Asalaamualaikum

Firstly, we hope your fasts are going well and you do not, like me, resemble the walking dead by 5 pm. We also hope that you are managing the daily schedule and are still taking note of the advice attached to the schedule.

Secondly, feedback on the program will be greatly appreciated. We will try our best to take your feedback into consideration. If we cannot accommodate your concerns or suggestions this Ramadan, we will make a note for next Ramadan! It is important to us that you gain maximum benefit from this program.

Thirdly, I will post a little teaser of upcoming themes we will focus on over the next few days. We are rounding up Forgiveness today and will move on to the next theme tomorrow. Please note we may come back to this theme later to perhaps look at it on a deeper level.

Finally, remember to use each daily task as a stepping stone to form better habits. For example, remind yourself constantly to make self-reflection, forgiveness and clemency a habit (Day 2). From today spend a little time each day doing a speed version of yesterday’s task in your mind (put a little reminder on your cell phone if it will help). You could do this while you’re stuck in traffic, walking, waiting in queue at the supermarket, waiting for your boss to stop talking … Ask yourself if you’ve harmed anyone during your day. Ask for forgiveness and try to figure out a way to avoid repeating the mistake.

Forgiving is not easy, so if you haven’t made any progress forgiving those who have hurt you, do not despair, keep trying and make dua! Try making dua for the person as well. Ask Allah (swt) to give you understanding of their behavior, to help them to recognize their fault and to rectify it. Finally, ask Allah to forgive them and help you to forgive them. It’s also helpful to ask Allah to forgive you if you have wronged them in any way.