THE holy month of Ramadan is just days away and along with it comes the blessing and reward from Allah. Ramadan is a peaceful month in which every Muslim finds inner peace through worship and reading the Holy Qur'an. It is the month in which Qur'an was revealed to mankind. It is a month in which Muslims will earn more rewards from the good deeds and worship. It is through fasting that a Muslim will find true power. Sadly, over the years, the meaning of Ramadan here has changed and I wish the true meaning of Ramadan, in which man along with fasting practices self-discipline and does good deeds, would return. I do not know why every year there is a new bad element associated with this holy month. We should bring back the true meaning of Ramadan and eliminate the filth associated with it. What are the things that we wish to see eliminated in order to find a perfect Ramadan. I wish to see people more productive during this holy month instead of blaming this month for their laziness. Now Ramadan is pictured as a month where an employee gets an excuse for his not working and lack of productivity. An employee is not at his desk because he is not feeling well because it is Ramadan. An employee cannot finish your paperwork because it is Ramadan. We are quick to change the work timing and put in less working hours because we know that people turn lazy. Even with less working hours, they are lazier. Here is the funny part, employees work in comfortable offices with air condition that controls the office atmosphere and yet they cannot work. This nonsense has to stop. Another thing I wish that changes is that we do not see people changing their life upside-down — sleep in morning and stay awake in evenings. Such people believe that Ramadan is a month of fasting from food and water and, therefore, it is permissible for them to stay asleep the whole day and not praying only to wake up just ten minutes before breaking their fast. Such people do not understand what is Ramadan and live the life of a mule. Their actions are similar to a bat that is asleep all day and awake at night. I bet that they would be angry if they woke up two hours before Iftar and saw daylight. Another change would be most welcome, is people's rude behavior on the roads and expressive anger. What we don't want to see is people blasting their anger on Ramadan. A person driving on the road half an hour before Iftar will notice how people are out of control and explode in anger the moment they encounter a situation. The best excuse for their bad behavior is, sorry I was fasting? Seriously, is anger associated with Ramadan? What we don't want to see during Ramadan is addictive shoppers crowding the shopping malls and go on binge shopping. People have ironically associated shopping with this holy month. There are families that spend most of the nights of Ramadan between one shopping mall and another taking advantage of the attractive discounts. Why discounts in Ramadan only? There is nothing wrong with normal shopping, but in Ramadan, it is extremely frustrating because the streets are jammed — increasing road rage and also the chances of accidents, some fatal. What we don't want to see in Ramadan is people glued to their TVs because Ramadan is associated with the best TV shows and programs. It is funny how some TV channels compete vigorously with each other to host the best TV show. There are channels that run TV serials from the time after Iftar until after midnight. Is Ramadan truly a month of watching TV when Muslims are urged to spend most of its night praying and reciting Qur'an?
What we don't want to see during Ramadan is the excessive food buying and eating and all sorts of bad behavior linked to food. Days before Ramadan people flock to the market in a shopping frenzy buying all the food that they can, when most likely most of it will be thrown away as waste. To them, Ramadan is the month to cook all sorts of food and sweets and compete with other when the very essence of Ramadan is to feel for the poor. To me it looks like there is a plan every year to void Ramadan of its true meaning by focusing more on bad behavior of excessive food eating, staying late at night, doing less work, etc. We should bring back the true meanings of Ramadan and fight within ourselves to follow the footsteps of the Prophet, peace be upon him. We have to remember most of all that if we succeeded in refraining from a bad behavior during the holy month, then we should refrain from it throughout the rest of the months after Ramadan. I conclude here with the Prophet's saying: "Fasting is a shield, so the one who fasts should avoid obscene speech and ignorant behavior. If someone abuses him or starts to fight with him, he should reply by saying: 'I am fasting. I am fasting'." (Muslim, 1151)."
— The writer can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @anajeddawi_eng
