A Miracle in the Month of Ramadan
Written by Mahin Ibrahim
26. Aug, 2010 
9 Comments
I was so worried about this Ramadan. It would entail 14-hour fasts in the end of summer and I had stopped waking up for suhur years ago so I wasn’t sure how my body was going to react. Every Ramadan means something different to me and given the circumstances, this year’s would mean extra patience and strength. I was very anxious. The day before the first fast all I could think to myself was “okay, you gotta get yourself ready for tomorrow.” It was pure mental preparation. That night, I got ready to go to the mosque for the first taraweeh prayer. My family and I were rushing to get ready, scurrying around like Tasmanian devils in abayaas and kufis.
On my first day of fasting, I was triumphant. I woke up for suhur! By myself! I also read the English translation of the Quran in the morning, something I had always wanted to do during this special month. It had started.
That morning at work, I got an IM from a co-worker whom I did not know too well. “Happy Ramadan! How’s your fasting going?” he asked. I am still impressed that non-Muslims know about Ramadan and so happily replied “good.” My co-worker, Michael, is a jovial, energetic Bolivian who was raised Catholic. As we resumed our conversation, he typed three words that I’ll never forget.
“I’m fasting too.”
Clearly, he must mean he was fasting for a few hours. Nope. Turns out this was his first fast and subhanAllah, he planned on fasting the entire month of Ramadan. I had to ask why.
Michael replied, “I consider myself a non-devotional Catholic who feels a calling to Islam.”
He went on to say that in college he made a lot of Muslim friends from Saudi Arabia, which made him interested in Muslim culture. Since then, he grew intrigued but never seriously explored, until now. This Ramadan, he felt a need to participate and vowed to fast all 30 days.
“I feel so peaceful and happy right now,” he told me, with the biggest smile on his face, as if fasting had channeled all the energy and radiance around him into one calm force.
As a hijabi, I am familiar with strangers coming up to me to ask questions on Islam or to greet me with the Islamic greeting of “Assalamu Alaikum.” In fact, these exchanges are one of the main reasons why I like wearing the Hijab. But never, in my 25+ years of living, had a virtual stranger opened up to me the inner workings of his heart, to reveal his commitment to something as important and profound as Ramadan is for Muslims.
Now, nearly half of Ramadan is over and I realize what I was so anxious about just floated away. Why? Because of Michael. In the morning when I debate about waking up for suhur, I think of him and it motivates me to get out of bed. If Michael can go hungry, then I can wake up. Every time I’m tired and unsure how I’m going to pray taraweeh at the mosque that night, I think of Michael’s pledge and I feel a type of peace I haven’t felt in years. His commitment to exploring Islam by actions and not by words has changed the context of my entire Ramadan, and I am so grateful for it.
Today he thanked me for being so open with his questions and thoughts during this time. “No,” I replied, “thank you. This has been one of the best Ramadans I’ve had in my entire life.”
In honor of Michael, I pray to Allah that he makes it easy for him to find the answers he’s looking for. I pray that as the remaining days of Ramadan pass “in the alteration of the night and day . . . between the sky and the earth” (Surah Baqarah, verse 164) his days of fasting and nights of contemplation lead Michael to the type of perennial peace he’s given me in this blessed month.
May Allah grant us all Goodness and shine light upon all the angels we meet, along the way.
Flickr Photo Credit: Hulya Coskun
Definitely an inspiration! Great read – thanks Mahinu!