Monday, August 30, 2010

last 10 days of Ramadhan

Ramadhan is a month with full of blessings and rewards, though Rasulullah SAW and The Noble Companions r.a. practices reflected the special of the last ten days and nights or we call it as ‘10 malam terakhir’. As the last third of Ramadhan, this last 10 days should be utilized to put our effort to the maximum before Ramadhan sets it sail and pass by, until we meet the next Ramadhan, which nobody can ensure.

As of today, 21 Ramadhan, meaning that we have only 8 days to perform fasting in this very month of Ramadhan. As recommended by Rasulullah SAW, that this last third of Ramadhan is the ‘release from hellfire’ so we should grab this opportunity to stop committing sins and other manners lead to sin.

Actually this last third is the most challenging period of the month, because we have to fight with other big thing – Raya preparation. Beside iktikaf and reciting al-Quran , we usually focus to ‘main bunga api’, or ’shopping for raya’, or ‘pasang langsir’ or ‘buat kuih raya’.So for most people, other than overwhelming by raya preparation, they’ll go for seeking the lailatulqadar, a night that is better than 1000 months..

Saturday, August 21, 2010

How to Be a Happy Family

Being a happy family depends on how the family treat each other. When one is jealous of the other, there is friction instead of friendship between brothers or sisters. Each child should be treated special from the time they were born. No two are the same, and the children should each be loved for who they are.

Family that share with each other, create a happy atmosphere at home. Sharing with each other instead of hiding from each other makes each family member feel important and cared about.Parents should treat each child by who they are. Never compare one with the other.

Never make promises that might not be able to be kept. Do not pit one child against the other. Each member of the family is part of the whole family. Listen to each of them with patience and interest.

Parents should want their children to be happy. Create a happy atmosphere when they are young. They will learn to give back the good and kindess they receive. Parents guide and the young follow. When they grow older, listen and respect what they say. Adult children have learned from your teachings.









Thursday, August 19, 2010

Benefit From Ramadhan

RAMADHAN is a month of discipline, self-control, patience, and good behavior. In Ramadan, Muslims are expected to gain the fruits of fasting, namely, piety and consciousness of Allah.
Ramadan is the most blessed month in the Islamic calendar. It is primarily a spiritual training course intended to help us cultivate essential virtues and skills in order to lead a meaningful life. Most often we live at a very superficial level of our existence, forgetting our true essence and identity as human beings.

In other words, we become totally preoccupied with the physical and material dimensions, forgetting the spiritual core of our personalities. Ramadan, therefore, comes to remind us of who we truly are and how we can discipline ourselves in such a way that we are fully awake to our full spiritual potential.

Welcome Ramadan with great fervor and spirit and expect to come out of it fully transformed in body, mind, and soul. Perform all of the acts of worship while being fully awake to their inner dimensions and meanings. Most often we allow ourselves to go through these rituals as mere mechanical chores with the result that we gain virtually no benefit from them either spiritually or morally.

Let your fasting be a fasting of body, mind, and soul. One of the main purposes of all of the acts of worship in Islam is to cultivate in us a true sense of community and spirit of fellow humanity. Therefore, it is imperative that our compassionate words and acts be extended not only towards ourselves but also towards all of Allah's creation.




Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Medical advantage of Ramadhan

Most Muslims do not fast because of medical benefits but because it has been ordained to them in the Quran. The medical benefits of fasting are as a result of fasting. Fasting in general has been used in medicine for medical reasons including weight management, for rest of the digestive tract and for lowering lipids. There are many adverse effects of total fasting as well as so-called crash diets. Islamic fasting is different from such diet plans because in Ramadan fasting, there is no malnutrition or inadequate calorie intake. The caloric intake of Muslims during Ramadan is at or slightly below the national requirement guidelines. In addition, the fasting in Ramadan is voluntarily taken and is not a prescribed imposition from the physician.
Ramadan is a month of self-regulation and self-training, with the hope that this training will last beyond the end of Ramadan. If the lessons learned during Ramadan, whether in terms of dietary intake or righteousness, are carried on after Ramadan, it is beneficial for one's entire life. Moreover, the type of food taken during Ramadan does not have any selective criteria of crash diets such as those which are protein only or fruit only type diets. Everything that is permissible is taken in moderate quantities.
The only difference between Ramadan and total fasting is the timing of the food; during Ramadan, we basically miss lunch and take an early breakfast and do not eat until dusk. Abstinence from water during this period is not bad at all and in fact, it causes concentration of all fluids within the body, producing slight dehydration. The body has its own water conservation mechanism; in fact, it has been shown that slight dehydration and water conservation, at least in plant life, improve their longevity.
The physiological effect of fasting includes lower of blood sugar, lowering of cholesterol and lowering of the systolic blood pressure. In fact, Ramadan fasting would be an ideal recommendation for treatment of mild to moderate, stable, non-insulin diabetes, obesity and essential hypertension. In 1994 the first International Congress on "Health and Ramadan", held in Casablanca, entered 50 research papers from all over the world, from Muslim and non-Muslim researchers who have done extensive studies on the medical ethics of fasting. While improvement in many medical conditions was noted; however, in no way did fasting worsen any patients' health or baseline medical condition. On the other hand, patients who are suffering from severe diseases, whether diabetes or coronary artery disease, kidney stones, etc., are exempt from fasting and should not try to fast.