Hi. It's a little after 12 in the midnight as I write this, Jeddah time. It technically means that Ramadhan will most probably begin tomorrow. I, for one, cannot believe that! Has it really been a year already? Time flies so fast. Mashaallah.
Ramadhan 2009 has been very special for me. A lot of wonderful things took place during and shortly after it. For the first time in a couple of years (well, since I started college), we were able to spend it with our Omie. It was such a blessing. For a long time it was just me and my sibs and a couple of my cousins. And last year, Omie was there and it was a relief beyond imagination. It's always extra special to be spending the Holy Month with one of the two most important people in your life. Our Bapa might have been away from us, but the distance, in some way, seemed lesser because of Omie's presence.
Last year's Holy Month also saw me (and the rest of my batch mates) during one of the most trying times in all of our college lives. It was last year, during the Ramadhan, that we were at the peak of reviewing for our board exam. Even though it was physically hard, it was also a big blessing. The Holy Month gave us the chance to strengthen our faith, to pour ourselves into prayers, and to ask guidance and mercy from the Almighty. It gave us the opportunity to cleanse our minds and prepare it for the two biggest days of our lives. And, Alhamdulillah, He has granted us the blessing of sweet success a couple of months after (in December, to be exact).
There are many other things that made Ramadhan '09 very special that mentioning them all here would take time. As I have another reason for this entry, I would have to skip all of the reminiscing. Let's just say that in each and every Ramadhan, there are distinct but numerous blessings that Allah SWT grants. And all of last year's are still very vivid in my mind. :)
Anyway, back to now: How about you? How have you been preparing for this big day? I've been trying my best to finish the rest of the "general cleaning" here. I'm bordering to failure, though, sadly. I still haven't touched the kitchen. I've been putting it off for the last minute since, believe or not, our kitchen is a jungle (because it's tiny and all).
And speaking of which, as I was rearranging the books in our TV cabinet this afternoon, I was able to browse through some Islamic reading materials that are short and basic. My Omie loves to collect these. And as I leafed through them, I was thinking how in the world am I going to read all of these during the Ramadhan without sacrificing my time for other things (i.e. reading the Qur'an). Giving up on the subject of reading them all, I boiled it down to five very short readings that I haven't laid my hands on even if they were in the cabinet since forever.
And this, my friend, is the purpose of the entry. I would like to be able to share what I've read in those materials. As I said, they are very concise discussions on a couple of subjects (not necessarily related to Ramadhan) so what I'd be able to share are also very short ones.
For the record, what I'd be putting up here will not be my own beliefs and such. I will be extracting words from each material and will be putting it up here. Yup, excerpts. And, most importantly, each and every word will be rightfully credited. I apologize in advance, though, if there will be shortcomings about this whole thing, since I'm only human, I'm bound to make errors and no one knows what the future has in store for us. But I will try my best.
Inshaallah, it will not be limited to these five materials. Who knows, I'll be able to finally finish this one:
Quite ambitious, I must say, but there's no harm in trying.
Before I end this entry, here are link to articles from a Facebook fan page and a site that are, I think, very useful and timely reads:
The Ideal Muslimah
I Got It Covered
Lastly, let me share with you a very nice status update at The Ideal Muslimah Facebook fan page that I loved:
But, let's also not forget, true and accepted repentance is signified by a continuous change in action. The Holy Qur'an says it further that:
Ahlan Wa Sahlan Ya Ramadhan!
Ramadhan 2009 has been very special for me. A lot of wonderful things took place during and shortly after it. For the first time in a couple of years (well, since I started college), we were able to spend it with our Omie. It was such a blessing. For a long time it was just me and my sibs and a couple of my cousins. And last year, Omie was there and it was a relief beyond imagination. It's always extra special to be spending the Holy Month with one of the two most important people in your life. Our Bapa might have been away from us, but the distance, in some way, seemed lesser because of Omie's presence.
Last year's Holy Month also saw me (and the rest of my batch mates) during one of the most trying times in all of our college lives. It was last year, during the Ramadhan, that we were at the peak of reviewing for our board exam. Even though it was physically hard, it was also a big blessing. The Holy Month gave us the chance to strengthen our faith, to pour ourselves into prayers, and to ask guidance and mercy from the Almighty. It gave us the opportunity to cleanse our minds and prepare it for the two biggest days of our lives. And, Alhamdulillah, He has granted us the blessing of sweet success a couple of months after (in December, to be exact).
There are many other things that made Ramadhan '09 very special that mentioning them all here would take time. As I have another reason for this entry, I would have to skip all of the reminiscing. Let's just say that in each and every Ramadhan, there are distinct but numerous blessings that Allah SWT grants. And all of last year's are still very vivid in my mind. :)
Anyway, back to now: How about you? How have you been preparing for this big day? I've been trying my best to finish the rest of the "general cleaning" here. I'm bordering to failure, though, sadly. I still haven't touched the kitchen. I've been putting it off for the last minute since, believe or not, our kitchen is a jungle (because it's tiny and all).
And speaking of which, as I was rearranging the books in our TV cabinet this afternoon, I was able to browse through some Islamic reading materials that are short and basic. My Omie loves to collect these. And as I leafed through them, I was thinking how in the world am I going to read all of these during the Ramadhan without sacrificing my time for other things (i.e. reading the Qur'an). Giving up on the subject of reading them all, I boiled it down to five very short readings that I haven't laid my hands on even if they were in the cabinet since forever.
And this, my friend, is the purpose of the entry. I would like to be able to share what I've read in those materials. As I said, they are very concise discussions on a couple of subjects (not necessarily related to Ramadhan) so what I'd be able to share are also very short ones.
For the record, what I'd be putting up here will not be my own beliefs and such. I will be extracting words from each material and will be putting it up here. Yup, excerpts. And, most importantly, each and every word will be rightfully credited. I apologize in advance, though, if there will be shortcomings about this whole thing, since I'm only human, I'm bound to make errors and no one knows what the future has in store for us. But I will try my best.
Inshaallah, it will not be limited to these five materials. Who knows, I'll be able to finally finish this one:
Quite ambitious, I must say, but there's no harm in trying.
Before I end this entry, here are link to articles from a Facebook fan page and a site that are, I think, very useful and timely reads:
The Ideal Muslimah
- Common Errors Made During Ramadhan (10 Lessons)
- Advice To Muslims in Ramadhan (25 Lessons)
- Goals of Fasting (16 Lessons)
- Ramadhan Preparation Packet
I Got It Covered
Lastly, let me share with you a very nice status update at The Ideal Muslimah Facebook fan page that I loved:
"... Wherever you are, whatever you are doing: don't forget to remember Allah. No matter how many slip ups you've had, sins you've fallen into, the door is not closed, it's still open. Remember to return to Allah."
But, let's also not forget, true and accepted repentance is signified by a continuous change in action. The Holy Qur'an says it further that:
"Surely, Allah will not change the state of a people until they change that which is within themselves." [Surah Al-Ra'd 13:11]
Ahlan Wa Sahlan Ya Ramadhan!
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