By Karimah Bint Dawoud, Muslim Chaplain & Well Being Writer
A REMINDER TO MYSELF FIRST.
We are fast approaching the month of Sha’ban, a month of preparation before the month of Ramadhan. A time to let go of things, just let it go, it’s time to weed out all those all unnecessary things, get your physical, mental and spiritual garden ready for the rain of Ramadhan blessing. I love islam and I’ll tell you why…as the new moon brings us into the month of Sha’ban, the astrologers this year are going to be talking about the month of Cancer. Cancer is represented by the crab who loves to hold on to things; possession, people and out dated behavior patterns. Islam provides the antidote to that sickness, so this coming month we are going to promote the theme of LETTING GO!

Clean out, tip out, thin out ,give away, not just in the material sense, oh no honey you are not getting off that easily. It’s time to let go of those negative behavior patterns, once you let them go then maybe the crab will walk a little straighter, face your demons they are not that bad. So while we are having a material physical sort out, we are reflecting or pondering as Sheikh Sajid Omar likes to say and thinking about what we need to let go of in our behavior. Purification of the Heart by Sheikh Hamza Yusef, is  a great book for helping you identify negative traits and possible cures.

Look at the 99 names of Allah, see where you are strong and where you are weak, then ask Allah to help you get ready this month to work on these things throughout ramadhan, inshallah.

http://www.arabacademy.com/en/downloads/Learn-Arabic-English-translation-of-99-names-of-Allah
For example I realized that I am quite easily influenced by what is going on around me, I need to ask Allah to make me more grounded in my Islamic beliefs, especially when I am in the company of non Muslim, this is one example, there are thousand more.
We need to get our house, our office, our garden, whatever ready for the guest that is coming soon, the special guest, Ramadhan.
Rather than waste time doing these thing during Ramadhan, although a lot of reflection takes place as we do physical work, we have decided to get on with these tasks beforehand so we can spend more time in prayer and reading learning Quran and doing good deeds like visiting sick, helping out at the masjid and our feeding the homeless project feed the needy. May Allah make it easy for us all ameen.