Ramadan Revolutions:
1-Doing morning and evening adhkar every day.
2-Praying tahajjud every night.
3-Giving any amount for sadaqah every week.
4-Fasting every Monday and Thursday and all other voluntary fasting.
5-Completing the Qur'an at least once in two months.
6- Remembering and glorifying Allah through out the day.
7-Controlling my tongue( abstaining from lying, gossiping, arguing e.t.c)
8-Learning to control anger. Stop fighting too much.
9-Being a responsible and hardworking girl, helping my parents. Making my parents to be pleased with me.
10 Doing everything that's halal and abstaining from anything that's haram.
What to achieve before the end of Ramadan:
1- Complete the Qur'an at least once
2-Learn the English meaning of the Qur'an
3-Give as much charity as you can
4-Tahajjud and taraweeh.
5-Pray for everything and anything you want every day and night. It may fall in lailatul qadr.
6-Remembrance and glorification of Allah.
7- Practicing your Memorization
8- Make sure to control your tongue and eyes.
9-Do not get angry
10- Being kind to everyone.
11-Listening to tafsir and lectures.
Time table for Ramadan.
4am- 5am: Sahur
5am-6am:Morning adhkar and reading the Qur'an.
6am-10am: Sleeping.
10am-12pm: Tafsir
12pm-2pm: free time
2pm-4pm: Qur'an
4pm-5pm:Resting/glorifying Allah.
5pm-7pm:Helping in the kitchen.
7pm-8pm:Iftar
8pm-10pm: Taraweeh.
10pm-1am: Reading the Qur'an/Glorifying Allah.
1am-4am:Sleeping.
I put my pen down and closed the book I was writing on before checking the time. I smiled happily when I saw it was 5pm. Two more hours to iftar. I checked the time table I just finished making. Seeing 5pm to 7pm helping in the kitchen , I took my gele and hungrily went downstairs where I met Mama and Ya Ruqy in the kitchen.
Allahu Akbar....
Allahu Akbar.....
After two hours of helping in the kitchen perceiving the nice aroma and mistakenly eating the watermelon I was cutting for the fruit salad, I finally heard the Adnan of magrib.
" ذَهَبَ الظَّمَأُ وَابْتَلَّتِ الْعُرُوقُ، وَثَبَتَ الأَجْرُ إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ
Dhahabadh-dhama'u wabtallatil-'urooqu, wa thabatal-'ajru 'inshaa'Allaah.
The thirst is gone, the veins are moistened and the reward is confirmed, if Allah wills.
I ate dabino(dates) and a cup of water as per sunnah before praying in Jam'i with my family.
The first day of Ramadan had already passed. It was amazing how time travelled very fast. I felt like last year's Ramadan was last month but it was now a whole year after it. I prayed to Allah to make me make the best use of this holy month and prayed for everything else before filling my tummy to the brim.
Less than an hour later my whole family and I walked to the mosque in the street next to our's.
Beautiful!!!
That was all I could use to describe the feelings I got as I stood and prayed to my lord. Everything was lovely. The cool breeze that was blowing my hijab. The way all the sisters were standing together shoulder by shoulder, foot by foot. The way a lot of Muslims showed up. The way we were all praying in unism really amazed me. I loved it.
No matter how much practice people get to do some different steps together they can never do it in unism like muslims do when they are praying in Jam'i. It is something to be proud of. I loved the way everyone knew what to do. A small three year old knows what to do immediately he hears the takbeer or SamiAllahu liman Hamida. Even the females that can't see the imam know what to do. It was really amazing how at this time of the night hundreds of Muslims were prostrating to their lord together.
And the qira'ah was so lovely. The imam of the mosque took Isha and the first nafila. Even though he was quiet old his voice was so soothing.Uncle Nour took the second and third nafilas. While one other person took the third and the shaf'i and wutr. The third person's qira'ah was the best. His voice was so melodious. When I heard the qira'ah,I immediately prayed for a husband that can recite the Quran melodiously.
The qira'ah sounded a little bit familiar, he was imitating Sheikh Sudais. When the third Imam was supplicating in the wutr, his voice started shaking. Even though I couldn't understand much Arabic, the way the the Imam was crying made me feel like crying too. It was just so beautiful.
