Welcome O’Eid
November 13th, 2004 byThis Ramadan wasn’t quite what I thought it would be for me. It was my first Radaman in a muslim country in over 7 years yet it wasn’t as good as those back home. I spent the entire ramadan devoid of halaqas because, well, most of them were in urdu and were held by the pakistani community folks and they’re almost intermingled with an ostenatiousness aura about them that I loathe. I think I would rather be alone, listening to online lectures, reading my books, then be in a crowd where I feel no brotherhood. I made dua that Allah grants me friends with good deen, a good crowd to be with. Unfortunately, I didn’t ask enough. Fortunately, Qiyam is everyday.
We’re walking to Isha salat, me and my dad and I ask him if he thinks Ramadan is over. Not based on facts, or moonsightings or any visual observation but rather what his gut feeling was. He doesn’t think so.
I do. I know Ramadan is over. I can feel it gone. As I look about the street, I see the children playing soccer, I see the smokers playing their cards and I see traffic passing by and I know, I know in my heart, from my heart, that Ramadan is over. It doesn’t feel like it anymore.
Despite that, we still pray tarawee’h. If nothing else, we prayed in jamaat such a lovely salat.
Eid Mubarak folks.
May Allah swt accept our fasting, forgive us our sins and grant us all a character that He loves.
November 13th, 2004 at 5:35 am
Ramadan in Pakistan has become more isolated for us as well, despite the fact that we also live in a ‘Muslim’ country. The past four years, devoid of much congregational prayer and Islamic gatherings, has caused my deen to become very internal and independent – which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Consequently, I’m rarely comfortable in a masjid and I don’t seem to have much love for the living and present Ummah. I need to learn how to get past my own expectations and comparisons and make the most Islamically with what I have here.
November 14th, 2004 at 3:21 am
Ameen to that beautiful du’a, Waleed.
As for Ramadan being over – I felt that, too. When it began, it didn’t feel like Ramadan in the first place. Halfway through, I kept thinking it was all over, and then I’d go to taraweeh at the masjid and breathe a sigh of relief and think, “Oh wait! There’s still time left!” But it was difficult to shake off that feeling of emptiness for the rest of the month, and sitting here now, on the last afternoon before Eid, it feels like Ramadan was never here in the first place anyway. Still, may we be granted the discipline and strength to continue (or increase) our devotion and worship throughout the months that follow, inshaAllah.
November 14th, 2004 at 8:18 am
and here I thought it was just me having a lonely Ramadan. In a way, I wish it WERE just me. It saddens my heart to see that Muslims everywhere — for example, in the mideast (you), in Pakistan (Owl), in California (Yasmine), in Jersey (me) — are feeling a lack of brother/sisterhood, even in Ramadan. I pray that even if we were on our own, we made some progress with ourselves. May Allah swt strengthen our hearts in the deen throughout the year, not just in Ramadan. Ameen to your dua as well.
November 16th, 2004 at 5:51 pm
salaam and eid mubarak! i spent my eid prayers in a local school’s gymnasium and praying on a basketball court but with all of my muslim bretheren surround me, i didn’t mind. insha’Allah, the shine of the month of ramadan will linger in your heart a bit longer; at least enough to get you to the month of hajj!
November 18th, 2004 at 10:47 am
eid mubarak waleed!