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Abdul Moiz Munir is currently pursuing an A’Level at Aitchison College in Lahore, Pakistan. Abdul Moiz is a strong advocate of Humor Rights. He believes in the power of laughter as a Medicine. Religion comes to Pakistanis as a very hard subject and Abdul Moiz is trying to change that. [/symple_box]
To fast or not to fast, that is not the question here.
So, if you hadn’t noticed, it’s Ramadan! Ramadan Mubarak everyone! (A bit late, eh?). Nevertheless, I hope you’ve learned something from this auspicious month-long reckoning of God’s bounties, because I certainly have. The ambivalent norm behind the essence of Ramadan goes something like learning about the thirst and hunger-fed feelings of the poor: you fast, your ever-presumptuous belly mocks you by sending the ‘I am hungry and thirsty’ signals to your brain which, as a deadly consequence taunt you and guilt-force you to emphatically feel for the poverty-stricken people. Definitely, it’s more than a right interpretation of God’s intent behind starving us for fifteen hours straight. We all know that it works this way. It is indeed a fact that the only thing we are truly taught about Ramadan from day one is that “it helps you to familiarize with the wrath of being less comforted and provides you an opportunity to sympathize with society’s unfortunate masses”. Now, let me be clear about this. I AM NOT AGAINST this very school of thought. This is one of the noblest ideologies ever developed. Please make sure you understand that what I am going to say next is not blasphemy but a deeper insight. Now that you’ve got the hold of it, please rewind. So, you agree to the preceding sentence? Then, you must also believe that every fast brings you closer to the less fortunate. Did you just say ‘yes’? Uh, okay then, let me introduce the icebreaker question to your staunch faith. So, if you actually are coming closer to the pauper who eats one time a day, why wouldn’t you invite him to your house for a meal? Don’t you feel for him? I hope you and your conscience hangs here for a little contemplation.
It seems you’ve moved on. Let me assure you, from now on, there are no icebreaker questions. Just divine things said in a hippie fashion.
“I don’t understand Arabic. And Taraveeh is merely standing and listening to Arabic for straight two hours or so. I might as well listen to Chinese or German if it wasn’t for the ‘words-of-Al-Quran-and reward-of-listening-to-them’ factor.”
Undoubtedly, Taraveeh prayers are a highlight of the Ramadan season. Muslims preserve to listening the Holy Quran for approximately two hours. Frankly, I never got why. You see, I am not more than a grown-up child and you cannot expect my holy yearnings to reach that par right now. Yet, this time I resolved that I would attend all of these prayers. All the adults could tell me was that “these prayers familiarize you to the words of your Lord”. Definitely, if I understood the Quran’s language (that is, Arabic), it would’ve been certainly true. However, since all I can figure out is Surah-e-Fateha (in terms of literal meaning), what do I do-while standing- for the rest of the recitation? As a quite awkward answer to this question, I was figuring out other worldly matters during the Taraveeh session. Don’t get me wrong but I did desperately try to look for ways that would prevent me from thinking about worldly things i.e. food, Eid shopping, dating, social networking, updating my display pictures e.t.c.
And then it struck to me (ironically, that too during Taraveeh!)
So, suppose that you are writing a diary. In this diary, on the day you become a parent, you record all your gladly-felt feelings. You write about how out-of-the-world you are at becoming a parent and blah blah. Now, fast-forward 20 years into time. That very child makes a grave mistake and that offends you a lot. You’re angry and your offspring is trying to find ways to alleviate you. Out of nowhere, your child confronts you and starts reading from your 20-year old diary. The entry he/she is reading is from the day he was born. Put yourself in this position. Be that parent right now (and then read on).
So, what is Al-Quran? Words of God revealed for our guidance. Now, when I was standing during the Taraveeh thinking about all sorts of things I shouldn’t have been (my bad), I came across the distinct realization that I was addressing my Creator using the words of the manual He Himself had written down (Quran!). That’s when I knew His intent behind the Taraveeh. He wants to forgive.
At that very moment, every religious act I had been ceremoniously doing started to fit in like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. It was all for me. And that’s when I knew that I had met God, during this Taraveeh, in this Ramadan.
If a 15-year old hippie boy can meet HIM by seeing just one aspect of the intent in His orders to us, why can’t you?
[symple_box]Please Note that the views expressed in all opinions on The Moroccan Times are the authors’s own and do not reflect The Moroccan Times editorial policy.[/symple_box]
