Muslims Hide, And Seek...

It rained here in England, In buckets. It rained at suhoor time when I ate fish stew and drank milk (it sounds 'ick' but it's great, good for the body too) and tried to search for the Ramadan Moon. It rained all morning, afternoon and just when it took a breather for 30 seconds to let the sunlight in, it poured again. Not a soul in sight to see. No Ramadan Creams today, nope and silence overtook the nation.

Today's events:

• 'Some' Qur'an was read - literally, a few pages. Don't preach at me, I know reading more is better, I'm working on it.
• Dhuhr* salah was read on time! Yay!
• I sat in the studio again for a minute to assess the catastophic organisation. Then left.
• Asr* salah was also read on time! Yay!

For Iftar: I took to cooking scrumptious pinkish salmon fish with vegetables. The fish was panfried with herbs; roast potatoes were made and I learnt how to make my own fish sauce today. I'm on my way to Royal Cookery! I followed a recipe for parsley sauce but still, I changed it to coriander with garlic and it come out great. Well chuffed I am. If you're fasting right now I'm insanely sorry for enticing you with this but I simply had to share it. I'm a lost cousin of Mr Bean and take photos of everything. That, or I'm really down with Asianess. -smirk-

After Iftar: I finished some essay work still sat by the dining table and fell really sleepy by the computer. The thought came to my head that less people were around today. Back to that horror scene; I imagined grotesque things happening to Muslims across the country... They were hiding.

I'm certain our brothers and sisters are in hibernation doing "good"... But a little voice tells me they're shattered from fasting and have lost the will to live. >taps screen< SALAMINGS! PEOPLE?! ARE YOU ALERT?! -silence-

Ramadan IS tough; it can take out all your energy in the first couple of weeks but come on folks, we need to maintain super duper Ramadan Power right up to the 30th. Get out of hiding! Snap out of it! Don't make me come after you with a fork!

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Sadly, deeply saddening news was received before isha* prayer. Brother Mohammed Ali, whom we all know as 'Aerosol Arabic' was due to work on graffiti over the weekend in London but couldn't because of a family illness. Today (Thursday), we found that his Father was seriously ill, and, subhan'Allah, today he passed away between maghrib and isha. Dua's were read, I said 'inna lillahi, wa inna ilayhi raji'un' = To Allah we belong, to him we all eventually return and brothers and sisters spread the word to support Brother Mohammed and his family.

I then thought about my reminder yesterday. Remember that? I said death is a reminder of how we need to work urgently, do good now and leave stupidity for the ignorant. Brother Mohammed's Father was a righteous man al'hamdulillah and we make dua insha'Allah he will be at radiant peace, his life will be rewarded with Jannah and he will sit with our Prophets and noble Muslims, under the eternal protection of Allah. Ameen.

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I spent a few hours after isha* salah in the study again, making Eid cards, writing dua's on flowers (yes, literally, paper flowers of course) and postcards to send to people abroad. I'm looking forward to this year's Eid, I shall spend it in every single continent via online chat and webcam. How cool is that? Right, now I must leave again for more colouring in. You have a colourful fast tomorrow insha'Allah; we're halfway there, you can do it, don't quit on me now. Smile and act within Islam, (remembers the "Sdhikr notes"), you may not be alive the day after...

Zaufishan ★ feeling the flower power and calling for Muslim love