Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Having It Easier

Truth to be told, it has been an easier fasting month (for me) in the mid of the hot scorching summer in this country.

Since it is summer, the kids have no school. And since the kids have no school, I don't have to brace the summer sun sending them and picking them up like the previous years.

So I got to stay in the house most of the time the whole day and nearly for a whole week. The only time I go out is for my once a week Tauhid class.

I don't have to do groceries for I already have the major stuff. For the perishable I have my lover to order from. Unlike me, of course, he has to work and still walk under the hot sun drenched in sweat and bearing the heat (no wonder he lost so much weight). And then he will get orders from me to buy spring onion, keledek, togeh, tepung, shawarma and such. And I know he loves me asking him to buy this things.

I do almost all my cooking in the morning while I listen to the children practice their surah. And am free almost all afternoon to do what I want. Then when it is about one and half hour to iftar time, I would reheat the food, make some form of savoury or dessert (because I don't favour nasi for buka) that was prepared half way earlier, prepare some hot and cold beverage and Insya Allah leave myself about half hour to iftar time where usually i would tell the children to have their own "me" time and concentrate to make dua'.

By the way, the best time for dua' that one needs to grab is the time when nearing the iftar time.

The prophet (SAW) declared, 'Three men whose dua is never rejected (by Allah) are: when a fasting person breaks fast (in another narration, the fasting person until he breaks his fast), the just ruler and the one who is oppressed.'[Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi - Hasan]


I don't do the tarawikh at the mosque. Not my time yet. Insya Allah one day Allah will give me the time. I don't fancy bringing the cannot-keep-still JackJack to the long tarawikh prayer. He goes to other fards when lover is at home though. So slowly Insya Allah. And I don't feel easy leaving at home alone either.

And tarawikh usually finishes at 930 over here. And that is a loooong one mind you. On average, some mosques finsih tarawikh at 9.

Fasting in this country is easier and there are very little distractions. The malls (if yo do go there) does not play music. Usually they play dzikir or the quran. And the masjid here will get busier as Eid approaches particularly the last ten nights. There will be some selected masjids that will provide food for those who wish to do i'tikaf. But otherwise you can go to any masjids you wish. The last ten nights are the the most "festive" time at almost all masjids. The imam will start doing qiyam in the later part of the night and people who don't actually stay in the masjid for i'tikaf will come from their homes as if it is another fard prayer.

And if you are living in such environment, you'd feel you want time to stop in this last ten nights. You can feel that people are actually immerse in the business of worshipping Allah. It's like rushhour. fast and furious. I feel so much excitement during this time.

And when the Imam announced that the next day is eid, you may just cry because you would feel that you have not done enough. But then you will still enjoy the next day of eid when you go to solatul eid in the open. It is a glorious day.

Alhamdulillah. I have to remind again and again that time and easier to practice is an expensive commodity.

I am leaving for Malaysia tomorrow.

May Allah protect me from my own evil soul.

________________________________

By the way. I have a few books left for sale. The title is Explanation of Important lessons. You can read here for the review of the book.

If you are interested email me at hudishh at gmail dot com. First come first serve. :)

9 comments:

Sheherazade said...

Amin

k.lollies ur coming back!!

Lollies said...

i am going home for raya. Yayyy

Ir. Hanafi Ali said...

"And I know he loves me asking him to buy this things."

This blog is full of deceitful sentences.

Lollies said...

hansac - hahahahhahahahhahahhahahahaha! ini semua bukan fiksyen belaka.

أم الليث said...

MashaAllah bestnya puasa in that environment. :D
It's very challenging here. No one even appreciates you are fasting and they even think you're crazy for doing it.
I was just thinking to myself (coz I just had a lesson abt iktikaf)...wouldn't it be great if we could just lepak in the masjid during the last 10 days of ramadhan. tapi mungkin hanya org muda/bujang aje la yg boleh buat :(

zan said...

it has been hot 15 days here but some are really luck they have rain at night although we have dry spell during the day..pitty nael he nearly break his fast due to the thirst but he perservered anyway and still puasing :) bila panas2 mcm nie, i teringat kat you n the heat :D

i can feel the excitement fasting over there from your writing..bestnya! and when talking abt iktikaf, teringat kat boss i dulu, every year dia akan ckp lembut2 dgn i yg dia nak off for his iktikaf and appreciate if i tak kacau dia and help cover his stuff for him hahaha...

welcome home!!

Lollies said...

Aliya - memang best puasa kat sini. Rasa mmg betul2 fulfilling the matlamat fasting. Most pompuan yg buat iktikaf are the ones yg anak dah besar. And generally its the whole family affair. Who knows Allah might give us this chance.

For my friends who are fasting and having difficulties bcos of the environment surrounding them, i ask Allah to double their hasanat and to make it easier for them.

Zan - masya allah your boss. Kat masjid mana dia buat iktikaf tu? I was told kat msia x banyak masjid yg open for it. Betul ke?

Anonymous said...

am interested in yourbook but its probably too late. is it a good book to have?

Lollies said...

Anon - i have a couple books left if you want. This book covers the basic things for Muslim. I personally need it when i refreshed myself in the religion that i am born into. I can still mail it selagi belum balik qatar insya Allah.