Devil wouldn't recognize you
30 September 2008 @ 21:37 ; 0 CommentsIt's the end of the holy month, and in a couple of hours' time Muslims the world over will be welcoming in the joyous month of Syawal (aka Hari Raya Aidilfitri to the masses.) A time for celebration after overcoming the trials and tribulations of Ramadhan beforehand. A time where the young and the old dress up in new clothes, go visiting people's houses, seeking forgiveness, consume delicious, traditional signature foods and receive money (only the young. Bah!)
To be honest, I am a little sad that Ramadhan is coming to an end this year. Most have come to know this month as a time of abstaining from food and drinks. Yeah. That's it. But really- there are a lot of things that Muslims have to withheld aside from that. Other than physicalities, we also have to abstain from performing things that might jeopardize our overall fasting, i.e. the act of gossiping and listening to it, getting engaged with things that might steer us away from performing religious stuffs, sexual activities...
It's a little unfortunate nowadays that the young ones do not even bother to endure this holy month year in, year out. There were a couple of times I caught some of the kids by the staircase near my house, casually puffing away. Urgh repugnant! Is it so hard to fast for just a month? It's not really that hard, isn't it? If most can do it, why can't you? It not only draws attention to yourself, but it paints a bad picture of Muslims overall. Not something that we need more of, given the current state of the world today. As I see, it's often the younger generation (discounting yours truly, of course) that is pretty much projecting the tainted image of Muslims. But then again, we cannot really put the blame on them alone. The Mom once spotted an adult eating at the interchange. And here's the fun fact- it's only a couple of hours away from breaking fast. Sheesh.
I'm not trying to be all preachy and such (I hope I'm not) but again, really now- is it truly that difficult to fast for just a month? A whole month? Imagine all the pahalas (I think that translates as good deeds?) that you can attain by just performing the act alone! Albeit, we should not do it as just, but it's the sole act that triggers a wholly good thing, right? And if we strictly follow the rules that have been set for the month, imagine how much we have attained in our lifetime! Imagine all that being translated into the afterlife! That's as good a guarantee as going to heaven in itself! (Don't take my word for it, there's more for going to heaven other than fasting, yo. Accumulative lifetime efforts but this is not solely an Islamic blog, so don't quote me on this. And besides I don't want to pass down wrong information. I might be slandered for it.) A little unfortunate that every year the same old sights besieged me but I don't want to seem too condescending if I were to give that look, or worse- reproach them for what they're doing. Kids nowadays don't like to be pointed out their mistakes, eh. I should know. Sighhhh. If you keep quiet, you're in the wrong. If you approach them, you're in the wrong. Such a lose-lose situation.
I felt like I didn't fully utilize this holy month for a lot of things. No, obviously I did not skip out on any days of the month. It's a little too chidish to not fast at my age, right? Anyway, it's the fact that I didn't work hard enough during this month for redemption; Ramadhan being the holy month and all. As it stands, Muslims are encouraged to repent and work towards being a better Muslim this month (and subsequently onwards) but I felt as if I'm fasting for the sake of fasting this year, as comparable to a couple of years back. And the fact that it has already ended elicited something sad within me. Who knows if we might even see Ramadhan the following year? Yeah. Who knows...
Okay okay, let's cast the sad feelings aside. I would like to wish Selamat Hari Raya to anyone and everyone reading this. Yes, that includes you! Be safe now.
I felt like I didn't fully utilize this holy month for a lot of things. No, obviously I did not skip out on any days of the month. It's a little too chidish to not fast at my age, right? Anyway, it's the fact that I didn't work hard enough during this month for redemption; Ramadhan being the holy month and all. As it stands, Muslims are encouraged to repent and work towards being a better Muslim this month (and subsequently onwards) but I felt as if I'm fasting for the sake of fasting this year, as comparable to a couple of years back. And the fact that it has already ended elicited something sad within me. Who knows if we might even see Ramadhan the following year? Yeah. Who knows...
Okay okay, let's cast the sad feelings aside. I would like to wish Selamat Hari Raya to anyone and everyone reading this. Yes, that includes you! Be safe now.
