{"id":2153,"date":"2014-07-21T10:50:57","date_gmt":"2014-07-21T08:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/?p=2153"},"modified":"2014-07-21T11:03:02","modified_gmt":"2014-07-21T09:03:02","slug":"remembrances-of-my-first-ramadan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/?p=2153","title":{"rendered":"Remembrances of My First Ramadan"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Aisha Robertson<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n
Friday, 23 May 2014 00:00<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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One of the best things that happened during my first Ramadan was that I got married, al-hamdu lillah.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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This upcoming Ramadan will be my fourteenth, al-hamdu lillah<\/em>, and I am looking forward to it, in sha’ Allah<\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n

I was 27 years old when I converted to Islam and consequently spent 27 years celebrating Christian holidays and birthdays. <\/span><\/p>\n

I did go through a transition period of adjustment to my new faith and way of life and al-hamdu lillah<\/em>, I feel a deep sense of ownership and pride in the Islamic holidays I now celebrate as a Muslimah.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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After converting to Islam, I was quick to learn salah<\/em> (prayer)\u00a0and wear hijab. I was incredibly grateful to Allah Almighty\u00a0for the\u00a0guidance to the true path I was given and I wanted to be identified in public as a Muslim.<\/span><\/p>\n

I could hardly wait for my first Ramadan because this would be the pillar of Islam that I would do with the whole Muslim community. It is true that fasting is an individual act. However, breaking the fast and sharing iftars<\/em> (meals to break the fast) along with performing the Tarawih Prayer are things that are usually done collectively.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 New Muslims’ First Ramadan<\/strong>–\u00a0Ready for Your First Ramadan?
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– Preparing New Muslims for First Ramadan<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

– Getting Ready for Your First Ramadan?<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

– Ramadan Countdown for New Muslims<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

– All About Ramadan<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Before converting to Islam, I had fasted the 40 days of Lent; however, it was not the same as the fast of Ramadan because I did drink water during the day. Even though I had this experience of fasting previously, I was still quite anxious about going without food and water during the day. I was not sure if I could do it, especially being in America where most people are not Muslim and daily life is not adjusted for Ramadan. But I knew that if Allah commanded me to do it then it was possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

I recall being very lonely during my first Ramadan. I was a new convert and I was single. Basically, I woke up for sahur<\/em> (meal before fasting) and ate it alone, broke my fast alone and prayed Tarawih Prayer alone. I was a university graduate student and I lived alone.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Muslim Students Association at my university was dominated by brothers and consequently the iftars<\/em> they held were for brothers only. So I really could not attend them. I did not know many sisters at that time and the local masjid was very far from where I lived. I did not have a car to drive to the masjid for community iftars<\/em> and Tarawih Prayer. Al-hamdu lillah<\/em>, I did feel however, that Allah was always with me. In a way, I began to feel very close to Allah.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aisha explained to me that she found her first Ramadan to be spiritually fulfilling even though it was also a bit lonely for her.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

One of the best things that happened during my first Ramadan was that I got married, al-hamdu lillah<\/em>. I was actually engaged but because of my circumstances and lack of family support we decided it would be best to marry even though it was Ramadan.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Al-hamdu lillah<\/em>, I was then able to eat sahur<\/em> with my husband, pray, and break the fast with him. It brought me a great sense of peace and contentment, al-hamdu lillah<\/em>. I also was able to go to the masjid for the Tarawih Prayer one time, and I loved the entire experience of praying with so many sisters. I began to feel that I was part of the larger community of Muslims.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

One of my friends, Aminah, is also a convert. I asked her about her experiences during her first Ramadan and I found we shared a similar experience of being anxious. Sister Aminah also had a wonderful experience when meeting other Muslims. Aminah told me she felt “a strangeness because I wasn’t used to being treated like family from people I barely knew. Especially since I was used to the kind of people who only treated you right when they wanted something.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Sister Aisha is another convert friend who lives in Kenya. Aisha explained to me that she found her first Ramadan to be spiritually fulfilling even though it was also a bit lonely for her. Aisha told me, “I really needed to replenish my spiritual needs and I loved the sacrifice. I visited the masjid several times and from then my masjid phobia disappeared for good. I had this phobia to go to the masjid because I wasn’t sure I would be able to say the prayers correctly, as I had learned to pray on my own through books and used to do it in the house.”<\/p>\n

When Aisha told me about her masjid phobia I smiled because I went through the same experience. Aisha also told me that her `Eid was rather uneventful because she, along with her husband and small daughter, had no other Muslim family. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

However, they were thankful to Allah the Almighty for everything. Aisha explained, “You see both of us being reverts, we have no close Muslim ties, this is a time Muslims want to be with their close ones and so no one seems to want guests. That is when I came up with a dream to set up a house for reverts where they can feel at home especially during times like Ramadan!”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I think Aisha’s idea is a great one and I pray it comes to fruition. I was able to spend my first `Eid Al-Fitr with my husband and his family but I still felt a bit lonely. Perhaps it is because my own family was not able to celebrate with me. Allah promises to test us and I just view all of my lonely experiences as a test from Allah the Most High. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

These experiences are also a reaffirmation of my reason for converting to Islam, which was for the sake of Allah alone and not for pleasing people or for other worldly benefits.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Aisha Robertson Friday, 23 May 2014 00:00 One of the best things that happened during my first Ramadan was that I got married, al-hamdu lillah. This upcoming Ramadan will be my fourteenth, al-hamdu...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,10,86],"tags":[275,280],"class_list":["post-2153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-islam","category-new-muslim","category-ramadan","tag-new-muslim","tag-ramadan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2153"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2159,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2153\/revisions\/2159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}