MISCONCEPTIONS OF RAMADHAN
By: Lubnah Abdulhalim
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| Photo Courtesy: 7-theme.com |
The month of Ramadhan always come with a
lot of blessings. It is that time of the year where everyone spends to their
last coin in making themselves and their families happy by cooking different
delicious foods to decorate the happy moments. It is the time where neighbours
share whatever much or even little they might have in store or have cooked. The
rich give to the poor so they may as well enjoy the grace Ramadhan comes with. But
there are quite a number of misconceptions on this month, among the people.
It is not unlawful for people to cook good
food and grace the joyful moments, but a lot of people grew up with the thought
that Ramadhan is the month to cook and cook and more cooking. And eat, eat and
eat more. But this isn’t it. Muslims are advised to cook as much as their
consumption only and not be extravagant as most do during this month. For it is
clearly written in the holy book Qur’an: ‘Verily the spendthrifts are the
brothers of devils, and the Devil is ever ungrateful to his Lord. ” and it is
also clearly written that we should not be extravagant, because God doesn’t
love the extravagant. The prophet added to that and advised Muslims to take
meals as light as possible, for as he put it, the worst thing a man can fill is
his stomach.
Another misconception people have is that
this is the month of shopping and go outings during the night. It isn’t that
these things aren’t allowed but some people have gone as far as considering the
month of Ramadhan, the month to shop, go outings and stroll around unnecessarily.
Some people have made it their market season and completely forget the real
essence of this month. While people are busy praying with humility in the
mosques, others are busy running up and down the roads in town even when there
is no need for it. It is important we all understand that the main aim of this
month is to increase the amount of worship to our Lord and not the amount of
money we spend on shopping or how much we walk in the streets.
While others take this chance to restrain
from evil and change for the better, others consider the refraining from evil
only during the day, while they are fasting. Immediately after breaking their
fast, they go back gossiping, gambling, chewing miraa and some of the other
unlawful acts. But that isn’t what is expected from us Muslims. We are supposed
to strive to be better people in the society rather than be hypocritical, being
good only during the day and being the same old us once we break the fast.
It is important that Muslims understand the
real significance of this month and take the greatest advantage of it. They
should participate more in good deeds, doing charity, spending more time in the
remembering of God and refrain from any kind of evil.
