"The Light of Ramadan: A Journey of Amazement and Wonder"
Updated: Apr 2, 2023
A Ramadan Story - Chapter 1
‘It’s almost time for the best time of the year and this year YOU ARE WITH ME!’ screams my best friend, Huda, right into my ear. I wake with a start and look around, disoriented for a moment, not knowing where I am. My gaze fixates on the girl with a round face and dusky complexion, clad in her signature black hijab with stars on them and wearing her cat-eyed glasses, looking at me with a big smile on her face and I remember where I am. Of course, I’m in class, sleeping during a free period and of course, my best friend picks this exact moment to express her elation over the fact that I will be spending the holy month of Ramadan with her this year. ‘Ugh Huda, did anyone tell you that you have the worst timing?’, I groan and rub my eyes. ‘Duh I do, you tell me all the time’, she says with a shrug and a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. Oh, how I hate this girl, I think to myself, but how I love her too. That is why I chose to stay with her for 2 whole months while my parents were away, visiting my sick grandma in our hometown. How I wish I could have gone with them but alas, education is important and who knows it better than a final-year college student, struggling to get a few hours of sleep at night?
Huda opens her Ramadan planner that she uses every year and starts jotting down things she still must do before the start of Ramadan. I watch her with fascination as her hand flies across the page. She’s done this sort of planning for the past 10 years, ever since she attained puberty. Muslim boys and girls are supposed to start fasting once they reach maturity. She used to fast even before that for a few days but out of pure interest and curiosity, not because she had to. She shuts her book and looks at her watch, ‘Oh no, Maya, we need to hurry back home as early as possible. I still have to help mom with some more frozen food preparation before our study session in the evening’. ‘More preparation? I’ve known you for almost your whole life and I’ve never seen you prepare this much before,’ I say. ‘Well, that’s because you’ve never actually lived at my house before,’ she says, rolling her eyes. Fair point. ‘Plus,’ she continues, ‘it’s better to do as much preparation as possible to save time for things that actually matter during Ramadan’. ‘Which is…worship?’ I ask. ‘Bingo,’ she smiles.
We hurry home and the first thing Huda does is pray her afternoon prayer. ‘Wow that was quick,’ I say. ‘What was?’, she asks. ‘I mean, you usually come home and laze around a bit before praying. I’ve never seen you finish your prayer so soon.’ She looks down, embarrassed ‘Technically I’m supposed to pray as early as I can, but I usually waste time. That is one of my goals for this Ramadan. To be able to pray all 5 prayers on time and I thought what better time than to start following it before Ramadan? Allah has blessed me with so much, it’s only fair I pray to him on time and thank him for it.’ At times like this, I see glimpses of how beautiful it is to have faith in God. No matter what she does or where she goes, she always carries this faith with her in her heart.
The next few days pass by in a blur. The whole house starts slowly being transformed. I help Huda, her parents and her little brother clean the house, dust the shelves, sweep the floors, and decorate the house in Ramadan decor of moons, stars, lanterns, and lights. It feels as if a special guest is about to arrive soon. Not only is the house transformed but I notice little changes in the people of the house as well. ‘This year, we’re trying to welcome the blessed guest of Ramadan by being on our best behaviour,’ Huda says. She also tells me about her personal goals to achieve this Ramadan, about how she wants to read and understand the Qur’an more, about how she’s been writing a special prayer or ‘dua’ list specifically for Ramadan for the past 5 years and every year before Ramadan starts, she goes back to the previous year’s list and reflects on how some of her prayers have been answered, about how she’s going to try to be more patient with her brother, understanding of her father and caring of her mother. For the first time in all the years of knowing her, I see a more personal side to her that I’ve never been able to see solely because of the fact that I wasn’t living with her. I’ve always known that nothing excites her quite as much as the month of fasting, but I’ve never experienced it personally and it feels beautiful. Honestly, her excitement is contagious, and I can’t help but feel excited myself. I can’t wait to experience the “spirit of Ramadan” as she calls it. She says the air feels charged and electric, the days feel sweeter, and the nights feel blessed. Obviously, most of it has to do with her faith but I feel like it’s rubbing off on me a little.
After days and days of planning and preparing Huda and I head up to the terrace after sunset to see if we can sight the crescent moon. ‘What happens if we don’t see the moon today?’ I asked her. ‘If we don’t see the moon today, we will definitely see it tomorrow. The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar and the months last either 29 or 30 days depending on when the crescent moon is sighted. If we see it today, then tonight marks the first night of Ramadan and if we see it tomorrow, Ramadan starts tomorrow night,’ she replies. Fascinating. We sit there on the terrace, letting the cool evening breeze blow over us, looking left to right to see if we can possibly sight the moon. ‘LOOK! There it is!’, she shouts, pointing to my right. I turn slightly and squint, trying to spy on the delicate moon, and sure enough, I see a little baby crescent moon in the sky. A tiny slice of light in the darkening sky. A sense of serenity washes over me and I smile. ‘Welcome, dear Ramadan,’ I whisper, ‘We’ve been waiting for you.’
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