5 things you didn’t know about Ramadan
This article sums five personal experiences I’m having in the month of Ramadan – this year and previous years that you may or may not be aware of.
People make “Drive-Away(s)” even during the day
On a societal relations level, Ramadan is a magical month. People get to know each other through Iftars, Qiamuallail, terawikhs and tadarus al-quran mainly done at the masjids. Charity and donation runs magically far more than usual.
Before Ramadan, one would be lazy to perform solah sunat rawatib (two rakaats before and after Fardh prayer) or even reluctant to perform even the five times a day Fardh prayer.But in Ramadan the trend is completely reversed. The masjid is full with Muslims especially during the night and surprisingly, people can stand tall to perform long hours of eights rakaats of terawikh or more!
Still, the magic of Ramadan fails to reach some hearts of Muslims. If you walk through any fast-foods outlets offering drive-through, you can spot Malay Muslim looking customers ordering food seen through the windows of their vehicles.
We have to do something.
“Ramadan” is a beautiful name for sons
Have you ever heard any other names of the Hijri months given to sons? The month other than Ramadan would be Syawwal. But other than that, I have never heard somebody by the name of “Muhammad Muharram” or “Ahmad Zulhijjah” or “Abdullah Zulqaedah.”
Maybe because of it is Ramadan, the month raining with mercy, Muslims want to honor that mercy, by naming their sons after Ramadan.
I have friends who name their sons “Sa’ed Ramadan” because he was born in Ramadan! A husband taking care of his pregnant wife, a wife going through pregnancy and going through the painful complications of labor during the month of Ramadan full of hardships are memories to be remembered, thus the name Ramadan is given.
P/S: Prof. Tariq Ramadan wasn’t born in the month of Ramadan.
Fasting doesn’t make you stronger physically
I think, people are lying if they say “Fasting makes you stronger as the prophet’s companions have proved so through the battle of Badr.”
Muslims won in the Battle of Badr despite being outnumbered and were fasting but that doesn’t make them stronger physically. I don’t know how the companions managed to win: maybe because of strategic planning, more of brains than brawns.
I’m not sure but one thing I am sure is that, we are more productive in Ramadan as we don’t have to ponder too much time to think on what to eat! But we still feel the lethargy, the exhaustion, the fatigue and the dehydration.
But we push ourselves to the limit more than we have done before Ramadan. That what makes us look stronger.
Less daily congestion but more road accidents
In Ramadan, I can feel that congestion during peak hours particularly in the evening, after-work less likely happens during Ramadan. Workers can go home a bit earlier around 4.30pm compared to before Ramadan at 5pm.
The usual congestion at 6.30pm to 7.30pm won’t likely happen. But an interesting fact, I don’t know if this is a proven fact in Malaysia, I can see that road accidents happen more frequently in Ramadan, particularly after work.
In the previous three weeks of Ramadan, I have witnessed more than five accidents in my daily route to work that is at SKVE from Cyberjaya to Serdang/Kajang/Bangi. During these accidents, a massive congestion shall automatically occur.
I did some digging and found a statistic of road accidents other than Malaysia – I couldn’t find any monthly road accidents statistics for me to make comparison – that is in Punjab, Pakistan.
The data analysis of a 2011 research entitled “Road traffic crashes in Ramadan: an observational study” revealed that “the service responded to 12 969 RTC (road traffic crashes) emergencies during August 2011 (Ramadan), compared with an average of 11 573 RTCs per month from January to August 2011.” This occurred during the peak hours before breaking fast.
Malaysians are the best at preparing for Syawwal in the last 10 days of Ramadan
In the last 10 days of Ramadan, the excitement and spirit of the first 20 days have decreased. Masjids have lesser people praying terawikh.
Malaysians are focusing more on the preparation for Eid. That is why the raya related terms are well accepted by Malaysians namely: Duit Raya, Baju Raya, Samping, Ketupat, Lodéh, Rendang and many more all of which is prepared in the last 10 days of Ramadan.
I previously wasn’t in favour of the raya-related celebrations as Ramadan is a holier month, but after giving much though I think this is a good thing to bring families, extended families together. Duit Raya for example, those who are still studying will be given duit raya, but those have worked or married have to give duit raya instead.
And one interesting observation, the Eid-Ul-Fitr takbir of Malaysian Muslims sounds melancholy compared to Eid-Takbirs of Arabs. My mum teases by saying that “Malaysians are sad because Ramadan has left us, which is why the takbir sounds sad. Sad of leaving Ramadan.”
Final Notes
One final note I want to make is that, whatever dealing we are in, make sure we make it for God. We are not seizing every moment in Ramadan because of Ramadan but to train ourselves for the remaining 11 months to come.
The post 5 things you didn’t know about Ramadan appeared first on Langit Ilahi.
