This Ramadan was truly a transformative experience for me and helped me take my Islamic faith to a higher level. The presentation that I did prior to Ramadan encouraged me to learn more about why Ramadan is important and how I should be taking advantage of the holy month. I listened to Muslim Scholars, read online, and took short clips from social media to help me set a clearer plan for what I was going to get out of Ramadan. I established a goal that instead of feeling sorry for myself for going without food, I would remember the people who have no choice but to fast as a lifestyle because of their circumstances, or remember that I am fasting in order to receive the blessing of [God]Allah (swt). If you are wondering, “SWT” stands for “subhanahu wa ta’ala” in Arabic, which means “may he be glorified and exalted,” a title-like phrase that muslims say after mentioning his name in their respects. I also learned about the Ramadan specific prayers called “Taraweeh” and “Tahajjud”, which I decided to integrate into my schedule. The Taraweeh prayer is a non-obligatory prayer that Muslims during Ramadan perform in congregation after both breaking their fast and the last mandatory prayer of the day. The goal is to listen to the entire Qur’an over the 30 days— meaning we would pray for an additional 2 hours every night. Tahajjud was an even higher level of worship— prayers during the night time during the last 10 exalted nights of Ramadan. This prayer took place from around 2:30-5 AM; then we would share the “suhoor” meal together on a blue tarp over the rug of the mosque, enjoying phool (An Egyptian Fava bean dish) and a peculiarly delicious combo of “honey & [cream]cheese” before fajr (morning prayer). Since a lot of Ramadan was during spring break, it made many of these long nights of praying a lot more feasible which I am grateful for—otherwise, I wouldn’t have experienced any of these things. However, the struggles with fasting during school, spring break double-practice sessions, and long prayers are what made the Muslim holiday Eid all the more special for me relative to other years. Instead of just being happy I could go back to eating, I was blessed with the ability to reflect on the month and rejoice with the others who endured with me. I was thankfully able to leave Ramadan a better Muslim—taking new habits, experiences, and a love for Islam/Allah into the rest of the year.
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