The month of blessings: Ramadan Kareem

Published in Element Prime (Debut Issue)

http://issuu.com/elementprime/docs/element_prime_october_2011/19

It’s the dusky!!!! Dusk time again. All eyes are sticked to the shaded sky in search of the small milky moon. Here the new born baby moon has sighted. People recite dua of “Sighting moon” and wishes “Ramadan Mubarak” to each other. A flood of SMS, e-mails, e-cards (electronic cards) have washed every single inbox whether it’s of computer or mobile phone.

Ramadan is a month of self-regulation and self-training, with the hope that this training will last beyond the end of Ramadan. It is beneficial for one’s entire life. By Listening the word Ramadan the first thing that comes in our mind is “Fasting”. Fasting is the fourth Pillar of Islam. It an obligatory practice during the holy month of Ramadan, from fajr (dawn), until the Maghrib (dusk). Muslims are prohibited from eating, drinking and other fundamental things that are not allowed during fasting. In day time Muslims purify their souls by fasting and at night, they praise Allah in the form of taraweeh.Along with fasting and taraweeh another golden aspect of Ramadan is Zakaat which is use to given to the needy people. We do fasting whole month sometime 29 days and sometimes 30 days depending on the sighting of Shawwal moon and after the moth of patience, Allah Almighty has arranged a celebration for us that is Eid.

Ramadan is all about fasting and fasting is not about keeping your stomach empty from sehri till iftari. Fasting is all about patience. We keep our tummy empty for such a long duration not to keep our body slim and smart but to realize the punch of hunger and thirst. There are lots of people around the world who don’t have bread to eat and any refreshment to drink. For such people, refreshment is a dream they don’t even have clean and pure water to drink. Let’s take an example of Pakistan, after the destruction of last year’s flood; the affected people don’t have proper houses to live.

The month of Ramadan is also known as month of tolerance or patience. It’s divided into 3 ashra (1o days). First beginning ten (1 to 10) days are known as days of mercy, blessing and grace. During these ten days, Muslims seek Allah’s grace by reciting dua and Quran. Next ten (11 to 20) days are known as days of forgiveness in which Muslims seek Allah's forgiveness and repent for all sins by reciting the specific dua. Last ten (20 to 29/30) days of Ramadan are to seek refuge of Allah from the hellfire. There is a specific dua for these days too.

Whole month is like a sack full of sparkling gems and stones like diamond and ruby; everyone is fond of jewels and is ready to work hard on the way of religion in order to earn the reward (sack). Month of fasting is not only consist of blessings of ashra (10 ten days), it also includes 5 hidden nights. It’s like the game find hidden treasure. However, here the treasure is Holy Quran and the task is to find the night in which Holy Quran descended. Muslims use to pray and recite Quran in these 5 nights that is the night of 21th, 23th, 25th, 27th and 29th roza (fast). However, many scholars and Ulemas consider 27th night the hidden one but Allah knows better.

In Ramadan, whole routine use to change our office, schools or university timings along with them the thing that get affected more is our diet. As we keep our stomach empty whole day then we break our fast at the time of Maghrib or it can be say that we break our fast by attacking the refreshments. Well let’s have a look on the precautious diet that you should take during the month of Ramadan.

The month of Ramadan is of 30 days but these days fly away very quickly. The holy month of 2011(1432) arrived and passed away in no time. May Allah accept our prayers which we observed in this Holy month.  Ameen!