Wow it has been over a month since my last post. Maybe I can blame the worklife to hinder my blogging activities, but I seriously don't think so. During my practical days, I was still posting regularly, I believe my only hindrance right now I am yet to have internet access at my home, and I'm too lazy to go out and find some cybercafe for that purpose.
Anyway, here we are, in Ramadhan. If you are still alive then be very very grateful, that Allah has once again invited you to His most blessful month of the year. We are His guests, and He chooses His guests, so how lucky we are.
Even with my limited knowledge, I can tell you how great Ramadhan is, and the post can be incredibly lengthy. But I hope not to bore people with boring writings, so I want to share with all of you one big thing that I really like about Ramadhan, that is, the opportunity to change.
Some describe Ramadhan as a school, an environment with regulations where you have to follow and discipline yourself. Ramadhan only comes with one obligation, that is to fast during daylight. (Actually, there is another obligation, if you count the zakah fitrah.) The other things are just supplementary, we are encouraged to do, but definitely not obligated. However, with the rewards on offer, how can we turn down things like sahur, tarawih, Quran reciting, donation and qiamullail just to name a few.
When Ramadhan comes, suddenly we have a good reason to be a good person. When you want to watch things that you aren't suppose to watch, you'll tell yourself, "No I can't, I'm fasting". When people talk bad things behind other people, you'll say, "Tak baik, bulan puasa". When you feel angry, you restrain yourself by saying the same thing.
Ever wonder, why don't we say that on other months? For example, backbiting people is no good, regardless of whatever month you're in. But you only restrain yourself on fasting months, because as I said, we have more reason to be good in Ramadhan. By going through this training school, we can actually continue the momentum of restraining ourselves from bad things after Ramadhan. That is what I call the opportunity to change.
Another thing is tarawih. Tarawih can be seen as a burdening night activity, with the amount of sunat prayers that we would never perform outside Ramadhan. Such is the 'burden', most events will always try to avoid Ramadhan because it would be a major hindrance to the planned schedule. However, people perform it by the masses for the unthinkable rewards on offer. Honestly, sometimes it comes to me that I feel so lazy, why don't I just skip tonight's tarawih, after all, it is not compulsory. Even eight rakaats seem so burdening, let alone twenty.
But at the end of the day, I'll realize, by 9:30 or 10:00 pm, I've already done my Isha' prayers plus my tarawih, and I already had my 'dinner'. The amount of time that I have after the tarawih is abundant, and I even accomplished more at that time than on other months. I even have time to have a supper before I go to bed. On a normal non-Ramadhan night, at 10 I would probably be doing some time-wasting stuffs, still haven't performed my Isha', probably even yet to have my dinner. In Ramadhan, you get to use your time effectively, and then only you'll notice you have more time than you bargained for.
In Ramadhan, things are bound to be even better, and if we can keep the momentum, there is a positive one year ahead of us. We come to Ramadhan with the intent to change, we leave Ramadhan a changed person.
Anyway, here we are, in Ramadhan. If you are still alive then be very very grateful, that Allah has once again invited you to His most blessful month of the year. We are His guests, and He chooses His guests, so how lucky we are.
Even with my limited knowledge, I can tell you how great Ramadhan is, and the post can be incredibly lengthy. But I hope not to bore people with boring writings, so I want to share with all of you one big thing that I really like about Ramadhan, that is, the opportunity to change.
Some describe Ramadhan as a school, an environment with regulations where you have to follow and discipline yourself. Ramadhan only comes with one obligation, that is to fast during daylight. (Actually, there is another obligation, if you count the zakah fitrah.) The other things are just supplementary, we are encouraged to do, but definitely not obligated. However, with the rewards on offer, how can we turn down things like sahur, tarawih, Quran reciting, donation and qiamullail just to name a few.
When Ramadhan comes, suddenly we have a good reason to be a good person. When you want to watch things that you aren't suppose to watch, you'll tell yourself, "No I can't, I'm fasting". When people talk bad things behind other people, you'll say, "Tak baik, bulan puasa". When you feel angry, you restrain yourself by saying the same thing.
Ever wonder, why don't we say that on other months? For example, backbiting people is no good, regardless of whatever month you're in. But you only restrain yourself on fasting months, because as I said, we have more reason to be good in Ramadhan. By going through this training school, we can actually continue the momentum of restraining ourselves from bad things after Ramadhan. That is what I call the opportunity to change.
Another thing is tarawih. Tarawih can be seen as a burdening night activity, with the amount of sunat prayers that we would never perform outside Ramadhan. Such is the 'burden', most events will always try to avoid Ramadhan because it would be a major hindrance to the planned schedule. However, people perform it by the masses for the unthinkable rewards on offer. Honestly, sometimes it comes to me that I feel so lazy, why don't I just skip tonight's tarawih, after all, it is not compulsory. Even eight rakaats seem so burdening, let alone twenty.
But at the end of the day, I'll realize, by 9:30 or 10:00 pm, I've already done my Isha' prayers plus my tarawih, and I already had my 'dinner'. The amount of time that I have after the tarawih is abundant, and I even accomplished more at that time than on other months. I even have time to have a supper before I go to bed. On a normal non-Ramadhan night, at 10 I would probably be doing some time-wasting stuffs, still haven't performed my Isha', probably even yet to have my dinner. In Ramadhan, you get to use your time effectively, and then only you'll notice you have more time than you bargained for.
In Ramadhan, things are bound to be even better, and if we can keep the momentum, there is a positive one year ahead of us. We come to Ramadhan with the intent to change, we leave Ramadhan a changed person.
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