Welcome back, readers 🙂 My apologies for being so AWOL from blogging. This past Ramadan I had genuinely been able to ramp up my ibadat and one of the ways I achieved that was by letting go of digital distractions. A month later, the spiritual boost appears to have faded enough that I am reverting back to my old habits 🙂

This Ramadan was incredibly insightful for me. Some of the things I did fervent dua for actually came to pass, which reinforces my faith in a tangible way. I felt like Allah was listening, I truly had a connection to the divine by such immersion in the rhythms of Ramadan to the exclusion of all else. It helped that I currently have the career flexibility for such immersion; the last week I basically did nothing but pray, sleep, and attend masjid. Were I working a 9-5 job like most people, that would not have been possible. I don’t think that such immersion is necessary for a meaningful spiritual experience, but I do think that when our lives here in Dunya offer us an opportunity, we should take it.

However, despite praying two juz of Qur’an a day during Ramadan, I’ve only completed 2 since it ended. This is a serious failing and self-disappointment. I also have not undertaken the effort yet to ramp up Qur’an with my daughter, who has made amazing progress when I am consistent. I am resolving today to at least be consistent for her, and then also for myself. The Qur’an tells us that by reciting, the heart finds consolation from its torments – and by allowing the Qur’an’s presence in my routine t lapse, I am feeling the lack of that consolation and greater impact from those torments. So I must resolve to re-learn the lesson of Ramadan.

It is nice to eat lunch again, though 🙂