Interior Decor for Ramadan

Interior decor is an art. People spend much time, effort and money in their homes, offices, and businesses in order to get that special finish and make it look as impressive and appealing as possible.

Great pains are taken to ensure that the furniture “blends in” with the surroundings. The carpets are made to match the curtains. Just any ordinary bulb sticking out of the ceiling is unthinkable. A variety of light fittings is positioned in the proper places so that the light may reflect in the best way. The right “tone” must be captured in the color coordination. Several other trimmings and trappings are added for the final touch.

Allah has also given us a month for interior decoration – a month to decorate our hearts. The month of Ramadan is a time to truly make our hearts sparkle and shine and to look truly impressive in the sight of Allah.

The heart with Taqwa indeed is a billion times more sparkling and impressive in the sight of Allah than the most expensive decor that money can buy!

Clean-up

The first part of interior decoration is to remove the cobwebs, scrape the rust and do a general thorough clean-up. The cleanup of our hearts requires sincere Tawbah. We will have to scrape off the rust of sin, remove the filth of jealousy, sweep out the dirt of malice, scrub away the pride and generally wash away all the evil within us with the flowing tears of earnest and sincere repentance.

Simply Weep

The preferable procedure of repenting is very simple. Dedicate some time in solitude. Perform a proper wudhu (ablution). Take care to fulfill all the sunnah and etiquettes of wudhu. Thereafter get on to the Musalla (prayer mat) and perform two rakats of Nafl Salah with the intention of the Salaah of Tawbah and then let the tears of repentance flow. If the eyes cannot cry, just let the heart weep.

Weep over our utter ingratitude. Beg Allah’s forgiveness by saying: “O Allah… You granted me a heart to fill with love for You… but I filled it with the love of the world… with even haraam love… O Allah forgive me. You granted me legs and feet to walk to the masjid and to places that You love … but I walked to the dens of vice… please forgive me. You gave me hands to raise unto You, to hold the Quraan Majeed and to assist the needy… but I used it to touch what You forbade, to indulge in illicit “chatting” on my phone and to take away what belonged to others… forgive me. O Allah, I ate the sustenance that You provided… and then used the energy to disobey You… please forgive me….” This is just a little example. Simply weep over every sin perpetrated and wash the heart clean.

However, when washing the heart with the tears of repentance the detergent that is compulsory to use is the deep regret for having transgressed the laws of Allah Ta‘ala and the firm determination that one will not return to the sin in future.

Allah Knows Everything

After removing the filth, rust, and dust, the internal decor must commence. The purpose of fasting is to decorate the heart with Taqwa – the fear of Allah and the constant awareness that “Allah is watching”.

While fasting one refrains from all eating and drinking even if one is very hungry and thirsty. Why? Simply because it is the command of Allah the Almighty… and Allah is watching… and Allah knows. Likewise, no more gambling, taking drugs, committing Zina, illicit chatting, looking at haram, stealing because… Allah is watching everything… Allah knows everything.

Taqwa also requires the fulfillment of all the obligations of Deen, salah, zakat, fasting, hajj, etc. The heart with Taqwa indeed is a billion times more sparkling and impressive in the sight of Allah than the most expensive decor that money can buy!!!

Decorate the Heart

Ramadan is also a month to decorate the heart with various other important trimmings and accessories. Rasulullah  (ﷺ) is reported to have said that “Ramadan is a month of patience and compassion”. -Saheeh Ibn Khuzaimah; 1887.

Therefore, paint the heart in the soft shades of patience. Tint it with the color of tolerance. Give the heart an elegant look by draping it with compassion.

With patience and compassion, we can change the world around us. Patience will help us to be obedient to Allah Ta‘ala as well as to be content. Compassion will enable us to feel the suffering of millions of people around us and make us do something to reduce their pain. The millions squandered in wasteful and even forbidden things will then easily and happily be channeled to the poor and needy.

Together with the above, the beautiful trimmings of humility, generosity, forgiveness, etc. have to be included in this heart to make it truly shine. It will shine in the sight of Allah and His angels. It will sparkle on the day one passes away – that day when we will be removed from the shining car, the magnificently decorated home, the glittering jewelry and all the other trimmings and accessories. It will shine on the Day of Judgement – when all our beloved possessions of this world would have long become dust.

This Ramadan let us not waste much time in acquiring glittering garments, dazzling jewellery, and shining shoes to decorate ourselves for Eid. While cleanliness and neatness are essential on the outside, the greatest effort must be made to decorate the inside – the heart.

This nevertheless does not happen merely by reading an article. We will have to spend time in Allah-fearing company and environments of taqwa. These qualities will then Insha-Allah rub off on us.

May Allah grant us the ability to truly adorn and decorate our hearts. Ameen.

14 Comments
  1. This is great! I learned something new! Thanks for sharing!

  2. Lovely post! Looking and improving/being grateful internally is way more important than gathering materials. I love it.

  3. This is a brilliant post, we are doing Ramadan too and we just cleaned the entire house

  4. Thank you for sharing about Ramadan. My favorite part of your post is the importance of focusing on beautification of the person’s inside – the heart.

  5. Patience and compassion are wonderful characteristics of Islam. I respect and appreciate the religious practice of Ramadan greatly.

  6. Very beneficial site, keep up the good work!

  7. This was an interesting read. I am not very religious but I always respect and enjoy learning about other beliefs in this world. Thank you for sharing 🙂

    • Hi Tina, I am really happy to know that you found the post interesting. I have studied many religions and found that every religion inspires “universal brotherhood”. I have lots of Christian and Hindu friends and we share happiness and enjoy our lives together.

    Leave a reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.