Ramadan is a spesial month in the year that every moslem waited for. In this month, charity, and worship are multiplied in value. About 30 days, we are fasting in Ramadan. First 10 days in Ramadan is grace, next 10 days is blessing, and last 10 days is forgiveness. And, there is one night in Ramadan that much better than 1.000 months. That night is called “Lailatul Qadar”. It is said that night come in the last 10 days of Ramadan. But no one knows when exactly “Lailatul Qadar” night will come.
So that, everyone multiplies worship and does good deeds to achieve reward and forgiveness. By fasting, we have to hold back hungry and thirst. Besides, we also have to hold back emotions. And, we are expected to empathize with poor people. Fasting teaches us to share, patient and care with others.
When Ramadan, we have to get up early in the morning to eat sahur. The pleasure of fasting people is a blessing at sahur and a favor when breaking the fast. There are unique traditions in Indonesia. At Sahur, people are usually wake citizen up to sahur by hitting something like cans or pans and shouting with typical rhythm, “Sahur…. Sahur….” This traditions symbolizes friendliness and caring with others. And another tradition is breaking fast together where family or relatives or friends gather to enjoy breaking fast. We call it “Silaturahim”. Usually, people eat sweet food first before the main course. The food name is “kolak”. It’s made from bananas or cassava with brown sugar sauce.
In my neighborhood, we usually have a turn to provide foods for breaking fast and send the food to the mosque. We call the food as “takjil”. There are many kinds of “takjil” menus. Like “kolak”, dates, fruity ice, sweet porridge, etc.
However, the most important thing to do at Ramadan is multiply charity and worship to get a lot of reward and forgiveness from Allah. Such as, don’t forget to do obligatory prayer for five times a day, fasting for about 30 days, pray tarawih and sunnah prayer, reading Qur’an, giving alms, and pay “Zakat Fitrah” before Eid prayer. Hopefully, after Ramadan we become truly holy people. Aamiin.
Image source : lifestyle.solopos.com