I folded my praying mat and met Uncle Nour, Najib and the twins waiting for us at the gate of the mosque.
"Your recitation was so beautiful Ma Sha Allah. Your mom would have been very proud of you. She had always prayed for her son to be a very practicing muslim that would lead others. And Abu too. He would have been very proud of you,remember when he used to pray that Allah should make you an Imam in the Haram. His prayer is coming true Alhamdulilah. I am so proud of my little brother too. Ma sha Allah, Allah ya kara basira," Mama rejoiced giving Uncle Nour a side hug.
Uncle bent his head out of respect thanking her and praying for his deceased parents.
"Uncle Nour I am also very proud of you," I told him with a huge smile on my face. He grabbed me by my shoulder and pulled me in to side hug.
"Thank you".
I was so glad at how our relationship changed in a span of few months. I still felt bad for the way I treated him when he first came and the way I treated him during the years we were fighting. He also still felt bad for what he did to me. It was all in the past, we had both forgiven each other and fixed our relationship for good, so that was all that mattered then.
By then, Mama, Ruqy and the twins had walked ahead leaving Uncle Nour, Najib and I.
"Do you know what I prayed for through out the taraweeh?"
He shook his head.
"For Allah to bless me with an amazing husband that can recite his book like you do,"
"Hameeda you didn't pray for Jannah. Or the best in this world and in the hereafter but a husband?"
"I did but that's after I finished praying for a husband that can recite Qur'an beautifully," He shook his head muttering something like " Allah ya shirya,".
"Isn't my jannah under my husband's feet?" I asked. The question made Uncle Nour to stop arguing and also earned a chuckle from Najib.
"And Uncle Nour the one that recited after you. Omg! I love his voice! I know he is already married. I could have readily married him. Even if it is as a second wife..." Even though I was a little bit familiar with Najib now as Uncle Nour and him were very close, I didn't know when I started babbling infront of him. For a moment both Uncle Nour and Najib stopped walking and turned to look at me. Uncle Nour bursted out laughing and Najib continued walking while scratching his neck without looking back.
"Wallahi I am not kidding Uncle Nour. Okay I may not marry him as a second wife. But he is my dream man!!"
"Allah ya baki toh,"
"Better not let his children or wife hear you," I said with a small smile imagining how nice it could be to marry a person that can recite the Quran melodiously. You could hear the melodious voice and recitation anytime you wish. Whenever ever you're angry at him, hearing his recitation will calm you down.
It was three days later I understood why Uncle Nour laughed. I didn't hear the recitation and when we were walking back home, Ruqy asked,
"Is Najib sick? He didn't lead us today,"
How could I forget where I know that qira'ah?
**************
Time flied and soon the first week of Ramadan passed. Today was the seventh day of the month. It was raining heavily. I sat down on my bed next to my window enjoying the cool breeze and evaluated what I did in the past seven days.
1-I went to taraweeh throughout ✔
2- I read ten juzi of the Qur'an✔
3-I gave charity✔
4-I fought and argued with Hussain❌
5-I spent some hours chatting instead of Ibadah❌
6-I watched an Indian movie that made me cry instead of listening to Quran or tafsir and crying ❌
7-I didn't glorify Allah much❌
8-I slept a lot ❌
9-I lost concentration in Salah❌
10- I didn't say my morning and evening Adhkar. ❌
11- I spent so many hours doing nothing instead of doing Ibadah. ❌
12- I gossiped ❌
13- I forgot to cover up completely twice while there were guests in our house.❌
14- I visited some relatives✔
15-I gave many of my old clothes for charity ✔
I reread all I wrote, all those with cross signs were those I needed to work on or modify while those with a tick were those that I would continue doing. It was quite sad that those with a cross sign were double in number of those with a tick. I took my pen again and started writing the changes I will make.
1-I will try my best not to argue or fight with my siblings and friends. Whenever they annoy me I will reply with inni sa'iumun( I am fasting)
2-I won't touch my phone again.
3- I will try my best and listen to tasfir on sunnah TV or walk to the mosque nearby each morning.
