Nooj

Between my shadow and my soul

Unsettled breeze of musk, roses and grilled chicken...


Celebrating Ramadhan in a non-Muslim country has added challenges. When your colleagues come to chat holding steaming mugs of coffee and your eyes become a little glazed, when the traffic doesn't get that carb-deprivation is directly proportianl to road rage, when the doughnut lady walks past, etc. yet I believe all these challenges make our Imaan (faith) and Iradah (willpower) stronger. In isolation and through temptation we persist and soon it becomes easy to resist conformist urges and just Be.

There are downfalls though. Having to wake up for work means that you don't get to stay up as much at night and pray as much as you want to. There are so many distractions, obligations, responsibilites, courtesies we fulfill in the time when we could be engaging in deeper remembrance and contemplation.


Alhumdulillah I will be reaping the benefits of both worlds this Ramadhan as I leave soon to complete Ramadhan in Saudia. Here there is no distraction and ample opportunity for Qiyamul Layl (standing up in prayer throughout the night) as during the last ten nights they complete over a tenth of the Qur'an in Salaah every evening. I have realized that if you memorize some of the Qur'an and read the English as you are going over it, you pick up a lot of Arabic words. Even if you simply read the Arabic and then the English you begin to understand some of the gist and this helps me greatly in Taraweeh to keep my concentration
.

Anyways. Please forgive any whatsoevers. I'm going to make like a generic du'a that Allah grants all of you your wishes that He feels will be good for you, and keeps those things that are not good for you away from you. Any special spin offs can be mentioned in the Comments.

Have a peaceful, plateau-ful month and love-filled Eid
Nooj

15 shared ideas:

Zahera September 12, 2008 at 12:20 PM  

Have a wonderful and spiritually fulfillinf time Nooj :-) May Allah Ta'ala accept your duaas.

Princess September 12, 2008 at 3:02 PM  

May Allah (swt) accept your Heartfelt Dua'as, Aameen

Khadija September 12, 2008 at 4:40 PM  

There's no where quite so special as satal alqiyam in the haramain :) Have a splendid trip nooj!

S September 12, 2008 at 8:50 PM  

oh wonderful!!

Please keep me in your duas

2. Make the most of it - I see you plan to.

Shafinaaz Hassim September 13, 2008 at 2:59 PM  

:)

Safiyyah September 14, 2008 at 11:50 AM  

umrah maqbul was dhanb maghfoor insha allah!
Living in a "muslim" country has been quite the experience, all resturants are forced to close between dawn and dusk, eating in public is prohibited by law, all temptation put to rest for those fasting, but its a double standard really, why is alcohol banned in Ramadan but available to all and sundry out of the month? *sigh*
on the positive side, working hours are grossly reduced for muslims, with most people working 10am-3pm....!

Bon Voyage

Crimson Shimmer September 14, 2008 at 4:00 PM  

Amin` - and mashallah on your outlook and your poem in the previous post, was a wonderful read :)
All the best for wot remains of this month inshallah.

Anonymous September 14, 2008 at 9:27 PM  

The foreign environment enhances the appreciation of the Ramadaan contrast to the norm, makes the subtle beauty of the effort more manifest.
On the coffee, when I fast, I can smell someones cup of coffee down the hall!

bb_aisha September 15, 2008 at 1:17 AM  

Ameen. Please do remember me in your duas.
I empathise with work & lack of time. I'm fortunate though I only work 3 days a week. Here's a q-do people really get moody & tempted by the smell of food? Am I abnormal because I don't?

KiLLa September 16, 2008 at 7:47 AM  

U Goin for Umrah.. Duas are requested..

Enjoy..

Aasia September 20, 2008 at 9:08 AM  

Umrah Maqbool Nooj.

Have an awesome time. and may all your dua's be accepted.

Eid Saeed

Bilal September 23, 2008 at 12:53 AM  

make a dua.
spending ramadan and eid without your family is bitter-sweet: even if its in a country with Muslims and loads of other cool stuff!

neverBlink September 23, 2008 at 2:02 PM  

You put it all so nicely nooj:)

Another thing that helps me concentrate...attempting to guess what comes next...

then realising i know nothing:P

oh btw...I love! the skin :)
and the scrollable background...
there's artistic blood in your body:)

Nourah September 24, 2008 at 4:49 PM  

I can totally sympathize with you whats its like to fast in a non-Muslim country! But you get used to it, and if you are like me who grew up in an environment like mine (Bahamas), you don't think about it much at all.

Nooj October 3, 2008 at 1:09 PM  

Zestness and Princess - shukran. I’ve realized that a lot of the times He makes me wait so I can cash up properly on presents :D

Kay- it was sublimely splendid! Except they only read one para at a time now instead of 3 :(

Dew- made lots of dua during tawaaf for u :)

Heya shafs hope Eid in ptb must’ve been as happening as madeenah :P it’s one of my fav places to spend eid actually

Safs- yeah the saddest thing is entering Jeddah the day after Eid. Can’t wait to read about all your Ramadhan exploits

Crimsonness- a lot happened in my absence- our President changed, someone went public :P hope your eid was shimmery

Zubair- I can’t walk into pharmacies when I fast, my sense of smell across the board becomes sharper

BB- hmmm nope I think you’re just lucky lol. I think my caffeine addiction is the main culprit tho. Hope ur Eid rocked

Killness- yup made du’a your wife is allergic to all forms of henna and free verse :P

Aasia- you too hope it was filled with barakah

Bilal- shhhh I’m insanely jealous of you right now. *makes a quick masha Allah*

Neverblink- LoL no man you just miss a sentence and then I add the next sentence and we totally confuse the reader lol. I say we start rehearsals immediately. Congrats on the arrival of ur new little friend

Superhijaabi- wow is it as exotic as it sounds tho?. When can I come visit :P