1 Ramadan 1429 / 1 September 2008

As-salaamu alaykum / peace be upon you.

This will be my third year of fasting for Ramadan, and my second complete Ramadan inshaAllah (God willing) as an official Muslim. I made the shahadah- literally translated as “the witnessing”- on 21 Ramadan 1427 (12 October 2006). The shahadah statement translates as, “I testify that there is no god but God and I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God”. Sincerely making this statement with at least two Muslims present qualifies as one’s initiation into being a Muslim. The Hijri calendar (which is lunar, not solar) used by Muslims has 350 days in a year, thus explaining why the dates don’t line up with the Gregorian calendar from one year to the next. It dates from Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his followers’ migration from Mecca to Medina, 13 years after the commencement of his prophetic mission.

I got the idea of a Ramadan journal from my friend, who is a journalist in Dubai, U.A.E. It sounded like a good idea, and as an American convert to Islam, I thought I could offer a unique perspective.

First of all, I really believe that the ummah (Muslim community) could contribute a lot more positivity to the world if we could become more united. Finding a way to get everyone on the same day of the calendar would be a good start. In the Hijri calendar, a month begins at the first sliver of the new moon. In some regions it appears one day, and in others it appears the next. Personally, I think we should just go by the moon sighting in Mecca, as that is the direction Muslims throughout the world face when we pray. If there was an International Date Line just for this purpose, then we can all be on the same page for Ramadan.

So last night, most of my friends were telling me, “Ramadan Mubarak” (Happy Ramadan), as the day begins at sunset in the Hijri calendar. A few friends said there was no local moon sighting according to the local authorities, so they would start fasting on Tuesday instead of Monday. As most of my closer friends went with the earlier one, and Ramadan is supposed to be a time of people coming together, I concurred with them. These situations can be difficult when you don’t have a Muslim family that has a set method of handling this, but I like the idea of using my own reasoning. Who knows, perhaps I would have never came up with the “International Date Line Through Mecca” idea otherwise!

Sahoor is very important and I want to make sure to take it every morning. This is the meal before dawn, right before the fast begins. I helped my brother move until late on the eve of Ramadan. Fortunately, I ate before I went to sleep (which was around 2 AM), because I didn’t wake up until the middle of fajr- the morning prayer time occurring between the first hint of visible light in the sky until just before the sun starts to rise above the horizon. Once fajr begins, so does the fast. Alhamdulillah (all thanks to God), my early sahoor sufficed in getting me through the day, as my spirits were high throughout.

My goals for this Ramadan include, but are not limited to…

-Increase my taqwa, immediately and long-term. Taqwa roughly translates as “God-consciousness”, living as though you always see Him, for even though you may not see Him, He always sees you.

-Make all 5 daily prayers on time every day, and make it a permanent habit.

-Finish memorizing Surat ar-Rahman. It is the 55th chapter in the Holy Qur’an. I was almost halfway done before Ramadan, having already memorized 36 verses. 42 more to go… not really, because one verse is repeated almost every other line. The longest chapter I have memorized before this consists of 9 verses and I have memorized 14 chapters from the Qur’an, just to give an idea of how this goal relates to what I’ve done so far.

-Memorize at least 3 sunnah du’as. A du’a is a supplication to God, asking him for something. They can be made in any language, but preferably Arabic, as this is the language in which God revealed the Qur’an to Muhammad (peace be upon him) through the Angel Gabriel. Sunnah means the practices of Muhammad (peace be upon him) or anything that he tacitly approved. Currently, I know 4 sunnah du’as.

-Completely stop swearing. I have drastically reduced my usage of cuss words since I embraced Islam, but they still leak out on occasion.

-Raise awareness and understanding of Islam in the American community, which is the major purpose of what I’m doing here.

My first iftaar (“breakfast”) was quite lonely. I saw Batman at the IMAX today and it was longer than I thought so I rushed home to break my fast. Now I don’t want people to think I’m wasting my Ramadan- I spent a few hours in the masjid today and I distributed flyers to potential recipients for a charity event. Anyway, I rushed home to break my fast. Once maghrib occurs (when the sun is completely set below the horizon), it is recommended to break fast immediately, preferably with water and dates to start- this is the sunnah and they are considered pure. I never had a date until I broke my first Ramadan fast 2 years ago, and they are delicious! Anyone who has never had one, please do yourself a favor and try it- outstanding!

I had to do my laundry after iftaar and am going to sleep around 12:30. I plan on waking up at 4:00 for sahoor, and staying awake. They say that the development of spiritual strength through taqwa leads to the spirit controlling the body, and one can become more effective with less sleep. Time to test that theory…