A Poetical Fast (day 2)
Monday, August 24, 2009 Read more → moment of ehsan, ramadan diaries, saqib's ramadan, the poet, the poetical In the name of God, entirely Compassionate, especially Merciful | Peace be with you
In the name of God, compassionate & merciful بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ Peace be with you السلام عليكم
As the first fast of the month was kinda uneventful for me, consisting of going to work and coming back just in time for the Iftari meal, I’ll narrate some of the highlights of the second fast.
Having decided to change my Suhoor diet from a couple of sandwiches and fruit juice (usually mango) to just a bowl of cereal, I found that I was able to last a lot longer whilst active. Seriously. The day before, my stomach wasn’t rumbling, but my head was. >_<
Anyway, either the management at Matalan realised it’s Ramadan for their Muslim employees, or I just got lucky since I spent half my shift manning the fitting rooms. So yeah, an excuse to chew the fat (it’s a saying people, not literally) with fellow employees.
Oh Allah I hope my employer isn’t reading this... >_>
Anyway, in the rare times I used the tills, one conversation with a customer stood out today. She was kinda middle-aged and the conversation did last quite a long time considering she did buy quite a lot of items (a situation all too familiar in Matalan!). If I can recall, she said she was feeling thirsty because of the weather to which I responded that I was fasting since Ramadan began on Saturday.
She acknowledged this and praised those who stuck to their faith as ‘following God is generally better for you.’ I decided to ask her something about Lent (the traditional Christian period leading up to Easter), whether it really used to be 40 days of fasting. She confirmed this, but noted on how Christianity and most religions in general have been far too separated into different types, making it incredibly difficult for people to stick to one true path.
With this I had to ask her, ‘so do you believe in the Trinity?’ And to my surprise, she is a Christian who doesn’t. Erm, wow. Yes, I DO find it quite a rare thing. Hopefully one day, she’ll realise how close her belief would be to Islamic doctrines (as the Quran naturally rejects any idea of the Trinity as it is shirk) and embrace Islam. Insha’Allah. You never know; it was a nice conversation to have and something I had to reflect on.
The next moment had to be a moment of Ehsan. It happened during the Iftari meal. I always believed in Ramadan in being a month of change and spiritual cleansing, and I guess this has finally dawned in my older brother. Verily, Allah does close hearts and opens them too.
As I’m having my shallow fried spring rolls (mmmmmmmm) dipped in TOMATO SAUCE (yeah I ruined the integrity of spring rolls with such cheap dipping), my brother said to me how he cannot believe how different he is to how I am. I guess he was comparing our academic performance and Iman, which as he talked on, he confirmed.
Later on, he talked to me in private and voiced his worries about starting uni so late again. He’s scared of failing. To which I had to respond ‘so you think you’ll lose the game without even trying?’ It definitely must’ve woken him up since Alhamdulillah, he said that this month, he’s going to try and make regular Salah. Insha’Allah it’ll be permanent but it’s still astounding how Ramadan can influence such change in people.
Anyway, after a tiring Taraweeh prayer, I went to bed, woke up for Sehri (cereal again!) and went back to bed after Fajr. I then woke up at... 1pm. Bleh.
By: The Poetical
Peace & respect ★
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