Salam Alaykum!
It's been a long time since I've updated this blog, but here I am with an update for my favorite season: The Spiritual Season AKA The Season of Worship! This special season consists of three of my favorite months: Rajab, Sha'ban, and Ramadhan. It is these special months where Allah's mercy is raining down upon us, and it is upto us how much we will take advantage of this mercy through our deeds and actions.
As we tell the kids, imagine that you are invited as a guest to the house of someone very special! You look down and see that you're all dirty and smelly. What are you going to do? Well, you're going to take a shower and clean yourself, of course! Once you're all clean, you're going to put on your nicest clothes and perfume; you'll comb your hair and make sure you look your best. It is only then that you can arrive at the home of your guest, ready to have a great time.
Well, the months of Rajab, Sha'ban and Ramadhan are just like this. During the month of Ramadhan, we are the special guests of none other than Allah. So, to prepare for this special occasion, we must use the two months before. During the month of Rajab, we must cleanse of our souls from the filth of sins. How do we do this? Through istighfar, as well as other actions, such as fasting, reciting Du'a, etc. Once we have cleansed our souls in Rajab, we are ready to adorn them in Sha'ban. The best adornment is that of Salawaat and other good deeds, such as fasting. Finally, once our soul is purified and beautified, it is only then that we are able to enter the month of Ramadhan, ready to benefit from Allah's mercy and special blessings in this month.
In order to create the atmosphere of the Season of Worship in our school, we have a special bulletin board:
It's been a long time since I've updated this blog, but here I am with an update for my favorite season: The Spiritual Season AKA The Season of Worship! This special season consists of three of my favorite months: Rajab, Sha'ban, and Ramadhan. It is these special months where Allah's mercy is raining down upon us, and it is upto us how much we will take advantage of this mercy through our deeds and actions.
As we tell the kids, imagine that you are invited as a guest to the house of someone very special! You look down and see that you're all dirty and smelly. What are you going to do? Well, you're going to take a shower and clean yourself, of course! Once you're all clean, you're going to put on your nicest clothes and perfume; you'll comb your hair and make sure you look your best. It is only then that you can arrive at the home of your guest, ready to have a great time.
Well, the months of Rajab, Sha'ban and Ramadhan are just like this. During the month of Ramadhan, we are the special guests of none other than Allah. So, to prepare for this special occasion, we must use the two months before. During the month of Rajab, we must cleanse of our souls from the filth of sins. How do we do this? Through istighfar, as well as other actions, such as fasting, reciting Du'a, etc. Once we have cleansed our souls in Rajab, we are ready to adorn them in Sha'ban. The best adornment is that of Salawaat and other good deeds, such as fasting. Finally, once our soul is purified and beautified, it is only then that we are able to enter the month of Ramadhan, ready to benefit from Allah's mercy and special blessings in this month.
In order to create the atmosphere of the Season of Worship in our school, we have a special bulletin board:
The board will be updated for each month. Currently, it's set for Rajab (I will post updates for Sha'ban and Shahr Ramadhan iA). The board is divided into three main sections:
Rajab Information
1. General information about the Spiritual Season
2. A hadith about the greatness of this season and especially Rajab
3. A simplified list of recommended am'aal for this month
4. Rajab A'maal cards - students are encouraged to take one and use it when completing their am's this month
5. Rajab Self-Assessment Sheets - students can keep track of their a'maal and award themselves points with these sheets
Events
Event cards tell students about the special occasions that take place this month
Trivia
The trivia section is a fun, interactive way for students to learn some fun facts about Rajab. Students are invited to write their name on a piece of paper and put it in the envelope that contains the correct answer. For each question, we will pick one winner from the winning envelope to receive a special prize!
Click here to download all the printables needed to put this bulletin board together.
Another activity for this month is the Season of Worship Plants activity.
This project uses the metaphor of a plant to explain this season. In the month of Rajab, we plant the seed of istighfar that will help our soul bloom. In the month of Sha'ban, we nourish this seed with Salawaat, and it begins to sprout. Finally, we find that in Shahr Ramadhan, our soul is in full bloom, but only so long as we took proper care of it in the previous two months!
Click here to download the lesson plan and templates for this activity
Stay tuned for more projects coming up soon! I have a great Me'raj project that I will be posting up soon, inshAllah. If you use any of these, we'd love to see pictures!
Iltemase Dua!
