Friday, April 24, 2020

THE ARRIVAL OF THE HOLY MONTH OF RAMADHAN BUT NOT THE WAY IT USED TO BE



The month of Ramadhan has arrived yet again. This year, however, the fasting month is not the same anymore because of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. To fight against this disease, Movement Control Order [MCO] is imposed throughout the nation. Consequently, there are routine activities that Muslims could not carry out anymore during this holy month. The most saddening thing would be people are not allowed to visit the mosque to perform the prayers - especially the special prayers that could only be done during Ramadhan, i.e. the tarawikh prayers. We now just do them at home - minus the joy of performing them together with neighbours and friends. The distant calls for prayers [adzans] could only be heard from homes, without being able to accept them. I just hope that this devastating period would bring some changes to the Muslims - we need to be at the mosques as frequent as possible when time permits later.

Another event that is the highlight of the month should be the Bazaar Ramadhan, not only for the fasting Muslims but also to the non-Muslims alike. No longer could we get mouth-watering food and drinks to break our fast with. On the other hand, this should get us back on the right track, a reminder that fasting is the month to practise moderation and breaking fast should not be a feast.

There are of course other things that have been made difficult or almost impossible to do now but this is time to self-reflect and for us to spend more time to submit and worship our Creator rather than focusing too much on the worldly obsession. We might not even be able to celebrate Eid as we used to do but again, the darkest hour is before the dawn. Let's put our hands together and pray this pandemic will soon be over and may we all be blessed by Allah the Almighty

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