Ramadan Fever

Society Religion & Philosophy
1

I was sent this thru email and thought it was pretty interesting.

Ramadan Fever
Once a year a dramatic change occurs in the Muslim community,once a year “Z-dog” or “Sarah” become Zulfikhaar and Sameera. Off come the baggy jeans,or baby T’s. On comes the yellow shalwar kameez*, hijab*,
the gelled and funky hairstyle that glues on that terribly uncool kofi/topi* and in comes the miswak* in the top pocket making you look like an atcha batcha (good boy)or seedee saadee larki.
It’s during this Holy month of Ramadan that we ditch the movies and clubs and the frequent visits to the mall and library (and we don’t mean for the reference section) and begin to act out . Z-dog
becomes temporarily religious.
Its a sort of spooky feeling. The mosques are full and you feel good. Good cuzz you’ve done you’re bit for the year. One by one you scratch the days away from your Ramadan timetables that you brought back
from the mosque - and then - it’s Eid.

Eid Mubarak
The mosques again become museums for the old and for those deprived “atcha batchas” (good boys). The wrinkle free shalwar kameez* and hijabs* come flying off and on comes the baggy jeans showing
underwear,whilst the libraries and malls open for “business as usual.” Just 11
more months of “freedom” to go before the RB (ramadan breath) season comes back with enthusiasm.
Year after year it goes on, almost as ritual. You know that it is rough yet Allah is Ar-Rahmaan ,Ar-Raheem as we were told by our parents(who probably have also gone through the same). And anyway religion is for the old men in the mosques who have nothing better to do-with killer breath and long beards sweeping the floors every time they walk from one end of the mosque to the other. Religion is for those islamic freaks at high schools/colleges/universities,the “weirdos” who only talk to the opposite sex about the obligations of Khilafah ruling
system or the western ideas of democracy and freedom.

The Game
So you go around playing this game.It is an endless circle. You think that you’re a rebel, that you’re “playa or playette”, wanna be down to the society and social club. When you turn 40 you grow your beard and
take your seat in the front row of the mosque, invest in a miswak, pack your bags for hajj, and everything is gonna be cool…UM…no!!! It doesn’t quite work like that. The million dollar question is… will you ever turn 40???

The Game Over
Just suppose you die. Just you suppose you die before you hit 40? What then? It could severely damage your master plan. All right, the chances may look slim let the stakes are high. Nobody knows when
they are going to die, just supposed you’re locked up in a room and there is no way out, there is a time bomb ticking away in this room. Now if this bomb has “6 days” on it you will probably turn extremist and spend
all 6 days in prayer, fasting and doing zhikr “allah hoo,allah hoo.”

Just suppose the bomb had a “?” on it? What then? That’s exactly how life is. A ticking bomb with a “?” on it. You never know when it’s gonna blow up. “Where ever you are death will find you. Even if you are
in towers built up strong and high.”(4:78)

30 Days or a lifetime?
And anyway, even if you go along with this “wise” game don’t you think your Creator will know your intentions? Many people have figured out Islam for themselves. When we say “figured out” we don’t mean Islam
as a blind faith or an emotional/spiritual/weird belief which leaves you to worship a god once a week or once a year We mean contemplating/thinking rationally about the meaning of life. Where did you come from? Why are we here? Or the question that puts a damper on all clubs and parties: What’s going to happen to us when we die? Islam asks us to answer these vital questions and come to a conclusion, the
correct one. Islam doesn’t rely on the culture we are brought up with, either from our parents or from the Molvi-Saab. And Islam is far from being a “religion” as it often portrayed in the media. Islam is a
complete system of life-with solutions to all our problems be it for Muslims or non-Muslims. Check out Islam for yourself and free yourself from this so called “western” culture before your credits run out…
Allah(swt) says in the Qur’an,“O you believe answer the call of Allah(swt) and His Messenger that which gives you Life”(8:24)

Al Muhajiroun
The Voice, The Eyes And The Ears of The Muslims Remember there is No life or dignity without Islam.

ps. coincidence that we are going to be engaged in prayer dec 31 1999??

2

Salaams Jez,

            So sad, yet so true.  I guess, we need to learn that Ramadan is a month that teaches to "gradually" change ourselves, in terms of getting rid of our weaknesses - and we all have them!  Taking those charecteristics one at a time, and pondering improvement, is how one can eventually become a better Muslim, hence a better human; The effort should be there, the whole year, but Ramadan is definitely a great time to start; One should resolve to strive for what Allah likes best, and then stick to it.  May we all succeed in doing that.  Ameen!

Wasalam.

3

Jez, was that you, Oh man, you said it so beautifully. I respected you as a writer before but now I repect you as a person cause your views are soooo right and they touched my soul. I agree 100% with what you said. Your message should be a rude awakening for some and simply an awakening for others. ONe should not take life for granted cause you have life now, but, you might not have it later. I also think that there is a fine line b/w religion and culture that people miss almost all the time; they relate our Pakistani culture to an Islamic culture, which it is not. Therefore we need to follow the rules set by Islam and not our culture, raise our generations as good muslims instead of good Pakistanis.

Later on
Zman