Today is the commencement of the second ten days of fasting wherein Allah would spread his hands and accommodate any of his servants who wants to be forgiven.
The journey hasn’t been easy. It's strenuous, indeed. So after it all, what are the lessons we’ve learnt? At least, all of us can answer this uniquely. I have mine, and you have yours. Collectively, it should be a bridge connecting whatever we have acquired towards contributing to nation building.
As we are following Allah’s decree, let us translate it into being law abiding citizens. As far as our constitution is concerned, I don’t know of any of its injunctions which deny us the right to serve Allah. So it will be noteworthy when we obey those in authority and the rules and regulations at workplaces.
Keeping yourself and the environment tidy, obeying the laws governing the streets as a driver, whistling for any wrong committed under your watch and, contributing towards safeguarding the public accounts from those who think of their stomach first to the detriment of all the citizenry. These should be our hallmarks.
Exactly at the slated time for prayers, we’re present at the mosque for worship. It’s not the holiness of this month which has schooled us to be time conscious per say, but such is our label, if not that most of us used to forget ourselves sometimes.
Now that fasting has rekindled this attitude, it means that we must always be punctual in whatever we do in life. We have to be consistent at work, as well as meeting timelines. Anywhere we would go, we ought to be seen as productive men and women, but not to be welcomed with winks because of our laziness.
Remember that we always pray in unison; nobody prays alone, if not the dead luck of the deadly outbreak; we used to engaged in communal prayers. This action of ours accedes to the adage that "together we stand, divided we fall". If we can pray together, then we need to be of help to each other.
We shouldn’t come together just because we want to reap rewards but not to seek the well-being of our brethren. If being able to fend for yourself has made you independent, so would it be if your brother is able to fend for himself too. It should also aid us in always seeking public opinion whenever we want to take a decision for the people we represent.
Many of us have made a bona fide attempt of putting smiles on the faces of the poor. Those of us who couldn’t provide for them, at least have felt how difficult it’s to be poor. Let us firmly hold unto this, and make sure that we shall always dole out to them a percentage of whatever amount we earn, and not necessarily waiting for Ramadan before we extend to them a helping hand. If you don’t feel everybody still deserves three meals a day, then what again could fasting teach you?
We won’t be qualified to be called as the ‘Best of People', if our contribution to nation building isn’t anything to write home about.
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