By: Aisha

I am one of those ‘Food is love. Food is life’ kind of people. Naturally then, the day before the first night of Ramadan, all I truly did was eat and whine about how much harder life is going to get. And then there were those with the ‘let’s get shredded’ motivation. Either way, as it annually turns out, food is the least of our problems.

Yes, Ramadan is a time for dates and milk, catching up with friends (ok, fine, TV series), reflecting on your growth… but it is so much more than that. Ramadan is an annual celebration of the birth of this Ummah. A new nation. A new Capital. A new Constitution. A new Guidance. Read that again because we really need to get this.

Basically, everyone alive today gets the chance of altering their destinies because of this month 1400 years ago – every single one – from the sister who posts those deep Facebook reminders at 1 in the night to the ‘mate’ you meet at work who is convinced that “Allah will forgive a sip of water”. This month, everyone around us gets organic dawah when the media covers Iftaar festivities as much as it obsesses over the IS for the remaining 11 months.

So yes, this month really is not about my weight issues or repicking up on the same old ‘chilling’ through the night. It is about taqwa and building a connection with the Quran. It is about letting the spirituality feed our empty and whirlpooling stomachs… True, it is easier said than done, but alhamdulillah, Ramadan is about rebooting our slow systems. For me, it is about truly cherishing each salah instead of sighing when the Imam recites ‘Alif Lam Meem’ instead of ‘Qul Huw Allah’. Congratulations, indeed, for having experienced this Ramadan – it is an honour denied to many.