June's challenge: A Sunnah A Day

In the five past months, I take pride in having successfully accomplished 3 of 5 challenges that I had chosen for myself at the beginning of the year.

June's challenge is special for so many reasons: first because it marks the half of the year, so it's a nice timing for assessment and analysis. What do you think? It always helps to set milestones towards achieving your goals.. Second. this month hosts Ramadan of this year, which is a special spiritual annual occasions for Muslims to purify their souls and get closer to Allah through good deeds.

The idea of this whole challenge is to gain some new habits. Following sunnah can be really simple to apply. Sometimes you even realize you are doing so but lucking the intention 'niah' which is sad because then you miss a lot of ajr. How I suggest we proceed is easy: accumulate sunan by adding a simple one each day. By the last day of the month we will have incorporated 30 new habits in different aspects of our daily lives.

I thought of using the hashtag #ASunnahADay, which resembles a lot the concept of #APhotoADay many bloggers share around in social media, especially Instagram.Please do not hesitate to post new ideas to the Facebook page of the blog. I will do my best to share with you daily updates on how I am handling the challenge throughout the month.

Now for the first half of the month, I have picked the following sunan :

1. Morning and evening adhkar. I have found nice links on Youtube, such as this one and that one. They take around 20 minutes each, and I'd suggest you download them and put them in your car to repeat while on the road, or directly on your phone to launch after your alarm rings in the morning and once you get home at night
2. Greet the other: As simple as saying 'Asaloum alaikoum wa rahmatou Alah taala wa barakatouh'. You may already do this, just rethink your intention and don't mind if people don't respond. They don't realize what they are missing.
3. Call a relative: if you can go see him physically it's even better. If you have a different with someone, then just go talk to him/her, the ajr is even better. Plus with the approach of the Holy Month you better leave no space for conflict
4. Help someone, at work. at home or in the street: living in community makes the focus less on you as a single individual and more on the 'group' spirit. If you can do someone a favor, don't hesitate. I am sure there are many opportunities out there waiting for you to show some kindness.
5. Bath Friday: Everyday's shower also counts, because Islam insists on cleanliness. Make sure not to miss Friday's ghusl
6. Say MachaAllah: even when you look yourself at the mirror (and like what you see), even when you have no intention to hurt the other. Make it the default way to praise someone/something and express your liking.
7. Sit down to drink: and by the way please don't drink directly from the bottle, use a cup
8. Don't eat till you are full: what a nice exercise to start before Ramadan. We all love food very much but what about we eat enough but not too much, not more than we need for our bodies to function,
9. Give to charity (anonymously if you may): giving does not include only money, you can give time, you can help by spreading the word, you can help raising awareness about a cause or an event. 
10. Tolerate: if you drive, you can let that passenger go first, if not in a random line with an older man or in the public transporation with a pregnant woman. Focus on the intention again,
11. Don't be loud
12. Keep the gaze on the ground whilst walking: have you ever tried this? Yes it is feasible, easy and recommended for both women and men. Plus it's hot, and Ramadan is coming..
13. Stop abusing 'time': not sure if this translation is correct. What this means is that you should stop calling our time names, it is not responsible for people's sin. And by the way, enough complaining on the weather, too
14. Express your gratitude: say 'thank you' more often and remember to praise people when they deserve to (pay attention not to exagerate, though)
15. Don't overcomplicate: simplicity is recommended, stop making everything seem so hard and almost impossible.

Ramadan is expected to be around the 18th or 19th of June, I thought the sunan of the second half of the month could adapt to that. Plus, I'd love to receive feedback from you: what can we add to this list? Any easy sunan for us to apply daily?