|
|
|
 |
|
A Typical
Day in Ramadan... |
|
Pre-dawn meal
called Sehri.
Morning Prayer
followed by recitation of Qur’an.
A bit of rest
then schools for children and work for the others. In between,
appropriate breaks for noon and afternoon Prayers.
Exactly at the sunset is Iftaar – the time to complete the day’s
fast by eating date, and other fruits and specially prepared foods.
Iftaar is followed by the evening prayer.
The
mandatory night prayer which follows Traweeh – the prayer offered
every night in Ramzan in which long chapters from Qur’an are recited
by Huffaz, the people who memorize the whole Qur’an.
|
|
|
The new moon over
the horizon, in some parts of the world today and the next day in
others, would manifest the beginning of Ramadan, the holy month in
Islamic calendar believed to be having some of the most auspicious
days of the year. It is during this month that Muslims
irrespective of their gender observe the fast, considered as one of
the five pillars of Islam and mandatory for Muslim adults, during
the day and get engaged in special prayers during the night.
Traditions
explaining the purpose of fasting, popularly known as Roza
and Saum, reveal that they are more than desisting from
food. Committing atrocities on anyone, doing injustice, abusing,
lying and cheating have always been regarded as strictly outlawed in
Islam. Apart from refraining to consume water and food, refraining
from these evils is actually the idea behind fasting in Ramadan. It
is in fact a month-long exercise to rehearse so as to make one's
life free from these evils.
Apart
from fasting, the month's association with the Holy Qur’an makes it
even more special. Because of this association that rests on the
fact that the holy book was revealed on Prophet Mohammad (peace and
blessings be upon him) in this month, Ramadan is also referred as
the Month of Qur’an. Hence together with Huffaz, the people
who have memorised the entire Qur’an and recite its verses part by
part during the special night prayers in Ramadan, people in general make it
sure that they are reciting as many chapters from the Book as
possible during this month.
A typical day in
Ramzan
Be it a businessman or a labor, a
teacher or a student and women or children, everyone waits for
these holy days, and when these days actually arrive, Muslims give a
totally different look as compare to what they are in other months
of the year.
A typical Ramadan day begins at 04:30
before dawn when one takes some food and set for the Morning Prayer.
This pre-dawn food is called Seheri and indicates the
beginning of a fast. After this one takes some rest and then
start the routine work. Busy with the routine work during the day,
everyone makes it sure that he or she performs the noon and
afternoon prayers in time. Then comes the time for Iftaar,
the time for culminating the fast, a very special moment. Iftaar
is normally done with a piece of date followed by fruits and
delicious foods, specially prepared during this month.
The nights that
seldom sleep
After Iftaar, comes the evening
and the night prayers followed by the special Ramadan Prayer called
Traweeh. Traweeh lasts for more than an hour. Although this
prayer is not mandatory, people including women and children
converge at local mosques in a large number every night for this
prayer.
Once over with Traweeh, people
are now free and while most of the people would prefer doing the
lost work of the day, equal number of people enjoy it like a
festival. The roads that are giving a deserted look during the day
witness more than regular crowd thronging the malls, shops and
hotels, all specially decorated for Ramadan, till late in the night.
This is the routine during Ramadan
everywhere and continues so for the entire month till the crescent
after full circle appears once again over the sky. The
appearance of crescent that a month before had pronounced beginning
of the Ramadan, this time pronounces the arrival of Eid al
Fitr, the festival that coincides the culmination of Ramadan,
the holy month of fasting.
|
'
Comment on this article