Being just a few days away, the festival of blessings and forgiveness, Ramadan is eagerly anticipated by everyone! Just like every year, no one can ignore its marvellous importance! It is considered as one of the 5 pillars of the Religion of Peace, Islam. Children are guided very well on the concept of religion because every adult Muslim has to religiously follow the procession of fasting every year. Allah, the almighty of Islam, has made it compulsory for every adult Muslim to follow the task, during the month of Ramadan.
The objective of this procedure is to showcase the importance of fasting, why Muslims do it, and how to spend most of their time in that state. Tauheed and Taj are the names of their prayers, they indulge in. This month is considered as the tenure to seek forgiveness for their past sins and to seek guidance for their remaining life. Ramadan’s concept is inclined towards spiritual healing. It is done, not just to spiritually clean the body but also, to clean the soul.
During Ramadan, a typical day for anyone starts at 3.15 AM. The family gets up and has a light pre-dawn meal known as ‘suhoor’, perhaps some brown bread, eggs, avocado, and a drink of yogurt. If there is a child in the family, who is an adolescent/ baby, sometimes wakes and cries due to hunger, it is important to feed them with nourishing food.
Ramadan is the most important month in the Islamic calendar and something that the people have observed since they were very young. It’s a time for quiet reflection and self-discipline, so, after eating ‘suhoor’, they often use the time to pray and read. Ramadan also encourages them to act with generosity and charity and, like many others, they donate a portion of their total annual savings to charity during this month.
Once at work, however, it’s pretty much business as usual for everyone, just with a shorter six-hour day. About 50% of the people take part in Ramadan. The other 50% are always observant of their culture and respectful of their fasting, so the atmosphere is very supportive. Depending on meetings, the people grab 15 minutes to go to the prayer room in their building for afternoon prayers. They try to stay mindful of their energy levels and even though, they try to be as calm and composed as possible, they make an effort to exercise even more patience during these weeks. Certainly, after 3 PM, concentration levels can fluctuate so it’s probably better to wait until the next morning and tackle complex business issues with a fresh mind.
During Ramadan, the People who have work start their work during the late hours. Since they start their work quite late, after a few hours, they start playing games, listens to music with colleagues or even, goes swimming. These activities tend to distract their mind, from hunger and starvation. They find exercise could be a challenge suits better to indulge in brisk walks and light chores.
This year, Ramadan is unlike, what they have ever experienced. While fasting involves the absence of food, drinks, sexual relations till sunset, what makes the time wonderful is the evident bond between the communities during the tenure. The spirit of the brethren community comes alive at Iftar. Iftar is one of the religious observances of Ramadan and is often done as a community, with Muslims, who gather themselves to break their fast together. It’s quite a religious symbolism that in certain places like New York, interfaith Iftars are held at churches, Mosques, and Synagogues.
The season's head start was when their Jewish brothers celebrated 'Passover' and their Christian Brothers celebrated Easter. They celebrated their respective festivals through the internet. Skype & video calls are used by them to commemorate their respective festivals. They followed Suit to celebrate the festival of peace. Since this time, ensures that they need to maintain certain protocols like Social Distancing, the use of masks, sanitizers, and handkerchiefs, the virtual celebration is a very good option. They ensure that they use the rituals of their maulvi.
After the ceremony & prayers, they distributed the sweets among each other. They commemorated each day when the dinner was eaten, following the same paradigm. The same was followed by us to distribute gifts and discuss the forthcoming year.
Ramadan is celebrated in the same fashion every day & they can't allow anything, even the pandemic, to ruin their heartfelt festivities.
As Ramadan is being approached in June, Spiritual Sermons and Heart-warming greetings from great scholars and imams are the things to look forward to. At the same time, Ramadan comes bearing gifts every year. To rejuvenate their soul, all the people following the proceedings, get a month to do so. As per the religious scholars of Islam – “The core of the festival lies in seeking forgiveness for sins that they might have committed and to forgive others, who might have wronged us”. All the people following the religion wish that “May Allah grant us the will and strength to fast devotedly, during Ramadan. May this be a month of blessings and forgiveness to all the brothers and sisters from around the world.” Amen”.
