Don’t be a one-month wonder this Ramadan

With just a few days before the start of the blessed month of Ramadan either on Saturday or Sunday, the 3rd or 4th of April depending on the sighting of the moon, I wanted to share some of my observations about this Islamic month in which Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.

I have written this story before, but with people being consumed with so many challenges including the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdowns and financial constraints among others, I thought I will share it again so that we remain cognizant of the beauty of this month.

This article it not meant to offend, but rather to highlight what sadly has become a trend in many Muslim households throughout South Africa, if not the world.

So, with the spiritual rays of Ramadan just over the horizon, the question remains: are we ready? Will people embrace this month and draw every ounce of spiritual essence from it so that they can transform their lives? 

The excitement which Ramadan draws is unparalleled. Or is it? I ask this question very sceptically because although there are many who are looking forward to Ramadan, there are just as many who do not reap all the benefits from this month.

I won’t harp on about the hypocritical redundant actions that are seen year after year, but the following is worth a mention.

Ramadan has arrived, the television is switched off and the radio switched on with beautiful naats and nazams (Islamic songs) being recited in the background. The Holy Qur’an is taken out from the cupboard unwrapped and the dust blown off. Has it been that long?

Almost every home has become a place of worship oozing spiritual ecstasy.

The men have packed away their Levis and body fit t-shirts and start sporting a five-o clock shadow that will be cultivated into a beard, just to be slaughtered after Ramadan.

Islamic clothing that has seen daylight a year ago are taken out of the closet along with the headgear that were packed away not to dishevel the spikey hairdo.

Expensive non-alcoholic perfumes are now the everyday fragrance and oud that are is opened once a year, delighting passers-by with its sensual fragrance. Joe has become Yusuf, Fats or Tima has become Fatima, Moe – Mohammad and Faya-Faizel, I can’t leave myself out now, can I?

The women have packed away their tight-fitting dresses, jeans and halter necks only to be replaced by designer abayas with genuine and not fake Swarovski crystals specially imported from Dubai that apparently is part of a designer collection and the only one created, just for her.

Also, the scarf with a camel hump becomes a permanent fixture and is a must especially when going to work. After all it’s the month of Ramadan, right?

During the year most of the mosques are literally empty especially during the early dawn prayer and on some occasions it’s only the Imam, the one who calls to prayer and a few uncles from down the street who live close to the place of worship who make a concerted effort to attend.

In Ramadan, the mosques are so full that carpets have to be placed outside for extra people.

There’s also the careless parking of cars blocking people’s driveways, where even the family cat can’t get out.

New faces adorn the mosque and regulars begin to wonder: “Hey isn’t that brother Shiraz? He lives next door to me and surprisingly this is the first time I’ve seen him for the early and late-night prayer?  

Dear uncle Shiraz has also brought along his little son warning him before leaving for the mosque how important going for prayer in Ramadan is and that he should behave, to no avail however. 

The little boy runs a racket making noise driving the worshippers up the wall and prompting the Imam after every two segments to stand up and give a lesson in the etiquettes of the mosque.

After getting up for the predawn meal before the fast begins, you still have to commute to work and back and then there’s the time of breaking the fast. After downing a dozen samoosa’s and half a dozen pies it’s off to the mosque, well for 15 days at least. Or is that too much?

It doesn’t end there, people than get frustrated because the night prayer is too long and they get tired, and only read eight segments instead of twenty or the Islamic scholar is reading to slow, all the while burping the odour of the samoosa’s and pies to the detriment of the uncle praying alongside him.

So, they go to another mosque and find a speedster and then boast about it: “Ek se, what time you guys klaar prayer huh? 9 Bells? That’s niks bra, we klaar like 8:30. This scholar is a mamoo, my bra. You must vaai to my mosque.”

Oh, and let’s not forget that one uncle who is in-charge of opening and closing the windows, switching on the fans and changing the time on the electronic board in the mosque. Besides him there is no one else that is qualified to handle the job and God forbid someone else should try.

Some youngsters and even older men don’t go to the mosque. The youngsters frequent notorious “hangout joints” that has become synonymous with Ramadan. Remember Select in Lenasia?

As for the slightly older men, the “fibrositis” and bad back start playing up and they become more worried about reading on a chair then reading prayer at all or becoming the next “chairmen.”

It’s also worth mentioning that the spiritual ecstasy of Ramadan has all but vanished from the hearts of certain people. I say this because Ramadan is about sacrifice and some people don’t sacrifice and in particular, don’t fast at all.

The flimsy and lame excuses for not fasting is deplorable and have become a norm and it seems to have a contagious effect among the youth that fasting is “not for me” or beyond them.

In recent years it’s been noted that people adopt a pseudo persona. Show people that you are fasting only to be caught smoking a ciggie around the corner or gobbling an Akhals bunny chow like someone who’s been starved.

After the night prayer, people go home and open the holy Qur’an and recite in a beautiful and audible manner, mimicking renowned Saudi Arabian scholar’s Sudais, Hudaifi or Shatri’s voice.

This lasts for just more than 12 or 15 days and the Qur’an is never to be opened again. The marker rests on the 15^th chapter and “Sudais” has resigned himself to other tasks. 

With half the month of Ramadan gone, it’s time to frequent malls and the many Egyptian shops that are lined with the latest abaya’s and pink kurthas specially imported for Eid.

Is Islam a religion of convenience that you can be a Muslim throughout the year flouting rule after rule yet when Ramadan dawns a flower is about to bloom?

Don’t fool yourself.  Take advantage of this holy month.

Ramadan is like the pure sweet honey that oozes from a honeycomb after wild bees have gathered there. But do we deserve it, are we worthy of such sweet mercy that Almighty Allah will soon bestow upon us?

Allah says in the Qur’an, “If I have to start punishing man proportionate to his wrongs, there would not remain a living creature on this earth.”

Despite our wrongs from last Ramadan to this coming Ramadan, we can safely say we are not in a position that we deserve another Ramadan. Yet it is the sheer mercy of Allah that He will once again afford and favour us with this great month.

Let us pray to Almighty Allah that he grant us the spirituality to welcome Ramadan, honour this blessed month, cherish it and fast with the correct zeal and desire and make it the turning point of our lives.

In moments of hunger and thirst, let us revive the likes of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH’) companions as this was their daily condition.

Share with The Citizen how you welcome the month of Ramadan and reap the rewards this month has offer.

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