Compose the Ramadan Special Moments

By Shofi Ahmed 

Ramadan is the most blessed month. The month is special for us and indeed Muslims across the world spend the whole day in a special way. Nonetheless how do we compose our special moments in this most remarkable month in our calendar? Some of us are engaged in raising charities, some are engaged in dishing out a plethora of Iftar dishes, some eagerly look forward to it, some even spend more time chatting on the phone. No complaints.

Yes, Ramadan is a month of celebration. A month of giving charity, a month of forgiving and mercy. The bracket however is much giver. It’s a month of purpose as well. We are required to take a big pause from many core things that we do on a daily basis. From eating, drinking, spouse’s romance etc. Give it a bit of thought. It’s as if we have been called to stop doing even the most instrumental things on our day to draw our attention.

We see in the mosques when the Imam has a very important message to tell us. That he wants all of us to listen. He makes the announcement just after the Fard prayer. At the very nick of time when many people intend to start sunnah prayer. The Imam basically implies to stop praying for a moment and listen to his announcement. Basically the intention is not to interrupt the pending sunnah prayers. But to deliver the message that people will pay attention.

In the month of Ramadan we are told to stop! Stop, don’t eat, don’t drink, not even a single sip of water. It’s not allowed. It’s like we have been called for our complete attention. The call is made to pay attention to something that’s much bigger than our food. Much better than our drinks albeit without that we can’t live. The extent even surpasses highly praised love among the spouses.

Ramadan is a call of Allah SWT for our attention. To focus on something greater, something much better to compose our life with. Scholars have said that Ramadan is a time of reflection and reflection is the foundation of knowledge. However, as you read this article do you see my analogy as a food for thought or substantial enough for you to act?

Allah SWT indeed has instilled so many blessings and enough provisions in the month of Ramadan. We don’t have to be philosophical about a greater object upon which The Almighty Allah SWT may have called for our complete attention. Simply because Ramadan has the spectacles for our eyeballs and the sublime gold mines for our heart and souls. That’s clearly known to us. This is the month of revelation of the Qur’an and this is the month of Laylatul Qadr, the power night. Indeed it has the divine description of the night that’s better than a thousand months.

We are encouraged to read the Qur’an more often in this holy month. Alhamdulillah many of us do that. We increase the frequency of our reading and listening to the Qur’an. We attend Taraweeh prayers and eagerly tune into the beautiful recitations of this most eloquent and eternal book of Allah SWT.

So we increase reading, listening to the Qur’an more in the month of Ramadan. Is it done or the question remains. How do we quantify the more, to be more with the Qur’an? Ask yourself.

We can read more, listen to it more. We can keep counting. Does anyone know how many millions of Huffaz there are in the world? We can be countless but our more is never more enough unless we dive into the meaning of Qur’an more and practice it.

Ramadan sunset is delicious. The water at the Iftar is often like a snow cone treat in the desert. Tread on, there is more in the desert of Ramadan. The sunset dips into a sweet ocean. Follow the opening path. If we dive deeper into the Qur’an in Ramadan, the very month of its revelation we might find the sweeter enduring snow cone is in fact in the Qur’an! Thus we may compose the special moment in Ramadan.

Shofi Ahmed is a writer, poet, journalist and former editor of Bangla Mirror newspaper