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Frankly, I am a pretty straight girl who is not going through any sort of teenage rebellion. I do not fight the norms of the society, and that has nothing to do with cowardice, but a genuine belief in that rebellion is unnecessary. If one chooses to be very blunt, one could characterize me as a typical “angel” or a “teacher’s pet”. I’m Martin from the Simpsons, minus the butt-kissing of course. I do not kiss butt. I do not kiss any bodypart inorder to achieve a goal or profit.
I am boring, that’s an undisputed truth. Nonetheless, there are minor things that I do which are not very conventional. For instance; I rarely wear a pair of socks that are identical. On a happy day, I would wear a red sock and a green sock. I find comfort in chaos. When reading a novel, I picture myself being the protagonist. Indeed, I have walked around in the streets of st. Petersburg calling myself Rashkalnikov, I have passionately kissed mr. Rochester, I have solved mysteries with Sherlock Holmes and I have defintely taken a tour around the world, in merely 80 days. I don’t wear make up. I am a tree hugger.
Unconventional, unorthodox, absurd, surreal or plain normal. You tell me?
Ladies, gentlemen, sons, daughters, herders and camels. I wish you a very big Eid Mubarak, and I’m way too tired to write a recap of my day. That must wait till tomorrow. Those of you who have yet to end their Eid, have a joyous and pleasant one!
I don’t wake up for suhur, the pre-sunrise-breakfast. I simply can’t eat, after interrupting my precious sleep and knowing that the little arrow stands firmly on four, while the long one rests on twelwe. I can’t eat that early.
So, I sleep away the hunger, wake up early and leave for school, satisfied and fresh. Then the hunger hits me, at approximately 1230. Bam. Of course, if I’d just woken up and forced myself to eat, this wouldn’t happen. But do I learn from my mistakes? Of course not. Sleep is more precious than food you must eat to prevent later starvation.
The worst hungerstrike hits me while cooking iftar. While baking the pastries, adding more salt to the delicious meat dishes, fantastic beans, baked potatoes, empanadas, samosas and pancakes. Mmmm. So close, but oh so far away.
Lesson for next ramadan? Wake up for suhur!
“Truly We sent it down on the Night of Power. And what will convey to you what the Night of Power is? The Night of Power is better than a thousand months. In it the angels and the Spirit descend by their Lord’s authority with every ordinance. It is Peace – until the coming of the dawn.”
Lailatul Qadr; the night of power. The night our, highly praised, Lord revealed his first messages to our highly beloved prophet. Lailatul Qadr; the night in which your previous sins will be forgiven, if, and only if, you stand with humility in front of your Lord and seek His mercy and compassion.
Lailatul Qadr; The holiest night in the holiest month. Where do you spend it? How do you spend it?
With your nose slightly touching the prayer rug, every muscles of your body tense because of the peculiar position. Like a disobedient child before his parent? A child whose tears are moving towards the floor, each tear depicting an assault on the mercy of his parent. But his parent is not hateful, not judgemental, not strict. His mother will spread her arms and hold her child tightly against her bossom. Forgiving.
If the child shows remorse. If the child stands, even though his feet are aching, in prayer, each night, for the last ten days of Ramadan. Embrace the angels He sends for you, embrace His love, embrace Him! How?
It is related from ‘A’isha that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Look for the Night of Power on the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadan.” [hadeeth nr. 1913, book of Tarawih prayers, Sahih Bukhari]
It is related from Abu Hurayra that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Anyone who fasts in Ramadan motivated by belief and in anticipation of the reward will be forgiven his past wrong actions. Anyone who spends the Night of Power in prayer motivated by belief and in anticipation of the reward will be forgiven his past wrong actions.” [hadeeth nr. 1910, book of tarawih prayers, sahih Bukhari]
