That was a Ramadan that was

http://www.islamqa.com/index.php?pg=article&ln=eng&article_id=56

http://www.iisna.com/articles/?sid=pillars&id=1

http://www.iisna.com/articles/?sid=pillars&id=2

The fasting month for 2006 is over. It was a case of it came and it went. And many of us are not sure whether we will still be here when it comes again.

I had a very pleasant and simple fasting month this year, first week spent in Kuala Lumpur, then 2 weeks in Kuantan where I had to do some work, and the last week in Kuala Lumpur again.

It was a foggy journey from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur. The haze was rather thick at this time of the year this year.


And my wife and I decided that we stay put in Kuala Lumpur for the Eid (al-Fitr) celebration. Usually we go back to the kampong to be with my mother-in-law and my wife’s family, and during the Eid day pray at the local masjid, then visit my wife’s and what are left of my family in my original kampong a few miles away. And normally my brother and sisters celebrate their Eid on their own, we live very far apart and there is no central gathering place. Sad but we have to live with it. And normally during the first day of Eid I (and my wife and children) visit and give dua to my mothers at her graveyard, and the second day I visit my graveyards of my father’s family in my village. There the whole village gives dua to those gone, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, grandfather and grandmothers and all, friends, loved ones and relatives. It’s a sad occasion but taken in an atmosphere where everyone meet everyone else from far and near, and those not met for a long time will ask for news and also in remembrance of those gone days. One day, many of us will be buried in the same graveyard, unless the body once deceased cannot be brought back for one reason or another or on the request of closed relatives to be buried where death occurs.

Ramadan is the month of fasting (for Muslims), a month when one feels like doing good. Tarawih prayers are done every night,



we hear what Allah says in the Koraan and we obey (without question)



a small snack may be served after the tarawih prayers,


and towards the end of the month probably Qiamullai (night prayers which normally begins at about 3.30 in the morning, and may last until about 5 am). It’s a time of asking from Allah, a time of making dua, a time of self realization, a time of self reflect and a time of regret for ones past sins, and a time of asking for forgiveness from Allah, praying hard that Allah will allow one to go into His Heaven (and not get tortured in the fire of Hell). And Eid (al-Fitr),




the fitrah (alm for the month of Ramadan, due from all 'fasting' Muslims) is paid before the time of the Eid



is a time of rejoice, a time of celebration, a time when one feels that the one month of ibadah had been worth it.

And during the month of Ramadan, one listens more to the reading (and its better if one actually reads the Koraan whenever one can make the time) of the Koraan, the Hadiths and the reminders of by the Ulama to be obedience to Allah.




Its over and done with, the lessons learnt during the month of Ramadan should be the true guide of lives a Muslim should live by. One may not see another Ramadan.