Ramadan Resolutions

1. Forgive and ask for forgiveness

Forgiving: I want to forgive all who have wronged me and I mean truly forgive without being able to extract their wrongdoings in my mind whenever I feel disappointed or angry with them. I want to forgive myself for my own short-comings enough so that I can move forward.
Being forgiven: Yesterday I hurt someone that I love very much and have been tormented with the guilt and regret of my words. I only pray that this person finds it in their heart to accept my sincere apology. However, there is a lesson to be learned through all trials and tribulations—I have learned that the act of true forgiveness is one of the hardest human acts to follow through on and truly asking for it is the meaning of repentance. May God forgive us all. I want to write a note, a plea, rather to all those whom I’ve ever known asking them to forgive me for anything I’ve ever done.

2. To know what I know not from that which I am able to learn

I used to strive to be a polymath (someone who knows copious amounts of information from almost all disciplines—a true “know-it-all”) but now I simply want to quench my thirst for knowledge and to never experience the cessation of desire to absorb more about the world and beyond. I want to learn more about this beautiful way of life and how to please the Creator of it.

3. Patience

This requires inhibition—an inhibition of irrational action in the midst of a fury of emotion. One of my greatest struggles. Patience=peace of mind. It is a prerequisite for the resolution above (#2).

3. Control my senses

It is utterly difficult but not an impossibility to monitor what we let our senses taste of the world. Everything sensory affects us spiritualyl whether we are cognisant of it or not. If we allow ourselves to view, listen to, taste and feel what God has forbidden then our souls will morph into a product of those experiences and before we know it we become beings foreign to our own expectations of ourselves. The essence of fasting is to supress one of our base urges to teach our souls restraint. Therefore, we must fight our base urges that often times serve only as distractions from our greater purpose in life. The first step towards this sensory liberation for me personally is to eradicate television and music with negative/mind-numbing messages, God willing.

4. Move towards greater compassion

I say “move towards” because the heart’s maturation and evolutions occur with understanding, experience, and inspiration. Compassion is a quality that one must approach to possess. It is within you but seen outside of you. This is a personal goal of mine because I know I must work on my own character and become the example of my visions for the world before I can take on the world. As the late Michael Jackson (may God have mercy on his soul) said: “if you wanna make the world a better place than look in the mirror and make a change”

5. Achieve greater God conscientiousness

This is everything from greater concentration in prayer and supplication to greater contemplation about the Glory of God in day-to-day life. Above all, I want to have sincerity within my concentration-contemplation struggle. Because without sincerity all is lost on empty promises.

This list is not a very comprehensive one but it is a summary of my top resolutions. I would encourage anyone celebrating this blessed month to make their own Ramadan resolution list, put it in writing and review it at the end of the month to see how you've grown spiritually from this beautiful oppurtunity for self-improvement. May Allah increase us in understanding and draw us near to Him during this beautiful month and all the months that follow, ameen.