Tuesday 14 August 2012

Ramadhan and ourselves....

I haven’t had the chance to wish you all Selamat Berpuasa and now it’s already time to wish Selamat Hari Raya.  Ramadhan passed by in a blink that the next thing I realized is that tomorrow is already the last day of work before the office is closed for Hari Raya. 
The much talk about Ramadhan in Malaysia is about how lavishly we spent and the variety of food that can be found in every corner and every block of residential areas, offices and malls during this month.  While Ramadhan should be about remembering the poor, the hungry, the less fortunate and the ones in need, Ramadhan for Malaysians is mostly about deciding what or what else to eat when we break our fast.  Syukur Alhamdulillah for all the ‘nikmat’. 
While we are recommended to eat less than usual during breaking fast and eat lesser during ‘sahur’ for health sake, we do just the opposite. 
While fasting should mean having a normal dinner and an earlier but normal breakfast, we have a feast during dinner and a 4.30am complete-hearty-meal fit for lunch. 
And because we wake up early in the morning to cook for the 4.30am ‘lunch’, we end up feeling drowsy and unproductive the next day. 
Well, I may not be a religious scholar but I don’t this is the right way to go through Ramadhan. 
But then, I’m not here to judge anybody because looking at my hubby, I know that he needs that complete-hearty-4.30am-lunch because his metabolic rate is just unimaginably high.  Even with rice and curry for every buka-puasa and sahur, he loses 6 kgs already.   What I love about him is he didn’t trouble me to prepare the meals for him but wakes me up just in time for me to have some dates and water before Imsak.   Ain’t he the best hubby in the world?   Still, I only lost 2 kgs compared to him. 
Then again, Ramadhan is not about losing weight.  It’s about ibadah and that’s all there is to it.  So, I don’t feel so bad about not losing so much weight, but I feel very bad and even angry at myself for not putting enough effort to increase or improve my ‘ibadah’.    
That is why I’m amazed at some people who can be very confident about their ‘ibadah’ and feel very secure that they have enough ‘pahala’ that they can spend every minute of the day judging others.   They went to bazaar Ramadhan and came back complaining in the Facebook about a seller who didn’t cover her hair??   And an ustaz telling others to buy from those who dressed ‘Islamicly’ ONLY!
Aren’t we not supposed to judge others because only Allah S.W.T has the right to do so?  Isn’t it a sin to put ourselves at par with Allah S.W.T?
How do we know that the one who didn’t cover her hair is ‘less’ in the eyes of Allah S.W.T compared to the one who does?  What if the former makes great popiah and the latter sells tasteless karipap?  What if the former is cleaner and friendlier and the latter is stuck-up and dirty? 
Even if they both are equally friendly and clean, and they both sell good food, who are we to condemn and punish anybody for that ‘one sin’ that is not covering the hair?   Why only that ‘one sin’ count?  How about other sins like judging others? Talking bad about others?  Feeling hollier than thou (takbur/riak) by complaining about the woman’s hair in your FB?   Is that good?  Does that make you proud?  Have you ever stop and think about what you feel when you say these things? 
You know, these are greater sins that would affect ourselves and the ummah.  So, why we can close our eyes on these sins but not that ‘one sin’ of a woman not covering the hair?   Naturally, a woman not covering her hair wouldn’t affect anybody unless you have an extraordinary ‘interest’ in womens’ hair and seeing it would arouse you (I’m sorry) and makes you lose control.   How low can one’s ‘iman’ be? 
I’ve been writing similar things to this, time and again and I’m starting to get bored of it but I can’t help it as I see this everyday, as if it’s some kind of  a trend to condemn, punish and judge others for what we see as their sins.   
For once, at least during this Ramadhan, let’s look at our sins and not others. 
After all, the main reason we are here is to use the ultimate gift, the ‘akal’ to explore and learn from the universe that Allah S.W.T has created  so that we can contribute to mankind and improve our lives.  By doing that, we are supposed to get to know Allah S.W.T and know ourselves. 
So do it, if we really want to be a good Muslim. 
And as good Muslims like many of us like to think they are, they should know that the greatest jihad is to fight the tendencies to judge, condemn and punish others (the devil within yourself).   
Logically, if it is the greatest jihad to fight these tendencies then it must be a great sin to not fight it.  Even greater than not covering the hair. 
So fight it.   Go to bazaar Ramadhan with a clean mind and a pure heart.  If that is so hard to do then don’t ever think that you are hollier than anybody.  The fact is, we are all just humans – we have sins and we have done good deeds to others.  Some can be seen, some cannot.  All we need to do is just be true to ourselves and let Allah S.W.T be the judge. 
Remember, good Muslims wouldn’t dare for a second to think that he is better than anybody, including those drowned in ‘maksiat’ all the time, because good Muslims knows that he doesn’t know much…  Only Allah S.W.T knows everything – the inside and out of his complex creations.  So, let’s learn to be humble. 
May this be a blessed Ramadhan for us all.  Happy Hari Raya Everybody and Maaf Zahir Batin!