4- I will glorify Allah as much as I can. ( when am helping in the kitchen, in the car, walking to the mosque e.t.c)
5- I will monitor the hours I sleep. I will wake up each morning and walk to the mosque to listen to tafsir.
6- I will try my best and concentrate in my Sallah.
7- I will say my morning and evening adhkar everyday
8- I will try my best and cover up completely.
9-I will control my tongue.
10- I will glorify my maker instead of doing nothing.
I started reading what I wrote and stopped in the second one. I cancelled it and wrote.
2-I will use my phone for ten minutes each day only. I cancelled that too and wrote an hour. I finished reading the whole thing before coming back to number two again and changing it to 45 minutes. I then put my book on my bedside drawer and switched off my bedside lamb before, closing my eyes. I didn't know when I drifted to sleep, enjoying the cool breeze , hearing the droplets of rain that was falling on the roof and thinking about the changes I will make in the next 23 or 22 days of the most beautiful month.
**************
"Ikon Allah, wannan kamar a Saudia," Mama said her face full of joy.
"I know right. I can't believe I am seeing thousands of people here at this time of the night,"Ruky added.
"It is really amazing," Uncle Nour agreed with them.
They were talking about how there were thousands of people walking back to their houses after tahajjud prayer. I loved it when I see many people walking back home after tarweeh or tahajjud. It gave me this happiness and joy inside my heart that they were many Muslims who participated in this act of Ibadah. Just like Mama, sometimes I felt like I was in Saudi because of the amount of people I saw, the atmosphere, how the people were very happy and everything else.
"Time travels so fast," I complained.
"I know right, Ya Hameeda, I can't believe Ramadan is ending,"
'I can't wait for Eid," Hussain sounded excited.
"Hussain it is not time to think about Eid. These last ten days are the best nights in the whole year. In it is lailatul qadr which is better than 1000 months. It is time to multiply your ibada not woefully prepare for Sallah," Yaya Rukky admonished him.
Ramadan went as fast as it came. I tried my best to make the best use of the last ten days. I prayed tahhajud throughout and read as much Qur'an as I could. Whenever I wasn't doing the two above I could be glorifying my lord or praying:
اللهم انك عفو تحب العفو فعف عني" "Allahumma innaka afuwun tuhibbul afwa fa afuanni " O Allah you are the one that pardons greatly, and you love to pardon, so pardon".
The prayer taught to us by the prophet(SAW) to supplicate in the last ten nights. I prayed for everything I wanted. I prayed for jannah, qabr, the best in this world and in the hereafter, a pious husband and kids, happy life, health,wealth and even healthy hair. And of course I didn't let a day passed without praying for Mukhlis.
Ramadan in all had been great. It was so and lovely, just what I needed. From the atmosphere, the way everyone was fasting, the taraweeh and tahajjud, the tafsirs and everything else. I had never experienced anything like that in my whole life. It was the best month in my whole life. I enjoyed obeying my lord and worshipping him. I was so happy that I got the opportunity to make the best use of it.
When I remembered how I spent my last Ramadan, and previous ones, I felt bad at how silly I was. All that mattered to me then was the food. I would post all I ate during Iftar so that everyone would see. I was always eager for Mama and Ruqy to go to taraweeh so that I could talk to Hamdan. I spent hours video calling Hamdan when my family went to tahajjud. I went to taraweeh once in a while but just prayed isha and maybe one nafila then sat at the back and talked to my schoolmates. I sometimes even sneaked and went out with Hamdan while Mama went to taraweeh. I had surely missed a lot. If I had known this was the joy they got by praying taraweeh and tahajjud I could had never missed a single one.
The iftar had been stupendously amazing as well. I was not the only one that liked Ramadan because of the delicious food you would always eat after breaking your fast. I invited Leena and Yasmeen for iftar. Sometimes Najib or some other relatives joined us too. Our relatives and family friends invited for us Iftar as well. And Ramadan food is always delicious.
There was a day Uncle Siddique, Bilkisu and Khaleed's dad invited us to iftar. I wasn't fasting that day so I tasted the food before iftar. And when Uncle Siddique was complaining about how salty the food was, my annoying six year old cousin said ," Mama couldn't taste it as she was fasting but Yaya Hameeda tasted it and said it was okay," in front of my whole family. It was so embarrassing.
