{"id":26038,"date":"2019-06-04T07:04:47","date_gmt":"2019-06-04T07:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/new-wp\/?p=26038"},"modified":"2019-06-04T07:04:47","modified_gmt":"2019-06-04T07:04:47","slug":"stepping-out-of-comfort-zone-with-ramadan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/stepping-out-of-comfort-zone-with-ramadan\/","title":{"rendered":"Stepping out of Comfort zone with Ramadan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For Muslims, the holy month of Ramadan is all about attaining taqwa<\/em>. It is a month that trains Muslims to be cognizant of God, practice self-restraint and achieve piety. This is mentioned in verse 183 of Surah al-Baqarah to the effect that: \u201cO ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To attain taqwa <\/em>is not something that is simple as this requires Muslims to\nstep out of their comfort zone. On normal days during other months outside\nRamadan, everyone is free to eat and drink. However during Ramadan, Muslims are\nforbidden to do this during the day between fajr\n<\/em>and sunset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This commandment\nis not to deprive Muslims of food and drink, but rather a training ground for\nMuslims to move away from their normal routine. Stepping out of the comfort\nzone is important for a character to be developed, strengthened and\nsubsequently grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Character-building\ncan be achieved during Ramadan. A Muslim who observes fasting would wake up\nearly in the morning to prepare for sahur<\/em>.\nThe early start also allows for him\/her to carry out optional prayers such as tahajjud <\/em>and taubat<\/em> as well as reciting the Quran before the compulsory Subuh\nprayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting ready\nearly in the morning would also mean that he\/she can have an early start to the\nday. We note that during Ramadan, many people arrive to their workplace much\nearlier than usual. The fact that people need not go out for breakfast means\nthat people start working earlier than in other months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With no need for\nlunch, focus can be given to praying Zuhur as soon as the prayer time begins,\nand whatever free time during the lunch break can be used for recitation of the\nQuran. All these are activities that break from the normal routine in other\nmonths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During iftar <\/em>or breaking of fast, it is a time\nwhen family members gather together. In normal months, having dinner together\nwith family members can often be difficult, but somehow Ramadan is able to\nbring people together for breaking of fast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many would then throng masjids <\/em>or suraus <\/em>for Isyak prayer followed by terawih <\/em>and witir <\/em>prayers\nin the evening. People would be at the masjids\n<\/em>for a couple of hours at least to take advantage of carrying out acts of\nworship that are much encouraged in this auspicious month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from these activities,\nMuslims are also encouraged to be charitable by helping and donating to those\nin need. Help can be given in many forms, in cash or in kind. What is important\nis the sincerity of one\u2019s intention in helping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All these are forms of training for\nMuslims to educate the self all throughout the month of Ramadan. In truth,\nthese acts could not be done without Muslims themselves stepping out of the\nboundary of their comfort zone. If they keep to their normal routine, then\ncharacter-building will not take place, and achieving taqwa <\/em>will not be a reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most definitely when a person goes\nout of his\/her comfort zone, there exists a level of anxiety and discomfort.\nHowever, the whole month of Ramadan is a good training ground where we learn to\nfamiliarize with acts that we do not normally undertake such as getting up very\nearly in the morning or spending a couple of hours in the evening at masjids <\/em>or suraus<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The month also presents us with the\nopportunity to try new acts until we get comfortable with them. These new acts may\nbe in the form of worship that are not part of our normal routine before, for\nexample the tahajjud <\/em>prayer in the\nwee hours of the morning or the recitation of the Quran on a daily basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many things that can be\nachieved during the month of Ramadan in terms of character-building. As such, it\nis important that Muslims take the opportunity presented in this holy month to\nbuild and improve our character so that we can reach a higher level of piety\ntowards God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is equally important is that\nonce we have familiarized ourselves with the new routines obtained and\npracticed during Ramadan, we should endeavour to maintain this new routine\nafter Ramadan ends. In other words, we try to make our new routines as new boundaries\nfor our comfort zone. This is important so as to ensure that we continue with\nthese routines in the months following Ramadan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However if after this Ramadan, we\ngo back to our previous routine, then we have learnt nothing from this holy\nmonth. We fall back into our old comfort zone and failed to take advantage of\nRamadan as a month of tarbiyyah<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking advantage of the month of tarbiyyah <\/em>will enable us to grow in\nterms of character. We have to step outside our old comfort zone, and create a\nnew zone for growth and development. When we meet Ramadan again in the coming\nyear, then we will again try to step out of this comfort zone in order to\nfurther develop our character. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hopefully, the more we improve our\ncharacter, our taqwa <\/em>towards God will\nimprove in terms of quality, and this will make us better Muslims who can\ncontribute towards the betterment of the society and nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Muslims, the holy month of Ramadan is all about attaining taqwa. It is a month that trains Muslims to be cognizant of God, practice self-restraint and achieve piety. This is mentioned in verse 183 of Surah al-Baqarah to the effect that: \u201cO ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to those before you, that ye…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[225],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","category-225","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26038\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}