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Tips to Praying at Home in Ramadan

The last ten nights of Ramadan are around the corner, and I’ve been to the mosque….once. I know that prayers are between  you and Allah, so praying at the mosque or at home shouldn’t matter. But it sort of does.

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I Didn’t Pray for 10 Years Part 2

It’s February, and for a lot of us that means the motivation to keep up with our New Year’s resolution is starting to dwindle. Unfortunately, building a habit isn’t as simple as “just doing it” but it’s not impossible either.

With Ramadan around the corner, one of my goals is to consistently pray on time so that I can start to feel the spiritual benefits of praying.

(Allhumdolilah, I received some amazing messages after I shared my experience about building a prayer habit in part 1 of this post.)

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I Didn’t Pray For 10 years…

Growing up in my parent’s house, I prayed regularly. But it was mostly because my mom told me to. It was easier just to do it than argue about it. However, when I lived alone in undergrad, I just stopped.

I had no real explanation for why I stopped. I just wasn’t motivated to pray. I didn’t feel that “spiritual renewal” people talked about during prayer. I didn’t feel an urge to pray. What I did feel was guilt. I felt guilty because I knew the importance of prayer, but I simply didn’t understand that importance.

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Pixar’s Coco and Shab-e-Barat

Shab-e-Barat occurs on the night of 14th Shabaan. It is celebrated by Muslims around the world differently, however most agree on the importance of prayer throughout the night.

So let me explain my relationship to Shab-e-barat (in a Pakistani culture).

Growing up Shab-e-Barat (Night of 14th Shabaan) meant my mom would pull out a long list of our ancestors who had passed away. She would stay up all night praying, but the part that I saw before bedtime was the part that involved this precious list.

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