [Surah Hud:52]
• Enjoyment of good provision [Surah Hud:4]
• Allah bestows His abounding Grace upon you [Surah Hud:3]

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Be Thankful

There is no doubt that we turn to Allah when we are in trouble, when we are scared, when we are in danger, when we are in despair. How about the times when we are in ease and comfort? When we are happy, when we have something to celebrate, when we heard some good news, do we thank Allah?  

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This is a promise of Allah. If you are grateful for the everyday things, the good things, the safety, the shelter that we enjoy, He will increase it even more. And we all like to be increased, let’s get real here, but not many of us remember to be grateful. Add this ingredient to your prayers. List things that you are grateful for, and thank Allah (swt) for blessing you with it. 

Even if you are not living in desperate times you should not miss this opportunity and think I don’t need anything. It’s like you have a golden lottery ticket in your lap but you choose to throw it away! 

Make a dream dua list

Easy. So you’ve ticked all the boxes, what are you going to ask for? Write a list of things that you want, need, or are desperate for. Don’t make a meh list ask big. Think what’s bothering you now, where you want to be in six months from now, where you want to be 5 years from now. Picture it who’s there with you? Compile a list of things you need to get there. 

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You have everything, Alhamdulilah (thanks be to God) you’re living a cushy life, you have ease comfort. You must be living the dream life right? If not a dig deep and think what would make it perfect? 

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Still can’t think of anything, how about try this way, who are you jealous of? Who has the perfect life in your eyes? Who do you look up to? You’re happy for them Ma sha Allah, tabatakallah (God Bless them) but you also secretly wish for it in your life, you know you do. 

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Not to take away from them but you’d think it would be awesome if you also had a life like that. Ask for that! it’s all legit don’t worry. 

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This isn’t comparing your life to others, it’s pinpointing what qualities make you happy, gets you excited, gets you passionate to make you pray for it. Use that energy because if you’re not feeling your dua, neither is Allah (swt).

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If it’s half hearted, not even you are convinced by it. So make a list that makes you giddy with excitement, and naturally a silly smile is plastered all over your secretive face.

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Construct your duas write them out so that you are not erm-ing and ahh-ing after salah. have them engrained in your heart and really go for it. If by the end of Ramadan your list is non existent did you really want it that bad? Keep consistent and knock out those duas every single day, at every given opportunity, and especially on the last ten nights because that’s where the night of power lies. 

But what is the night of power you ask??? It’s only the best day in thousand months!!! You can be rewarded for thousand months of worship all in one night. Sign me up! What better night to have your prayers answered? Historically it’s when the first verses of the Quran was sent down to Muhammad (Saw).  

 However it’s not so simple, because no one actually knows which night it falls on except that it’s in the last ten odd nights of Ramadan. Although it’s popularly believed that the night of power is on 27th night, however this information was not disclosed to us by the Prophet Muhammad, maybe because he didn’t want his followers slacking after that night had passed, and he wanted us to prayer with as much vigor till the very last day of Ramadan. 

So just in case you may have started Ramadan on the wrong day because you followed your community, pray your heart out every single night, on the last ten nights believing that it just could be THE night. This way you won’t miss it out leaving it to chance. 

Pray for Others 
Don’t ever underestimate the power of dua. How to maximize your chances even more? Praying for others, and be generous in making dua for them, because whenever you do this the angels hear you and say also for you too! Can you imagine the angels praying for you! 

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It’s such a simple thing but we almost always only think about ourselves in our duas and not so much about others. By being reflective of the world, and empathising with others, and making their hardships our own, and their struggles our own, we pray for them like they are our own. We pray for the poor, the sick, the old, the young, the needy, the homeless, the jobless, those under oppression, those who have had to flee their homes, those who are lead astray, those who are lost, and the state of humanity.

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Imagine the collective ummah is praying for each other, and someone in each corner of the world is also praying for you, without even knowing your name or your face, because we are all part of humanity. How beautiful is that. 

If you pray for billions everyday at least 5 times a day, just imagine how many times the angels are praying for you! Guess who’s dua list just got bumped up a rank? Subhanallah! Glory be to Allah (swt) for making it easy for us in earning his favor!

The above are ways to construct your dream dua but 13 bonus things to remember is, times at which duas are readily accepted, which were mentioned by the Prophet Muhammad (saw). These don’t just apply during Ramadan, so keep knocking out those duas all year round! 

1. During Sajdah (prostration) lengthen your time spent with your head on the ground and say all your inner most duas. This is the position most liked by Allah and when you are most closest to Him. Whisper your duas in sajdah and let it echo in the heavens!
2. Whilst traveling. Don’t worry you don’t need to book a plane ticket. Never miss an opportunity to say your duas on your commute, to school, work or to the groceries. If you want it that bad there are no excuses.
3. Whilst fasting. 
4. When hearing the Athan
5. The period between athan and iqama (start of prayer).
6. In the middle of the night
7. In the last third of the night
8. Just before breaking your fast
9. At suhoor meal before preparing to fast. 
10. After Salah (five daily prayers)
11. At certain time on Friday 
12. Whilst drinking zamzam water
13.  After making wudu 

You’ve ticked all the boxes, you’re making your ultimate duas, every single day during Ramadan and outside of it also. What next? well you believe that your prayers will be answered don’t you? because that’s the promise of Allah (swt).

So don’t hesitate take the first step towards it. Act like your duas have already been answered. Make an active step to go forward to reach that dua, don’t stay inactive thinking that Allah will do everything for you, you have to make the initial effort to show you mean business. After that watch the flood gates open.

The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “Allah the Most High said, ‘I am as My servant thinks (expects) I am. I am with him when he mentions Me. If he mentions Me to himself, I mention him to Myself; and if he mentions Me in an assembly, I mention him in an assembly greater than it. If he draws near to Me a hand’s length, I draw near to him an arm’s length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.’”

Al Bukhari

So there you have it, my open secret to getting whatever you want this Ramadan. Till the next post have a blessed month and make it the best one you’ve witnessed yet!