Assalam alaikum
I wrote the article below last year after Ramadan had ended and I came across it again when I was spring cleaning my work-station, because we’ve all got this extra time on our hands right?!
Anyway, spring cleaning will now be renamed Corona-cleaning in my household as it has given us as a family an opportunity to really assess what we 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 and utilise in our home as opposed to what we thought we 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅, an amalgamation of stuff that might be used.
So far we’ve only got as far as Corona-cleaning the dining room but hey we have time in sha Allah 🙏🏽
This past week has brought up a lot of emotions, well let me rephrase that, a lot of emotions have been brought up in this past week (the 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 will get this😜 )
Have a read of the article and I’ll pop my musings on at the end…
𝑆𝑜 𝑅𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐸𝑖𝑑 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑. 𝐼 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑅𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑗𝑜𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝐸𝑖𝑑. 𝐻𝑎𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘?!
𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒? 𝐷𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑔𝑜? 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑏𝑎𝑑𝑎ℎ 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑢𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑒𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑜-𝑑𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑜𝑎𝑙𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑎 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑜…𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑅𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡…𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦. 𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑛. 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑃𝑂𝑃 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔, 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ. 𝐴𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑦?
𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑏𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑅𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔? 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑤𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠? 𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑟?
𝑅𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑖𝑓𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛. 𝐴𝑛 𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑠, 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤𝑒𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠, 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑓 𝑤𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒.
𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡. 𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑢𝑝, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑜 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒’𝑣𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟-𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 ‘𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛’ 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦.
𝑇𝑜 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑅𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑛, ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑅𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑛 𝑔𝑜𝑎𝑙𝑠?
𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑠ℎ𝑎 𝐴𝑙𝑙𝑎ℎ.
𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑄𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑛, 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑎ℎ 𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒, 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛! 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑆𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑎ℎ ℎ𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑝 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑘𝑎ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑑𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑛!!!
…reading back on this I began to reflect upon my situation and I was struck with a strange feeling that this was how I felt right now.
This past week has felt like an awakening, a questioning, a calling myself to account, a reasoning and I have felt a deepening desire to help, a need to be of service, a yearning to show love and be loved, an urgency to forgive and be forgiven and most importantly, an epiphany.
An epiphany, an insight an aha moment – a truth.
In this past week I have felt a knowing. A slow gradual metamorphosis from uncertainty to certainty and in these uncertain times I’m not even certain if that’s possible but what I feel in my mind, my heart, my soul is that now, this time, right here is the main event.
𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡. 𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑢𝑝, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑜 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒‘𝑣𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟–𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 ‘𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛‘ 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦
I cannot but draw the comparisons of how I’ve been feeling and living this past week with how I feel and live during Ramadan. Around the children I am conscious of how relaxed I feel about how much they eat, how they’re spending their time and what expectations I have of them and I realise that I am more aware of how and what I eat, how I spend my time, how meaningful I want my interactions with my family, friends and community to be and the expectations I have of myself.
I have asked myself lots of questions really and the dialogue in my head keeps circling back to one thing – my connection with Allah. Now, for those of you who don’t subscribe to the Islamic faith or any notions about the God then substitute the word ‘Allah’ with ‘infinite intelligence behind life’ or ‘universal mind’, to me it’s all the same. This connection, and the desire to strengthen it, be rewarded for it, be forgiven for not seeing it clearly sometimes, is undoubtedly the most pressing ‘thing’ on my mind during Ramadan. Although I am not in a state of fasting right now, I feel as though this experience is the perfect synergy of the most Ramadan-esque environment outside of the actual month of Ramadan because I am more:
- conscious of my words, fasting of the tongue
- conscious of my intentions, fasting of the heart
- conscious of my thoughts, fasting of the mind
- and conscious of what I need to sustain me in food and drink, fasting of the body
𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑄𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑛, 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑎ℎ 𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒, 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛! 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑆𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑎ℎ ℎ𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑝 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑘𝑎ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑑𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑛!!!
The greater jihad is the striving, spiritual struggle within oneself and post Ramadan this struggle is very real. I feel as if this time is paving the way and allowing an internal and external foundation to be laid to prepare us for the coming auspicious month and as Muslims we are coming to terms with spending it in lock down. This in itself is all part and parcel of our personal and collective struggle and right now even though I know it’s not Ramadan, I feel as if the blessings afforded in that month are all around and more importantly within me.
I am being guided to pray on time, be more patient with my children and sow seeds of connections now that will flourish and be nurtured when ‘this’ is all over. For me that encapsulates the holy month and right now 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒏…
How does it feel for you?
Masalam
Farah Halabi
Farah is married, has 4 beautiful children and lives in sunny Essex.
Farah is certified Inside Out Parent and Child Coach who helps clients uncover their innate awesomeness. She runs online coaching programs and in person workshops.
