Ramadhan: A Different Turn This Time

This is my first Ramadhan away from home and I never expected to be this different.

Ramadhan is a month of Mercy, the time the Holy Qur'an was sent to humanity as the final message through Archangel Gabriel and conveyed by Prophet Muhammad SAW. It is the month where gates of hell are closed and gates of paradise are opened, a month where Muslims around the globe refrain from eating, drinking, and marital relations from sunrise to sunset all to gain Allah SWT blessings. It is the time where increased worship is encouraged through tarawe and tahajud and recitation of the Holy Qur'an. This is the chance to reconnect with family, mend broken relationships, contemplate over things around, forgive your enemies, offer your prayers for the whole ummah (global muslim community) and try to change for the better. This is the blessed month of Ramadhan. 

Muslims welcome the coming of Ramdhan through various means. They start asking forgiveness, a good way to start the month through a clean slate. They clean their houses and extend their greetings to friends and family. The season morphs from ordinary to being different which I cannot describe. It is something so special has arrived and that the atmosphere has changed like as if even trees and other inanimate objects join the celebratory season.

Ramadhan in Turkey is quite different. First of all, it's summer so days are longer. The fast starts at 3:35 AM until 8:48 PM, that's 18 long hours. For someone who is used to 14 hours only, this is something surprising but Alhamdulillah after a week, it's not that difficult and I'm getting the hack of it. 

I was used to eating my mom's home-cooked dishes but since I am so away from home I have to survive through canteen-served rice and chicken. And it gets lonely sometimes, especially the eating part. I don't have with me my family. This I think is an advantage of living in a foreign country. You realize how much you could miss your family and friends. The saying "You only miss things when you lose them" holds true. At times like this, I miss more my mom's palapa more than ever. 

My first suhoor (dawn meal) was with my Turk friends along with Raffy, a Tausog who has been in Turkey for almost two years. The meal was a light one: baked potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, bread, honey, jam, olive, and tea. Being used to rice-fish/chicken-sandwich-coffee combo, I was like "Will this meal suffice for the whole day?" Not surprisingly, it did. For the iftar, I had chicken, rice, and melon I ordered in our dorm  canteen. So now I am chronicling my food history. Haha! Breaking the fast is not a problem here since most people offer free light meal consisting of soup, vegetable salad, dates, a slice of bread, and water near mosques. If you know how to reach them, you'll have iftar without spending a single cent. 

The tarawe consists of 21 raka'ah but they don't read long verses though so it lasts for an hour only. In my country, we only have eight raka'ah. Did I told you that nights are shorter? We normally finish the tarawe 11:30 PM! How is than for 8:50PM in Philippines?! By the time I reach the dormitory, it's already midnight and two and half hours after I have to eat suhoor. Most of the time, I make through suhoor without sleeping. How different!

Despite thd differences, same spirit of joy snd blessedness exists. People are trying their best to earn Allah's forgiveness, mercy, acceptance, and blessings through increased worship in 30 days.