| By skhaimi,
on 20-10-2005 08:33
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“Assalamu-alaikum wa rahmatullah,” said our leader as we turned our heads to the right one final time before Ramadan concluded. As I sat in the special Ramadan prayer, Tarawih, I reflected back on the blessed month of Ramadan realizing that I, Sana Ahmed, have come a long way.
My Ramadan began with the same words it concluded with, salaam, peace. As I arrived to the mosque, I greeted my friend with peace and blessings.
“I’m soo excited about Ramadan! This year is going to be the best!” she exclaimed.
“Yeah, I’m so looking forward to losing some weight!” I replied pinching my own cheeks. “I read online how fasting cleans out your system, especially all of the McDonalds and fast food I eat. I’ve actually set goals for myself this year and plan to fast the whole month.” My friend threw me a sideways glance and laughed at the comment. Every year I intend to fast, but miss a few even though only the travelers, sick, and the pregnant are exempted from it. It’s a new year and a new Ramadan with new goals, but little did I know of the challenges that lay ahead of me.
Beeep, beeep, beep, sounded my blue alarm clock. I turned over to push the snooze button and read 4:45. “Ugh, five more minutes,” I moaned collapsing onto my pillow. What seemed like seconds was followed by my mother hollering at me to wake up.
“Sana, you have to wake up and eat something for sahoor (breakfast). You only have half an hour before dawn. Get up,” she urged as she pulled the blanket off of me. A sudden coldness overtook me as I curled up. Surrendering, I lazily rolled off my bed and stumbled my way to the kitchen as an aroma of eggs and bread took over me. As I entered, my dad was sitting at the head of the table serving eggs and juice. My stomach turned at the sight. It was way too early to eat anything. I decided to go with the safest route, cereal. With five minutes left, I brushed my teeth and washed up for Fajr, the morning prayer. After I prayed, I resigned to my snug bed that awaited me.
Keeping a fast during school is easy, right? That’s what I thought until I actually experienced it. When I started my day, the morning whiff of coffee reached my nose, warming my insides. My usual stop to the cafeteria with my friends had ended since the beginning of Ramadan. As I walked past, my mouth watered as I thought of the hot chocolate and freshly blended coffee beans, but I’m fasting. I walked up the three flights of stairs with my books, huffing and puffing as I reached the top. Not that I’m out of shape, but as I reached the top, my throat became parched. Looking at the water fountain a few steps away, I shook my head and reminded myself that I was fasting. I collected all my spit from my mouth and swallowed. It was the least I could do.
The rest of my morning went OK, until Spanish. “Hola clase! Tenemos una fiesta hoy!” exclaimed my Spanish teacher.
“La fiesta? Party? I totally forgot that today was Cinco de Mayo. Awesome! I get candy, chips with salsa, enchiladas, but wait a minute. Aww man, I’m fasting,” I said disappointed. I sat in my seat watching all the others savor the taste of Mexican food only wishing to participate.
The bell rang, signaling the end of Spanish. Next was homeroom.
“OK guys, we have to help our school raise $25,000 for the hurricane Katrina victims. Does anyone want to donate?” asked my homeroom teacher. Just feeling hungry in Spanish helped me to realize these people’s situations. I give up so little only during the day, but these people don’t have anything anymore. I searched my backpack and took out a ten dollar bill. It wasn’t a lot, but hopefully it could help someone.
Ten minutes later, the bell rang for lunch. I finally had some time to finish my homework from the night before. With tarawih, the night prayers in Ramadan, I never quite finish my homework, well most of it actually. I rushed to the IRC and quickly take out all of my unfinished work, chemistry. Converting elements from moles to grams never made sense to me. I stared blankly at my worksheet as I tried to decipher which conversion factors to use. I glanced up at the clock and realized I had ten minutes left until the bell rings. Panicking, I furiously scribbled a few answers here and there so my homework looked somewhat complete.
