Happy Ramadhan

"You are my fire," I want It That Way by Backstreet Boys.

Thanks to Najwaa’s blog , the boys are now in my head. *Sigh* This is so pre-adolescent. They were cool back then, but then I discovered the Arctic Monkeys, so I forgot all about them and all the other MTV-made Superstars.

Moving on, it's that time of year again. Yes, it's the time when you can't eat from dawn 'till dusk. The time when you have to get up at 5 o'clock in the morning to catch you last hour of food before fasting. The time when you pray 23 (or 11) extra rakaats a night for Tarawih. The time when you try your hardest to not get angry. The time when you try your hardest not to pick your nose (I have my doubts over this one). It's Ramadhan!! Yeay!!

Be thankful to Allah Almighty for allowing us to experience this annual treasure of a period again when all your good deeds get extra pahala and all the syaitans get chained in Hell so that they won't disturb us in our Ibadah. All Muslims race to get as much pahalas as they can, so that they can gain access to Heaven later on.

Through the Ramadhans that I have experienced so far after 19 years of life on Earth, I've noticed a few things. You guys might have noticed them too. Check it:

1. Early on in Ramadhan, especially the first week or so, everyone (almost) goes for Tarawih. you can get the fullest Suraus and Mosques at night during this period. But this number dwindles to roughly half the early congregation as Ramadhan progresses. We can only see the number increases when it nears the end of this monumental month, because supposedly Lailatul Qadr (the night of a thousand months) comes at the last week of Ramadhan. These people who stop going for Tarawih for no reason, they really make me scratch my head. Seriously, this month only comes once in a year, and you can't guarantee that you'll be here when the next Ramadhan comes (if it comes). And Lailatul Qadr could come at ANY night of the month. There's no guarantee that it DOES come at the last week, so it would be best that, to be safe, we go every night. You don't lose anything by going every night. "Tired!", "Too full!", and "Lazy!" are the usual responses to not going. Guys, please. This comes only once a year. Think about what you're letting slip away.

2. I have also noticed that we refrain from picking our noses when we're fasting. Why? Because there's that rule "You are not to insert anything into your rongga badan (what is it in English?) when you're fasting". But if we can't insert our finger into our noses when we want to pick it, then why can we insert water into our mouths when we want to gargle to take our ablutions? I have had this question in my head since the first time somebody said to me "Hey, you can't pick your nose! Batal puasa!". It has baffled me, but I have never asked any Ustaz or Ustazah this question because I ALWAYS forget to. I wonder why. If anyone can help me out on this, it would be most helpful (Help me find an answer, not help me pick my nose. Sheesh.)

3. When you're occupied with something, you forget that you're hungry. Here's an example. Once, when I was in Form 3, I played Championship Manager from the moment I woke up, until it was time to break fast. What was fascinating was that when it was time to break fast, I really thought that it was still noon. Of course I prayed Zohor and Asar, but I forgot all about it and got a bit too absorbed into the game. So when my mother scolded me "Abang! Get over here and bukak puasa!", it took me totally by surprise.

4. You actually CAN go through a whole day without eating anything and live. On normal days, when you're so swamped that you unintentionally skip a meal, you think you're gonna die if you don't eat anything. You can't concentrate in class because you didn't have any breakfast. You can't go down to the field to jog or play football because you didn't have lunch. But when you're fasting, you CAN do all those things without having to eat. You still need to go to class and run up and down campus to do work, and you still go down to the court to shoot some hoops. And here's the surprise. At the end of the day, YOU DON"T DIE!! So when you accidentally skip a meal, or have insufficient funds to eat, don't think that you're going to starve to death. You're gonna be just fine, just have faith in Allah and everything will turn our just fine.

Be thankful for all that is given to us, and in this noble month, try to rack up those good deeds to try to get on Allah's good side. That goes for me too. I've got to stop swearing. That's my aim for this Ramadhan (alongside completing my month-long fast). I'm sure you guys have your own aims for this Ramadhan too. Be it being able to complete the full 30-days of fasting (that you MUST), to something a step higher like reading the Holy book every day of the month (that's an aim of mine too). Whatever they are, I hope you achieve it. And whatever good habits that you pick up along this month, try to keep doing 'em even after Ramadhan. You won't regret it.

Cheers!