Building Good Habits In Ramadan, it’s a lot easier to fast and pray extra prayers than outside of Ramadan, don’t you agree? There is a special baraka (blessing) in this month that can’t be found in any other time of the year. But, that doesn’t mean that when Ramadan ends, we go back to being the way we were before Ramadan started, am I right? Sometimes we feel so motivated to be super great Muslims that we will give all of our energy for a few days and try to pray extra prayers and read more Qur’an, fast, and do more dhikr, but what happens after a few days? That’s right. Often, we lose our motivation and energy to keep up that same pace. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: عن أبي هريرة قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ اكْلَفُوا مِنْ الْعَمَلِ مَا تُطِيقُونَ فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الْعَمَلِ أَدْوَمُهُ وَإِنْ قَلَّ 'Take up good deeds only as much as you are able, for the best deeds are those done regularly even if they are few,' (Sunan Ibn Mājah 4240). This is actually how we start forming good habits! So, instead of saying, 'I’m going to pray 8 raka’at of qiyam every night,' we can say, 'I’m going to start praying Salatul Duha regularly until it becomes a habit.' What else can we do to establish good habits? One way to establish the habit of wudu for example is to always make wudu after we’re done using the bathroom. That way we can consistently be in a state of wudu. We don’t even have to think about it, like making our beds once we hop out of them. Try to link a good habit with something you’re going to do anyway like getting out of bed or using the restroom. Another tip is to have a friendly competition with your friend or sibling to hold yourself accountable. Do you know that Allah ﷻ wants us to 'race' towards Paradise? What do you think it means to race towards Paradise? Do you give up midway, or do you continue to push yourself, even if you feel tired and out of energy? How does it feel when you finish the race, knowing you gave it your all? Can anyone tell me two companions who would always compete with one another to get as many hasanat as possible? Yes, Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) and Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq (may Allah be pleased with him)! Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, ordered us to give charity and at the time I had some wealth. I said to myself, 'Today I will outdo Abu Bakr, if ever there were a day to outdo him.' I went with half of my wealth to the Prophet and he said, 'What have you left for your family?' I said, 'The same amount.' Then, Abu Bakr came with everything he had. The Prophet said, 'O Abu Bakr, what have you left for your family?' Abu Bakr said, 'Allah and his messenger.' I said, 'By Allah, I will never do better than Abu Bakr,' (Sunan al-Tirmidhi). They both motivated one another and because of that, they were able to be much better Muslims, may Allah ﷻ accept from them both! Can each one of you think of one habit that you would like to carry with you throughout the entire year, even after we say farewell to Ramadan?