Ramadhan Reflections.

In His Name, the Most High

This has been the best Shahr Ramadhan I have ever experienced. The best. And yet, already before the month is gone, people are bemoaning it's upcoming loss, and wishing they could stay within the fold of the Holy Month even one day longer. And I don't blame them. I feel the same. For all the benefit I have gained, I could always have gained more.

So, where to go from here? An idea hit me that was simple, and yet profound. Rather than considering our years to be from January to January, or even Muharram to Muharram, we should make a conceptual shift and consider that our year starts and ends with the Holy Month of Ramadhan, and, more specifically, begins and ends with the nights of Qadr. It is on the nights of Qadr that our destiny is decreed, and it is written whether we shall see the next Holy Month of not. And what better way to face the other months of the year than starting with a positively charged soul, fresh, and energised from 30 days of seeking closeness to Allah?

I will be sad to see the Holy Month go, but more than sadness, I feel extremely grateful, and privileged to have been invited to be a guest of Allah (literally - this year I went for itekaaf. Twice).

Alhamdulillah.

Alhamdulillah.

Alhamdulillah.

So, I will not complain, loudly, to others that it is gone, but I will make this commitment, to try and show my gratefulness instead.

I am going to try, seriously, seriously try, more than I have tried previous times, to keep whatever I have gained from this Holy Month, and keep it with me throughout the next 12 months. There is a mix of habits and mannerism (external), and insights and inspirations (internal), but if feels to be more than that.

If we all can do that, hang on to something positive from this month, even if it may be small, then we know when the next Holy Month comes (if we are decreed to see it), if our present one has been a success. Thus, oddly, yet not oddly at all, the best way to gauge this month is 11 months from now.

I hope and pray that all who have gained from this month carry that gain to the next Holy Month, and that, should they do so, that all the Holy Months of their life take them on this virtuous cycle, continuously onwards and upwards.

inshaAllah.

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Duas always accepted.