July 10, 2013 — ‘Lara A
July 10, 2013 — ‘Lara A
Day 1 of Ramadan has ended, 28 or 29 more days to go. As usual the debate as to what was the 1st day of Ramadan went on. We finally got to observe the first day of Ramadan today instead of yesterday as was planned, and prepared for, by most people.
I love the holy month, which is the only time I get to truly connect to God. It is time to cleanse my soul, another chance to rid my life of sins committed in the last 11 months. I am one of those many Muslims who only get to fast once a year, during the month of Ramadan. I have only managed to fast for 4 days out of the 10 that I missed from the Ramadan fast of the year before. Every year I tell myself that I shall repay the missed fasts but then I still go ahead and enter another month of Ramadan without repaying my fasts.
I am so happy I am home to observe this beautiful month amongst fellow Muslims and family. No explaining to my Indian boss why I have to leave the office everyday by 7pm to go break my fast even though the official closing hour is 6pm. No German team lead wondering why I could not come over to the canteen and gist with the teammates while they consumed their meals; or having to explain the whole idea of Ramadan to a teammate, who wondered if I wanted to commit suicide by starving and dehydrating myself all in the name of fasting.
Observing Ramadan in Germany was the hardest for me but this year, I do not have to worry about constipation because I would not be eating my Sahur at 2am or breaking my fast by 9.30pm. I still don’t know how I survived 22 months away from home, on unfamiliar terrain. I never saw the inside of a mosque in those 22 months. For 22 months I never got to observe Jumah.
This year I am excited about eating sahur with family; observing taraweeh in the mosque every night; breaking my fast with friends and so looking forward to Eid-ul-fitri.
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Lara is a restless soul who loves traveling and photography and is in search of her equally restless soulmate who is lost somewhere in the world. She blogs at www.labyrinthsoflahrah.com and you can follow her on Twitter at @lhararom.