Ramadan Kareem? - Pretty much Happy Ramadan in Arabic. It's a traditional greeting and extends a wish that the person you are addressing will feel happy & strengthened by their fast.
Well this has been my first day of my first Ramadan and I have been privilege to share it with a small on-line group who have keep in touch with what they have been doing, and why. So it's been a great vantage point and enabled me to share in it from the inside, so as to speak.
The day begins with early morning prayer and a hefty breakfast before sunrise. As the Quran requires that you neither eat nor drink between sun rise and sun set it's important to get the blood sugar off to a good start and fuel up for the long day ahead.
Then it's pretty much business as usual till sunset.
The day is peppered with occasions of prayer. There are the 5 daily prayer times (Salah) which are formal prayers said in the home, or where ever, and there are spontaneous (D'ua) petitions and alms giving or Zakah.
Breaking of the fast happens at sun set when the whole community gather at the mosque (masjid) for evening prayers (Isha) and a communal meal called Iftar.
This is as much a social as a spiritual occasion with feasting and praying going on till late.
What struck me was the sense of excitement (passion even) with which everyone embraced a month which would demand so much of them physically and emotionally, but which they wouldn't miss for the world. Their expectations of personal renewal are high. Many even make lists of things they want to achieve (spiritually & emotionally) during Ramadan. I even read on the BBC web site that people from the remote hill provinces in Kashmir have moved into more populated areas just to be involved.
I'm no stranger to religious festivals, meetings etc but I've never struck such a sense of excitement or such a ready willingness to embrace personal hardship
. . . . . . just for the love of God.
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7 years ago
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2 comments:
Ramadan Kareem :) I hope your first day went as well as mine.. although not having a social circle doing the same and groups of people to celebrate iftar with is definitely a drawback to celebrating Ramadan independently.
That's the ONE drawback of having experienced my FIRST Ramadan in Egypt.. it just doesn't get any better than that... but I'm making it ok and feeling good.
A slight headache yesterday and today, but not too bad.
Love your blog, there's a lot to read and see :)
you are blessed.
Asalamalaykom,
Oh, John, there you go again trying to make direct parellels!
Ramadan is really closer to advent than to Christmas. It is a time of introspection not celebration.
Christmas' closer counterpart would be Eid, the festival after the fasting is done.
But, truly it will be better for you to not constantly be finding the Christian equal within Islam. It's better to simply live your Islam without the previous framework pinning it in.
Oh, and as for me...I don't wish Ramadan Mubarak but rather Ramadan Kareem which feels better to me. It reflects better that this isn't exactly a time of happiness but a time of strenghtening.
May you find strength in Allah.
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