Ramadhan Kareem

The holy month of Ramadhan is here again, Alhamdulillah, we welcome this month with lots of praises to AlMighty Allah. Ramadhan was the month in which the first verses of the holy Qur'an were revealed to Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). It is a time for inner reflection, devotion to God and self-control. The past four years of Ramadhan have been more challenging for me, as it was the moment that I had to hold hubby’s hand in guiding him to embrace the blessing of this month.

Initially, it was tough for him especially having to get up in the early morning, and eating while still half asleep. However, he managed to complete the whole month of Ramadhan year after year, Alhamdulillah. Distance and time is testing us again, last year I had to spend half of the Ramadhan with the kids, and another half with hubby. However, this year he will be going through Ramadhan on his own, as I will be with the kids. But, I know his faith will ease him through this period of Ramadhan without me. InsyaAllah.

I was brought up to look forward to the end of Ramadhan, where Eid ul-Firt will be a month of celebration, new clothes, new shoes, new curtains in the house, new sofas, everything new, never mind if you can afford them or not. To top all these will be the amount of biscuits, cakes, whatever in various colors, ironically of the same taste decorating the table. I have now learned that this is not wanted in Islam, none of them is.

Sadly cultural norm is still being carried out like a ritual, before even the beginning of Ramadhan, assortment of biscuits are already on sale, not forgetting the advertisement for easy payments for sofas and household items. Tailors are packed with materials to be sewn into the traditional `baju kurung’. Families now are more exclusive, meaning they each have their color theme for the year. I used to be one of the slaves to cultural demands, but Alhamdulillah, I am out of this now. None of the kids or me will be making any new attire for the coming Eid, what we have are still good, and we are happy with that.

It keeps me pondering, how come people are still blinded by the eagerness to show off then just the simple way of welcoming Eid ul-Firt?