Ramadhan Kareem!

THIS IS SO CUTE

Assalamualaikum and hello it's the third day of Ramadhan! To the Muslims out there, maximise this once-in-a-year opportunity to reap the most benefits this holy month by increasing your ibadah and lessening other.. unbeneficial stuff? Consistency is better than straining yourself to do everything in the beginning and giving up early. Set goals this month like to read the Al-Quran every time after your prayers, reading the translations of the verses daily, memorize the verses etc. It's okay if you're struggling to do them, but pray to Allah to ease your deeds and starting small is fine too! Even reading two lines a day is okay when you're starting out~ (note to self too)

To non-Muslim readers out there, here are some facts about this fasting month that you may have wondered about before:

• Ramadhan is when us Muslims fast (not eat or drink) from Subuh which is around 5.30 - 5.45 AM to Maghrib 7.20 - 7.40 PM. Of course, those are according to Malaysian's time. I've heard that in Australia, they get to break their fast at 5.30 PM while in London, their fast lasts for more than 14 hours! The timing is different because of our position on the globe. Sun sets earlier = Break fast earlier. Bad luck for the countries having summer now. (Or is it?)
• The time when our fasts end, the English term for it is 'break fast / breaking fast' (which oddly sounds similar to our first meal in the morning), in Malay 'berbuka puasa' or like the hip word now derived from Arabic, iftar.
• The meal we have to prepare ourselves before fasting is called sahur, and can be done anytime, although we are encouraged to have as late as possible before Subuh. For my family, we have sahur at 5 AM (although it's actually 5.15 AM for me considering the struggle I have to get out of my bed) until Subuh starts.
• We have a special prayer in Ramdhan called Tarawih which is done after the Isyak prayers (after 8.30 PM-ish Malaysian time), and most of the time we do it in the mosque following the imam (leader). You can choose to perform either 8 rakaat or 20 rakaat, with the former being more popular although those who are able to do the latter are commendable. Which is why most of the time your Muslim friends might not be able to go for outings at night or sleeping in class after staying up to finish their homework lel.
• This month besides fasting from food and drinks, we are highly encouraged to fast from doing unbeneficial things and basically bad behaviours like talking bad behind others, being judgemental, cursing, being angry or impatient etc. Patience is key. It is also the time for us to focus on Allah with prayers, reading the Al-Quran etc.
• You might find it interesting that in our belief, during this month, the devil / syaitan are being locked up and the doors of hell are closed. This might be a relief but then when you do something bad you realize all along it isn't the syaitan tricking you, it really is you yourself's own behaviour ahahahah, And due to this fact sometimes I like reading ghost or horror stories knowing that there won't be anything disturbing me, although the memory of it remains until after Ramadhan and I regret my decision. 
• Please don't worry about eating or drinking in front of us. Believe me, it holds no effect and what is it compared to all the food advertisements and Yusuf Taiyoob whisperings we are bombarded with on television and radio 24/7. In the olden days, people even went to war during the fasting month so yeah. 
• After Ramadhan, we are encouraged to fast for any six days in the following month as the rewards are seen as the same as fasting for a whole year in Islam.
• Girls having their period are excused from fasting so don't get alarmed when you suddenly see a friend of yours sneaking a biscuit in their mouth in the day this month (although you should be worried if the said behaviour continues for over a week). However, it is a must for them to replace those days by fasting after Ramadhan the same number of days that they missed before the following Ramadhan.
• It is only a must for a Muslim to fast when he/she reaches puberty. Before that, kids are trained to fast like maybe they do it for half a day only. Those who are excused from fasting includes heavily pregnant women, women who recently give birth and needs to feed their babies, really really sick or old people that cannot fast without being in a dangerous fatal state and crazy people.
• There is a special night called the Lailatul Qadar happening in Ramadhan, and it is said that is a night better than a thousand months (meaning your good deeds will be multiplied by A LOT too and your prayers will be answered that night DEFINITELY). The angels / malaikat, more than a thousand of them are said to go down on Earth this night. The thing is, NO ONE knows when it is or which night it will be. People have pinpointed it out to be happening somewhere in the last ten nights of Ramadhan, so you can see people multiplying their good deeds then. There are a lot of rumours surrounding when that night is, like oh you can see the trees bending out in obedience for the Creator, it will be a clear cloudless night with a clear cloudless day the next morning, the air will be cool, etc etc which we don't know if it's true or not. 

p.s Please refrain from wasting food. I know it is very tempting to buy all the delicious delicacies we set our eyes on at the bazar Ramadhan, but before buying something new think to yourself whether you can really finish them all by yourself. Funny how they say membazir itu amalan syaitan / wasting is the practice of the devil but even when they are locked up, this practice seems to be bigger than ever.

Ramadhan Kareem to all! :D