Welcoming Ramadhan..

Salam..

Oh my God! That would probably be your exclamation when you read this very entry.. After all, I have in someway monopolized this blog.. But I promise to make this entry short and (possibly) sweet..


Ramadhan, The Month of Muslims
Many of us are aware and excited that Ramadhan is coming again.. Alhamdulillah, I am blessed to have the opportunity to welcome Ramadhan again..

I still remember what Ramadhan meant to be as a child.. I was merely seven or eight.. The thought of Ramadhan meant a whole lot different then.. Ramadhan was the definition of no-eat-no-drink long whole month, but it also meant Hari Raya (Eid) was coming closer - new clothes, new shoes, holiday with my family! Yes, it did meant a whole month of daytime fasting.. I hardly ever remembered it being any other than that.. Just fasting.. And the wait for Eid was worth it.. It would always be a school holiday.. The whole family would drive back home to my grandparents' house and it would be a massive gathering of the family - and I mean MASSIVE! I have lost count of the number, but take it this way - mom has 13 siblings, all married, and I have around 60+ cousins, and a small number of my cousins are already married some have children now.. We're talking in the range of 80 people in the family gathering.. However, even given the figure, it is now quite unusual for all of us to be there at the same time.. So the gathering would somewhat be a moderate group in the end..

Those were the days..

Now, Ramadhan has a lot more deep meaning.. I will not explain all of them here.. Suffice to say, with a little reading and a few talks and sermons attended, and of being an adult and a husband, Ramadhan is no longer just about the fasting.. Allah has clearly mentioned in the Quran : The night of Al-Qadr (decree) is better than a thousand months [Surah Al-Qadr : 3].. But indeed nobody knows which night is the night.. Some scholars believe it is one of the last ten days of ramadhan, while some others postulate it is one of the odd-number nights in the last ten days.. I best believe that all of them are great nights and no matter which night, I will try to fill my last third of Ramadhan with a lot of ibadah.. Also, in this blessed month that the Quran was first revealed to Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.. Bear that in mind - this sacred month was chosen by Allah to reveal the Holy Quran.. Have a think..

I have now learned to welcome Ramadhan in a different way.. I see Ramadhan as a month in which Allah has blessed us with a lot of multiplications.. Every good deed that is done in this month is multiplied by a great amount.. No one could quantify the factor, only He knows.. We are all encouraged to recite the Quran more than we usually do, to do more of the sunnah (optional, extra) prayers.. This month has become the month of cleansing and protecting our souls.. Clean ourselves by doing more and more good deeds, abstain from doing any evil deeds and even from evil thoughts.. Protect ourselves from our own nafs.. We know that syaitan and his troop are being chained, so that we are protected from him.. And this month marks the starting line of the battle within ourselves, only against our own nafs.. May we all be strong and emerge victorious at the end of this month..

I am glad and I am very blessed being given this opportunity again to welcome Ramadhan.. Even better, I have the great opportunity to celebrate this holy month with my beloved wife.. We both welcome this month with great open hearts and we pray Allah gives us the strength and wisdom to better ourselves, and we pray that we will sustain the spirit of Ramadhan even after the departure of it and hopefully come next Ramadhan, we will still be around to welcome it again, insya-Allah..

I take this small minute of yours to wish you a great Ramadhan.. May we all take this opportunity with great sincerity and get the best of benefit from this month.. Salam Ramadhan Al-Mubarak to all of you..