***********************
Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar
La ila ha illa la
Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar
Wa lilahi hamd
Allahu Akbar kabira
Walhamdulilahi kathira
Wa subuhanahul bukratan wa asila
Allahu Akbar
Allahu Akbar
It was as if the whole world was repeating this dua. I was pretty sure everyone in this state was doing that, wherever I turned that was all I heard. It was lovely. The road was filled up. Some walking, some in their cars, some on their motorcycles and few on their bicycles. I looked through the window and saw thousands of men walking to the same direction and looking very handsome in their shinning shadda with a sujjada hanged over their shoulders. They were also few children and women wearing their bright new atampa, shadda or lace with new shoes, bags and jewelries. Everyone was looking so joyful and happy. Who wouldn't be? After all it was eid.
I prayed eid that year after years of sleeping when my family went to eid. We prayed on a main street because we were a bit late and the compound of the mosque was already filled up. It was so overwhelming how there were so many Muslims that wanted the reward for praying two Raka'ah. I didn't want the takbeers to end but in the seventh one the Imam started reciting suratul fatiha and then suratul tin.
And when the prayer ended and people started folding their sujjada and wishing one another "Barka da Sallah Allah ya maimaitamana," I almost cried. I remembered Ramadan had ended, life would be back to normal. Jinns would be unchained and the people would go back to their old ways. I remembered what Uncle Nour taught us in his first lesson and some quotes I read. Ramadan is a school. You learn things. It is the time you learn to make or break a habit. The aim of Ramadan is to stop bad habits not to pause them. I also remembered a number of us wouldn't reach the next Ramadan. How much I was already missing Tahajjud and Taraweeh prayers, Iftar and sahur, the unity , kindness and brotherhood of Muslim brothers and sisters.
After eid prayer we came back home and filled our tummies with the normal tuwon Sallah. Tuwon shinkafa with miyan taushe. We then dressed up and took numerous pictures before heading to our grandmother's place.
After all the problems I got with the tailor at last my clothes were so beautiful. I looked so beautiful and different, so unlike the way I used to dress. My dresses were free and flowing, so different from my old fitted gowns. For all the Sallah days, I did my face beautifully too, simple make up unlike the heavy make up I used to do.
I found it a little bit funny when I compared last year to this year. Last year and the previous years all I cared about on eid day was taking pictures and sending it to Hamdan or posting it. Trying to make sure my eid picture was the best on instagram.
It was so nice to visit relatives you hadn't seen in years and the duas you get by all those old relative were enough to make you happy for the rest of the year.
Allah ya muku albarka
Allah saka da alheri
Allah maimaita mana
I loved hearing all these duas. We visited so many relatives and got yawan Sallah which I immediately put in my account before Mama borrows it never to return it. She was not the only mother that did that.
Together with the twins and Uncle Nour we also watched hawan sallah which was really fun though we suffered before reaching the place we were going to watch as the whole town came out to watch their Emir.
I almost vowed never to watch Hawa again but in the end I found out it was worth it. Uncle Nour was still afraid of bindigan Sarki. (Gunshots). I had a good time laughing and teasing him.
It was nice watching the Emir and his We saw people we knew and shouted their names until they looked at us and either waved or smiled at us. We also argued about which tawaga's anko was more beautiful. The music that the tawaga's people played, the sound of the algaita and other musical instruments, the way everyone greeted the emir and other Hakimai with jinjina and the way the Hakimai replied some smiling and others frowning was also nice and fun.
It was four days after Sallah that Uncle Nour broke the bad news. He was leaving for Sudan in a week.
A/N
I am really sorry for not replying your comments for the previous chapters. I have been a bit busy. I appreciate all the votes and comments. I am so happy to reach 1000 votes. Thank you so much. I hope in the next few months when a reader reads this he/she will be a bit surprise like so there was a time when MWOMA has 1000 votes only. Because by then in sha Allah the votes will be in millions. Hehehe Allah ya kaimu de.
If I see many votes and nice comments you see a little notification tomorrow.