“The Month of Blessing”

“The Month of Blessing”

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracias and Merciful, I wish all the Muslims, Ramadan Kareem

Islam comes from the Abrahamic faiths along with Christianity and Judaism and shares core values such as belief in God and a commitment to justice and virtue.
Ramadan is a time to practice self-restraint and self-reflection. In Islam, fasting is one of the major acts of worship and a means of attaining God-consciousness. It is believed that fasting purifies the soul and instills self-reflection and virtuous living.

Fasting is a common form of worship among the various religions across the world and its spiritual benefits are widely recognized even though its frequency, practice and duration may differ from faith to faith. Islam places great importance on the act of fasting. It is one of the pillars of worship, along with prayer, charity and pilgrimage.

Being a catholic, sometimes Ramadan and Lent would coincide and during that time it was much easier for me to fast. But other times, during the Holy Month of Ramadan, I had to follow the same principles to detach from worldly pleasures and focus on my inner self. It compelled me the same way to physically and spiritually purify, refraining from habits such as eating in my case as I do not have the vices of smoking, drinking and caffeine.

What I learnt from my muslims friends and colleagues was often donating to charities during the month and feeding the hungry. I lived for more than three decades in Kuwait and some of the experiences were very enlightening.

One of my experiences was having a domestic help who was a Muslim. She would pray and break the fast at my house. Before breaking the fast, she would put her prayer mat to pray and my oldest daughter, who was a child would do the same thing what my domestic help would do. It was amazing to see her pray in silence and very peaceful and my daughter would imitate her.

My admiration goes out to the manual laborers/(workers); who would fast irrespective of the weather and the life changes that they had to experience especially in the long summer days. Imagine working on empty stomachs, and at the same time maintaining their worship timings early mornings, evenings and weekends along with the routine activities. Most of the times, they would have shorter sleeping times, especially in Winter. The virtue of Endurance I would see in them and appreciate what I have.

My friend Niveen Salam from Egypt was one person who would drive me crazy during the Holy Month of Ramadan to go out shopping and distributing sweets to the kids. She loved the excitement of distributing sweets to kids who were not doing so well. She believed that Ramadan was the time when relationships were rekindled.

From what I learned from my friends and colleagues was that Muslim children are expected to fast during Ramadan after reaching puberty. But often kids want to start earlier as they see their role models abstaining from food and water from sunrise to sunset. After that, breaking the fast along with their family. They love the happiness of spending time with the families and relatives.

One of my most amazing experience during Ramadan was, when I visited my Mother-in-Law, who taught English at the Bayan Bilingual School. A few of her students who were as young as 6 years would maintain a fast. As inquisitive as I was, I asked a few of them what was the reason they were fasting, the answers they gave me just blew my mind – One of the kids told me, she was fasting so that the poor children would get food, another said he wanted to experience the same thing what his family members were experiencing, another was like, what he does not eat will be given to another child who is less fortunate. These kids were the ones who taught me that I should fast too. I used to do it when I was growing up; and then eventually stopped doing it. They even mentioned to me that they were doing on their own free will.
One child told me, that she cried when her parents told her that she cannot fast because she was too young. But they eventually allowed her to fast only on the terms that she would fast only for half a day. She mentioned that it was a challenge as she saw her other friends eating. But she wanted to continue her fast to prove that she could do it and so she would read a book or go to the playground to divert her mind.

Ahmad would give up all sweets for the entire month so that he donates that money to poor kids. Noor would fast the entire month and then ask her parents to send the money for kids to get books and craft material for their education. What most adults could not teach me; I learnt from these kids. They created memories that would last with me a lifetime.

I would like to conclude by reminiscing on my fond memories of Ramadan in Kuwait, waking up a bit later than usual, the shorter working hours and the Iftar gathering with my office colleagues and friends. These memories I shall cherish and remember for many years to come. Ramadan is truly a time of self-reflection, and a time to take a break from work and focus on our spirituality.

Once again, I wish every Ramadan Kareem.

Marcelina Fernandes, a member of Toastmasters International is a dedicated Mom, an HR Personnel with over 20+ years of experience, and a Coach.

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Marcelina Fernandes, a member of Toastmasters International

Disclaimer: Statements and opinions expressed in the article are those of the authors and written by them; the author is solely responsible for the content in this article. IndiansinKuwait.com does not hold any responsibility for them.

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Raj Wednesday, March 22, 2023 Ramadan Mubarak

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