I sauntered into chemistry only to find a pop quiz on conversions and balancing equations on my desk. I took a seat as my heart began to beat faster. “You have fifteen minutes to complete this,” instructed my chemistry teacher. I did the best I could, knowing I was going to fail this quiz.
After chemistry, I rushed down to gym class. Eager to play basketball, I quickly finish my laps, panting as I finished. It took me a while to recover, but I was ready to play some ball. “Come on, Sana, I bet you can’t beat us?” challenged the other team. Determined to show my skill, I played to my fullest. “Nice game,” I commented after the game. My team had barely won by two points. Exhausted, I walk over to the water fountain. As I bend down to take a sip of the cool crisp fountain water, I remembered I was fasting and backed away.
“What’s wrong?” asked my friend. “It’s Ramadan, I’m fasting,” I responded. “I almost forgot.” My friend shrugged and walked away leaving me alone with my sole desire to quench my thirst.
The clock read 3:30. Finally, I get to go home. Almost immediately, I fall asleep on my sofa. I was so exhausted. I woke up at six o’ clock only to find that I had missed two afternoon prayers and had a long list of work to do. I never really prayed on time, only when I remembered, but I was determined to make an effort in Ramadan. I groggily walked to the bathroom and washed up for the prayers I missed. As I splashed the cool water on my face, I felt revived. I let the beads of water dry by themselves, cooling me. As I prayed, I felt an inner peace form within me, clearing my head of all the mayhem I experienced throughout the course of the day.
“Sana, I need you to help me with Iftar, a light dinner, to break our fasts. I stretched and then retreated to the kitchen where I helped my mom cut salad and set out traditional foods. My mouth watered as I looked at the delicious feast of stuffed chicken my mother had prepared for us. I glanced up at the clock and realized we had fifteen minutes. My stomach began to grumble. I didn’t think I could wait any longer. Eager to get away from the aroma of food, I barricaded myself in my room to start on some homework. I barely got through one subject when my mother had called me.
“Sana, it’s time to break your fast.” “Yes! Finally, I could eat!” I ran to the kitchen and sat down. I read a short prayer to thank god and I opened my fast with the traditional date and water. I rubbed my hands together and got my fork ready as I moved on to the main course. As I was about to dig in, the call to prayer sounded. “Aww man. That was my chance to eat!” I said disappointedly. Nonetheless I reminded myself to be patient and I went to the bathroom to wash up for the fourth prayer of the day. When I returned, the chicken awaited my hungry stomach as I joyfully ate in silence.
It was seven o’ clock and I turned on the television to watch Smallville, one of my favorite shows. Realizing that I had to get ready for tarawih, the nightly prayers, I switched off the television. “I don’t want to miss my show. I always watch it,” I grumbled to myself, “but it’s Ramadan.”
At ten o’ clock, I returned home weary. My body ached from all the stress and I was still tired. As if that wasn’t enough, I still had all of my homework to do. As I was working late into the night (2:00 AM), my head slowly fell on my book as I snoozed the rest of the night away, awaking to my mother’s call once again.
One day complete, only twenty nine more to go. Fasting is sacrificing your time, your shows, and your schedule. Not to mention that you’re constantly sleep deprived and your grades go down dramatically. It’s difficult at first, but as time goes on I have realized the change that has sparked within me. Fasting helps me realize the situations of others less fortunate around me. Therefore, I shouldn’t take things for granted. Fasting has also helped me use my time wisely. With no time at all, I have to find time and organize my schedule. With many struggles comes improvement, an aspect of Ramadan that I can say I have experienced.
After those twenty nine days, I sit in my last prayer of this Ramadan knowing I have completed my goal. I have gone beyond my expectations and have overcome the challenges that Ramadan poses for a student. As I turn my head to the left as the leader says, “Assalamu-alaikum wa rahmatullah,” I leave this Ramadan as a more aware and productive person.
Last update : 20-10-2005 08:33
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