Tuesday 9 July 2013

Ramadhan

Tomorrow will be the first day of Ramadhan and Muslims will begin their month-long religious observation of one of the five pillars of Islam.

This time, I will be spending Ramadhan with my family in Putrajaya.

For us, Ramadhan is not only a time of abstinence, but also self-reflection and moderation.  And by moderation, that includes food and lifestyle.

We tend to eat less during this time, so the various "Pasar Ramadhan" hardly gets a visit as our family has always favored home-cooked food for breaking fast.

I remember once, my Mom actually made the green jelly for a fully home-made cendol as we wanted so much to have a taste of it, and Dad bought one of those hand-operated ice shavers because we wanted to have ABC.

Nowadays, we are more likely to have the more ordinary chilled chocolate drink, or the black jelly cincau or just plain orange juice or rose cordial to accompany a simple meal of rice with vegetables and fish or noodles.

Although I really can't understand the frenzy that people get over food during this period that is supposed to be a period of abstinence from worldly excesses, that somehow I feel that we have lost sight of the reason for Ramadhan in the first place.

I guess it has become a cultural thing, that we have managed to commercialise Ramadhan and Eid al Fitr to such an extent that these two occasions have become reasons to satisfy food cravings and a single day of celebration has been dragged into a month-long festival of "open house" food orgies.

However, I sincerely hope that all Muslims in Malaysia spend this period of religious observance to ponder the fate of Muslims and the direction we as a nation are taking to protect the sanctity of our faith from harm, both seen and unseen, either obvious or obscure.

With the Muslim nation in such disarray, I find it extremely petty of us living in bountiful Malaysia to create social tension and invite violence that would cause everyone lasting harm.

We should all reflect on all the good things that we have, think about others who are less fortunate than us, and try not to dwell too much on what we feel as our entitlements, as I can assure you, no matter how difficult life is, there are others who fare worse.

I shall also pray that hopefully this month of Ramadhan will allow our Muslim brothers and sisters all over the world to see beyond the obvious and put aside our petty grievances such that we can unite for lasting peace and betterment of the Ummah.

To all Muslims, may we all have a blessed Ramadhan.

7 comments:

  1. And to you too BC. May God Bless your Ramadhan this year and years to come....

    :D sarah

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  2. Selamat menunaikan ibadah Ramadan to you BC ,will this Ramadan be the turning point to all Muslim in Malaysia and around the worlds .

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  3. Dear Big Cat..
    Have a good puasa to you too. I don't know that cats also fast.It should be good for you if you are big and overweight. Some people fast to lose weight but that's not the real purpose and spirit of Ramadhan. If you lose weight then its good for you
    Anyway I had two toast with cheese, oats , fruits (bananas and apples)nescafe and water for my sahur at 500am. Its almost noon and I feel fresh and sprightly. The maam just sms to find out what I wanted for the berbuka at 716 this evening. I guess I have soup, spaghetti and maybe some scones and lots of fruits again.
    The ramadhan warongs are setting up their stalls by the nearby mosque and open areas and to my non muslims friends plse go and buy whatever because you wont find such lovely mix of delicious kuehs and food on sale other that at the ramadhan bazaar, anywhere in this peaceful, lovely, stable and tranquil and safe country called Malaysia, where millions live in peace and harmony and millions more wants to visit and live either legally or illegally!!!

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    1. Thank you anon. And no, I have no plans to lose more weight than is healthy, thanks. Definitely not fasting to lose weight :D

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  4. I like the new look to your site, BC. Observing Ramadan in the middle east this year. The locals here would agree with some of your comments as one of the big complaints is how many people gain weight during the month as they fast during the day and eat too much at night. Best wishes to all for a happy and holy month.

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    1. Thank you Anon. Wishing you the same :)

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