Image source: Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>This is Day Nine of the 2018 #30Days30Writers Ramadan series.<\/em><\/p>\nRamadan brings a beautiful nostalgic rush to the mind. Sitting outside the house in a quiet town on Long Island, the light breeze sweeps over me a familiar aroma. And, I am reminded of the street of teenage years. I am reminded of several Ramadans I spent in the local masjid of Oke Alaro in the beautiful city of Ibadan in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
I remember the tafseer<\/em> gathering of my Shaykh. I remember the euphoria in the air at iftar time \u2014 the orange sellers and professionals stopping their vehicles in front of the mosque. The football games at the back of the mosque coming to an end. The sun waning, the dates, water and beautiful sense of community. I remember a month full of tarbiyah<\/em> \u2026 but it had not always been like that.<\/p>\nIt was 2008. The height of my teenage years. We were exploring and rebellious. There was a state-wide public-school strike. I tasted alcohol. I experimented with partying. An entire day would go by, and what dominated my thoughts was the love I had for a girl from the neighboring Queen\u2019s School Ibadan.<\/p>\n
I had no business with prayers. I seldom read the Quran. Then \u2026<\/p>\n
One day in my grandmother\u2019s living room, I was reading the Quran, without understanding the meaning. I was just reading with zeal, at the top of my voice, and then \u2026<\/p>\n
I began crying. I mean, uncontrollably sobbing. It got so intense that I couldn\u2019t continue reciting. I later took a shower, went to the mosque and read a translation. Then \u2026<\/p>\n
About a week later, I had forgotten the incident. Life was back to normal. \u00a0I missed prayers; didn\u2019t read the Qur\u2019an, and well, thought about the girl from Queen\u2019s School. Then \u2026<\/p>\n
It was months later, and it was the beginning of Ramadan. I went to the mosque for dhur<\/em> prayer and I did not leave until after asr<\/em>. I sat in the mosque with a few brothers, and we discussed Islam. We did the same thing till iftar. Then \u2026<\/p>\nThroughout the month, my days were filled with reading the Quran, discussing Islam, listening to lectures, engaging in dhikr<\/em>, standing in qiyam<\/em> at night and reading books on Islam.<\/p>\nThe month eventually left. But my renewed love of God, of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and of Islam stayed. Ever since then I\u2019ve gone through spiritual highs and lows, but that Ramadan left me with the greatest gift of all: consistency in salah<\/em>, the five daily prayers.<\/p>\nRamadan is a month of spiritual revival, faith renewal and abundant repentance. I\u2019m a testimonial of this. It comes and guides us through the Quran. You just have to allow it.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The month eventually left. But my renewed love of God, of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and of Islam stayed. Ever since then I’ve gone through spiritual highs and lows, but that Ramadan left me with the greatest gift of all: consistency in salah, the five daily prayers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":590,"featured_media":8441,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[833,2480,271],"tags":[855,2092,273,303,34,1504,867,1335,865],"class_list":["post-8432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-30-days-30-writers","category-30-days-30-writers-2018","category-ramadan","tag-30days30writers","tag-daily-prayers","tag-fasting","tag-prayer","tag-quran","tag-ramadan","tag-renewal","tag-repentance","tag-salah"],"yoast_head":"\n
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