Assalamualaikum wbt and peace be upon you,
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Ramadhan has finally dawned upon us Muslims like a lovely purple tulip about to bloom.So, to all my dear Muslim brothers and sisters everywhere in this world, I'd like to wish you a prosperous Ramadhan and may all of us receive the Lailatul Qadar insyaallah.
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At my place, so far, we have performed three terawih prayers and the musolla is illuminated with beautiful lights and merry faces of my neighbours, all eager to reap the benefits of Ramadhan and to outdo each other in our worship to Allah.
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I'd go to prayers with my dad and lil sis every night, then have supper at the musolla before coming back home. My dad however continues the tadarus with the other brothers in Islam. I do not perform the tadarus at the musolla coz we have it in our school. Everyday at 9.40-10.00am I'll be reading the Quran with my friends Danish, Ikhwan, Hafiz and Riaz.My mom and big sis have opted to perform the tarawih at home this year. This is quite a surprise coz they have never missed the jamaah prayers before. My mom performs the tarawih after the Isya' prayer whereby she finishes one juzu' of the Quran in the prayers every night. My big sis goes to sleep first. Afterwards she'll wake up and perform the prayers at midnight.
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This year, the climate has changed drastically and it has somehow affected our fasting positively. As I've told you before, the hot season usually continues until September or October, but after the recent haze and the solatul Istisqa performed by Muslims in Malaysia, it has rained almost every single evening without fail. Even if it doesn't rain, the weather would be cool and this has definitely makes us feel less tired when fasting.
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Charity goes hand in hand during Ramadhan. This year, my mom has launched a campaign among her sisters in Islam to donate for the setting up of a Darul Tahfiz in Gaza, Palestin. They have collected quite a substantial amount of money already. My mom's friend who is going to Cambodia will also come to collect some donation to buy the al-Quran as well as rice for the poor Muslims there. Our musolla also passed around a donation box for a Maahad Tahfiz in our area, where the students become our Imams during Ramadhan. We are also going to have a big and modern mosque which is planned to be built next year. So far, people have started to donate a lot of money and expertise to make this project a success. My mom also plans to paint the house of some poor people in our area to cheer their Ramadhan and Eidul Fitri. And as a routine every year, we will visit orphanages, provide the breaking of fast dinner for them, donate money, visit the old folks home and send them donation and talk with them to cheer them up. I hope my brothers and sisters in Islam elsewhere in this world can share with me how you do charity at your place this month so that we here can emulate you.
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About the Breaking of Fast.
Alhamdulillah I'm born as a Muslim in Malaysia where Allah has shown His generosity in every single aspect of my life. We here have an abundant of food that most people are quite baffled as what to choose for their breaking of fast dinner. As you know, we break fast at the sound of the maghrib azan. In my home, my mom cooks simple food for us. First we make dua. Then eat dates with fruits like grapes or watermelon.My parents buy the dates in Makkah every year. We have all sorts of dates on our table like the Prophet's dates which my dad buys to last us for a year as well as other dates which I don't know their names. Then, we'll have our drinks either cold or hot. Then we'll eat a bit like rice or bread. My mom cooks simple food like meat, fish or chicken, accompanied by veges. Then we pray Solatul Maghrib, ba'dal Magrib and solatul Awwabin. then we rest, take a bath and wait to go for the Solatul Isya' and tarawih prayers at the musolla. My neighbours would also come to give us food and drinks that they have prepared or bought. Then my mom would replace with another type of food for them.
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About the Sahur.
Muslims are encouraged to eat before fasting in the morning. In my home, we wake up at 4.30am to eat. My mom usually prepares two types of food for us. Those who wish to have a heavy meal will take rice and its accompaniment. As for me, I like to take light food, so my mom would prepare pasta or mushroom soup with bread for me and my lil sis. Then we perform the Solatul Tahajud and Witr and then wait for the Solatul Subuh. I'd be ready to go to school by then. My dad would perform the Qabla Subuh at home, then proceed to pray Solatul Subuh at the musolla. Then he comes back to read the Quran.
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Counting the Minute.
As a Muslim, we would count every minute of our deed this month. My mom has a special diary for this month where she notes down all her acts and deeds for the day. My dad watches the Islamic programmes on TV until late at night and make notes on what the speakers said. As for me, I'd be counting my deeds in my head. My big sis would sit for hours in her secret garden just staring at the plants (I think she must be thinking or doing tafakur or whatnot). My lil sis makes a to-do list either in her notebook, on the phone or on a piece of paper and left it lying around for all us to see and have a good laugh at it coz it's soo funny.
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I guess that's all for now.
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Be happy wherever you are. remember, no problem is too big when you have Allah in your heart.
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Love and peace
Daniel Zaydi
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