Today is the second day of Eid Ul Fitr, and I have to say it feels extremely weird having breakfast in the morning or making myself lunch. Everything is back to normal, or as normal as can be, but to me it doesn’t feel ‘normal’. Muslims around the world have just spent a month refraining from food, drink, materialistic items and other worldly things; we’ve all tried to keep God in mind in everything that we do and I, as well as probably many other Muslims, am still in that mindset. But for how long will I stay in this mindset before I fade back into my old ways? I think this is my fear; this Ramadan has really enriched my soul, physically, emotionally and mentally and I honestly feel like it’s one of the reasons I have been able to overcome my anxiety during this Ramadan. I have spent this Ramadan not only refraining from food and drink, but also refraining from ill habits we all have e.g. gossiping, consuming too much, wasting money and so on.
This Ramadan I have started to pray all five of my daily prayers, perform dhikr, sit and reflect on my life and on certain acts I can change. I have given more than I ever have in charity and most importantly I have strengthened my relationship with Allah SWT. But I am now realising the real struggle is trying to extend these benefits until next Ramadan where the spirit will be a lot brighter In’Sha’Allah, as that may be the one we get to spend with family and friends.
I have made a promise to myself that although Ramadan is over, my journey to strengthen my relationship with Allah SWT and learn more about my faith is not. I will cling to the spirit of Ramadan and this yearning to learn more about my faith as much as I can.
Some of the things I am doing in order to keep the spirit of Ramadan alive are:
• Reading all five daily prayers
• Keeping my fasts for the month of Shawal (Hadith: Abu Ayyoob reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Whoever fasts Ramadan and follows it with six days of Shawal, it will be as if he fasted for a lifetime” [Muslim].
• Continue reading the whole Quran in one month
• Listening to sermons and stories about the Prophet (PBUH) as opposed to watching television shows
• Learning about Islam
• Reading the English translation of the Quran, so I can understand the meaning behind each verse
I pray everyone had a wonderful (COV)Eid and will also join me on this journey. Please do let me know if you have any tips in the comments down below.
Assalamu Alaikum (Peace be upon you).
