Around the Table

Greetings and Peace to you all,
     I pray everyone is doing well. The children and I were discussing their goals for this upcoming Ramadan. Their goals are simple yet superb.

• The Boy's goal is to perform his prayers at least 3 times a day.

• Faith's is to read the entire Holy Quran, memorize 2 prayers and do the rakahs at least twice a day.
• Peace's goal is to read the Holy Quran, pray at least 5 times a day, fast at least one day, cook breakfast and lunch so that my mom, since she is fasting, doesn't have to.

May Allah bless them with success!

Oh, for those that do not know. Ramadan is a very special time for Muslims because it was during this time that Allah chose to call Muhammad to be a Prophet, and sent down the first revelations of the Holy Quran. It is a time of spiritual and physical discipline; a time for making extra effort to spread love, peace, and atone with self and others. Fasting involves purposefully cultivating a peaceful and prayerful attitude of mind, and undergoing the physical discipline of giving up all food and liquid during the daylight for the entire month. It is not just about going without food; that is only one aspect and not the most important. If a person could not give up evil ways, violence, greed, lust, anger, and malicious thoughts, he had no need of giving up food and drink. It would be meaningless.
"There are many who fast all day and pray all night, but they gain nothing but hunger and sleeplessness." (Hadith Abu Dawud)

Ramadan 2011 will begin Aug 1