It’ s a bit of a delayed reaction to the new moon sighting, but Ramadan Mubarak to you and yours!

I think I may be having a delayed reaction to Ramadan because it seemed to come up and out of nowhere so quickly!  The summer has been going by, full steam ahead, and then… wouldn’t you know it, Ramadan was here!

Saqib started fasting on Wednesday, so Tuesday night we headed to the local masjid to pray tarawih.  We just moved into our own apartment (another reason I hardly noticed Ramadan was coming up–I’ve been busy setting up this place) and it is about 5 minutes away from the masjid.  It was real nice not having to rush out the door to make it on time for prayer.  The hall was jam packed with people.  And with the 90 degree weather, it was almost unbearable in there.  That’s why I haven’t been to tarawih since Wednesday night.  Me and my 33 week baby just can’t take the heat.  I figure it’s better to pray at home, anyway.  I get some more time with the Q, and I can take my time with my salah.

So as someone who hasn’t been going to tarawih, I’m a little behind on my Ramadan-Mubarak-ing.

Oh!  and I haven’t been fasting. I feel like that makes me twice removed from Ramadan (not nightly prayer, no daily fasting)   I tried on Saturday, and it wasn’t so bad.  Insha’Allah I plan on fasting on the weekends.  Most people have told me to not to fast more than one day at a time.  I figured the weekdays would be tough with school and work starting up, so Saturday was the best choice.  I’d fast Sundays, too, but like I said, I don’t want to push myself and fast two days in a row.  I’m not sure how much me and the little one can handle, and I’m not sure I want to find out!

Anyway, for those of you who are fasting and going to the masjid every night, I hope you reap the benefits of your ibadah, and that Allah accepts all that you do this month!

A few weekends back, I was at a wedding where I got to meet up with some old college friends.  I was excited to see them and catch up on what was going on in their lives.  It seems one of them has had a pretty interesting past few months moving out to the Big Apple and working on something that she is really passionate about.

We got to talking about all of that, and somehow the conversation took a turn for the bad.  She got really upset (teary eyed!) as she explained to me her frustrations with… aunties.  It seems that since she graduated and started working, every time an aunty asks her what she is doing in life, they didn’t really care about what they asked, they just wanted to know when she is planning on getting married.  Which I guess isn’t such a big deal, because my friend does in fact want to get married one day, as soon as the right person is presented to her–but that isn’t what the aunties asked her about.  They asked her about what she is currently doing in life, so she happily tells them.   They, meanwhile, are trying to redirect the conversation towards what they find to be a more important subject… why aren’t you married yet? Read the rest of this entry »

Where did I leave off? Ah, yes–last Monday.

Monday– One of abbu’s subordinates at work is moving to Brazil and was in town checking the area out to find a place to live.  Abbu, being his boss, graciously invited him over for lunch and a basic FAQ session.  So this guy showed up around noon with his wife… did I mention they’re South Indian, ??  Wery antarasting, indeed. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometime early last year my dad’s job relocated him to Brazil.  It was a stinking tragedy to have him move away from all of us, and then to have my mommy leave, too.  Since then my chances to hang out with them at any length have been few and far between.  And usually when I did get a chance to see them it was always for a special circumstance–wedding, baby, funeral, etc; so for the most part they were always preoccupied.  Our parental-baby time was usually pretty short.

So imagine my delight when I was asked to come visit them for 2 1/2 weeks in Brazil!  The excitement was primarily to spend time with them and secondly to get to see Brazil.  The past 8 days have been a blast. Read the rest of this entry »

Alhumdu’lillah 20 weeks down, and 20 more to go!

Yesterday Saqib and I went to an ultrasound to have a structural survey done of our child.  The ultrasound technician basically gave us a tour of our baby.  Alhumdu’lillah everything is in right on track, in place, functioning, and looking good.  I couldn’t have been more happy.

A funny feeling came over me when I was watching the screen and seeing all these different parts of my baby.  All I could think of was how it would use these things for good–to be a Muslim.

• We saw two eyes, that I hoped it would use to read Qur’an.
• We saw a nose, that I hoped it wouldn’t stick in the air.
• We saw a mouth, that was opening and closing drinking fluid; but I hoped one day it would use its mouth to make dhikr and speak good things.
• We saw two hands attached to two arms, that I wanted to see my child use to say takbir and pray.
• We saw a spinal chord, that I hoped my baby would use to be steadfast, upright and confident in its belief.
• We saw two little feet, that I hoped my baby would use to stand up straight in salah.
• We saw a stomach, that will one day be empty while our child is fasting.
• And finally we saw a heart, that I hope will be overflowing with imaan and a love for Allah.

May Allah, al-Khaliq, make it possible for our child, and all of us, to use the bodies that He has created to worship Him alone and to come closer to Him.