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My Ramadan this year
(2008) |
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Today is Saturday, 27th of September 08 and in 3 days' time,
the Ramadan month would be over and Muslims from all over
the world would be celebrating the Aidil Fitri on the first
day of the Syawal month (1st October, 08) with rendang,
ketupat dan kueh mueh and visits to relatives and
friends. Malaysian Muslims staying or working outstation would rush
to their kampung or home town to be with their
parents on, or preferable, before the Hari Raya Aidil
Fitri. Due to the nature of his work or business, a
Muslim seldom gets the chance to meet his parents or
brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews and other relatives. The
Hari Raya Puasa day is a good excuse for him to
temporarily "abandons" his work and business to be with his
parents and relatives to foster closer silatulrahim.
The Hari Raya Puasa day is also a good day to ask
for forgiveness for whatever wrongdoings we have said or
committed to our parents, relatives and friends previously.
Though Islam encourages us to ask for forgiveness as soon as
possible at any time of the day, month or year, it seems to
be a customary practice now to ask for forgiveness on that
day only :-)
On the morning of Hari Raya Puasa, children would queue
up to their parents to "salam" their hands, kiss them and
ask for forgiveness, starting with the elder ones. That day
is also the day where young children get some pocket money
or angpow as the Chinese called it.
We also find kids going from one house to another to get
this "pocket money" for Hari Raya Puasa is also a day of
generosity, where the rich donates to the poor. |
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SOLAT SUNAT TERAWIH |
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To fast during the Ramadan month is one of the
Pillars of Islam. In Verse 183 of Al-Baqara of the Al-Quran,
Allah SWT says, "
O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed for
you, even as it was prescribed for those before you, that ye may
ward off (evil)" Thus, by fasting
for a month, a Muslim would become a better Muslim provided he
observed the rules of fasting steadfastly, like not to talk bad
behind a person's back ("back stabbing" so called) and be
patient (to control his temper when he's angry
at someone or something). Ramadan is also the month where for
every good deed that a Muslim does, he is "being paid" much more
than he is being paid for the same good deed that he does in the
other 11 months. The Prophet SAW said," If a Muslim knows how good
and beneficial the Ramadan month is, he would wish that the
Ramadan month be extended for a year instead of for one
month only." The "most beneficial" night of the month is the
Lailatul Qadar, where for every god deed or ibadah that a
Muslim does during the night, from Maghrib until the sun rises, it is as if he has
performed it for 1000 months (83.33 years). |
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Muslims berdoa asking for
forgiveness and favors from Allah SWT after the Solat Sunat
Terawih |
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The problem is, no one knows when that night of Lailatul
Qadar is, but it was quoted by the Prophet Muhammad SAW that
it shall happen in one of the last 10 days of the month. So we
find Muslims performing the qiamullail (wakes up in the
middle or later part of the night to perform the solat sunat
and read verses from the Al-Quran) or doing good deeds in
the last 10 nights of the Ramadan month. If one is in Majidil
Haram in Mecca at this time, one can observe the large crowd of
Muslims there, as large a crowd as during the performance of the Haj. |
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The Muslim pilgrims in
Masjidil Haram in Mecca is equivalent to the crowd during
the Haj period. |
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DIFFERENT METHODS OF SOLAT SUNAT TERAWIH |
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It has always been argued how many rakaats
should there be in a solat sunat terawih. There are
many hadiths telling about this, but in Malaysia, the
most common ones being practiced are eight (8) or twenty (20) rakaats. Of
course the most popular one is the eight rakaat :-),
which is also accompanied by the tazkirah (short talk on
Islamic subjects) by invited ustazs (Muslim teachers). It
is said in a hadith that to attend a tazkirah is
equivalent to performing 100 rakaats. Another hadith
says it is equivalent to 1000 rakaats, Wallah'ualam...
Whatever hadith version that one adopts (100 or 1000
rakaats), to have a solat sunat terawih with a
tazkirah is definitely more than 20 rakaats, either
108 or 1008 :-)
This year I had the opportunity to perform the solat sunat
terawih at two mosques, one at Kota Damansara and the other
one at Ampang. Both mosques adopted the eight rakaats solat
sunat terawih. However, their program of events differ a
bit. Immediately after the solat fardhu Ishaaq, the
mosque in Kota Damansara held the majlis doa dan membaca
tahlil for the deceased. It was then followed by the
Solat Sunat Terawih and Solat Sunat Witir (3 rakaat). After
that an ustaz was invited to give a tazkirah for about 30
minutes. Some ustazs delivered more than 30 minutes worth
of time if they felt that the audience liked what he was
delivering. The only "problem" here was that at this time of the
night, many Muslims were tired and therefore, found themselves
dozing off to sleep whilst the ustazs were talking :-)
For this reason, an ustaz in the other mosques like the
one I attended in Ampang, was given about half an hour to
deliver his tazkirah after the solat fardhu ishaq
and before the solat sunat terawih. The "only problem"
was that the ustaz would try to rush and finish his
tazkirah within the half an hour and this amount of time may
not be sufficient for him to deliver a complete and meaningful
tazkirah to the audience |
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BEGINNING AND ENDING OF THE RAMADHAN MONTH |
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Many Muslims have the wrong interpretation or concept about
the beginning and ending of the Ramadhan month. Whilst we
should look forward to the coming Ramadhan month because of
the many benefits that Allah SWT is going to bestow on us, many
"Muslims" do not feel the same way as they feel that they
have to "suffer" from hunger and thirst because of the fasting that they have to
do for the next one month. The same "Muslims" look forward to the end of the Ramadhan month whereas they should be sad because the
Ramadan month together with its hidden benefits is going to
go away and they don't know whether they will live long
enough to reap the benefits of the next Ramadhan month.
Thus, in all the mosques, we can find a very large crowd of
Muslims attending the solat sunat terawih in the
first week of the month. However, during the last week of
the month, we find the number dwindling to less than half of
the capacity. |
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The last week of the month is also the day to go shopping for
new clothes, curtains, shoes, furniture and other new items.
Some even make sure that the new car that they already
booked would be delivered before the Hari Raya day. Those
intending to have an open house in the first few days would
also rush to the supermarket to buy ingredients to prepare
for food to be served on that day. Some would rush to the
bank to withdraw new Ringgit notes and get free angpow packets. |
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Hari Rapa Puasa is actually the day to celebrate our victory
over our internal war against nafsu syahwat, the war
against our natural "animal" instinct - not to eat and
drink, restrain ourselves from losing our temper, from
having sex and from doing sinful acts, like cheating,
stealing and gossiping ("bad mouthing" and "back stabbing").
It is also the day when we celebrate for the many unselfish
good deeds that we have done during the Ramadhan month, like
going for regular prayer day and night, donating money to
the people or places in need of money, performing the umrah
(for those who can afford it), giving food and clothing to
the poor and so on....All these we celebrate by going to the
mosque on the first day of Sha'wal month, first thing in the
morning where we Solat Sunah Aidil Fitri and say, "All Praise be
to Allah SWT", without Whose support and blessings, we would
not have done it... |
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