Assalamu alaykum and Ramadan Mubarak
This Ramadan is going to be spectacular. You’ll go hungry and choose not
to eat a thing, and will feel thirsty and choose not to take a sip. Everyday
from dawn to sunset you’ll be journeying in a spiritual path in person as well
as in the collective. You’ll understand that to elevate into your higher self
you must put off the excess weight, drop the rocky lumps of earth from
the core of your heart, and think lightly of your worldly desires.
The dark nights could be your portal to Paradise. For it is in the dark
of the night that you’ll stand before your Lord and beg him for forgiveness,
mercy, strength, and peace. Yes, peace.
This Ramadan you’ll be your most generous because the human suffering is
the most dire. You’ll take the starved, the displaces, the wounded, the frightened,
the traumatized into your arms. You’ll give them food, medicine, shelter,
comfort, and love. This is more than a charity and religious obligation. This is
a moral statement and a principled stance. You will expand beyond your immediate
needs and those of your loved ones and reach out to the unfortunate others.
You will let the world understand that no human being should be left abandoned
in their time of need. Animal feed and rotten food is not for humans.
The images coming from Gaza are meant to awaken our conscience, because
there is more to Ramadan than just going hungry by choice. Feeding those who
have been forced into hunger becomes a core manifestation of Ramadan. Without
a strong showing of solidarity and compassion Ramadan becomes a body devoid
of a spirit. To say that believers are but a single body is to stand together united
against all forms of suffering. This Ramadan is going to be our greatest because
we will bring forth our greatest. Together we will celebrate the triumph of
our humanity, brotherhood, and unity. We will be true Believers.
Shukri 03-10-24
Notes from Shukri 