A brief introduction on why I planned to undertake something like this might be good. After all, everyone would wonder why this.
Heard of 30mosques? If you haven’t yet, go check them out first. These are the guys you’d really feel like calling one’s own kin, and I’d consider myself fortunate if I manage to do something remotely close to what they have accomplished. I followed them with quite some active interest last year during Ramadan, when they came to my knowledge first.
As with every part of one’s personal faith, the manner in which anyone perceives rituals and tenets which form part of one’s faith is something which is extremely personal and unique. Likewise, Ramadan has different meanings for different people.
Yes, we have to fast from the crack of dawn till the time the sun goes down in a shade of burning orange. Yes, we eat the most delish varieties of culinary extravaganza. Yes, we engage ourselves deep in prayer and recitation of the Quran till the wee hours. Yes, all of a sudden, mosques become the most happening place in any neighborhood. Yes, there are lots who move around as if their skullcaps got welded to their heads. But to put it in the manner of an absolute cliche, there is more to what just meets the eye.
For me, this year, Ramadan is a month which asks for exercise of restraint and developing a firmness in resolve. Not that it hasn’t been that way earlier. I would rather like to stress upon it this year. Specially because I have found agreement within myself that I do need to stock up on the qualities which would allow the adjectival usage of resolute to be applied to me. Not as much by others, but purely by my own self.
Ramadan encourages communal activities. Prayers. Fasting. Feasting. This is going to be, if I’m not mistaken, the first Ramadan of my life when I would not be having family in some form around me. For those who know this feeling, it’s definitely not something you would want to go through during Ramadan. Least of all, the process of breaking the fast alone at sunset.
Which is why I thought I’d rather break my fast each evening at a different place among a different set of people. And what could be better than being at a mosque, sitting beside fellow brethren who have fasted through the day in the name of their Creator? While being at a mosque each evening, maybe it would be better if I went to a different mosque each evening? I think, yes it would be.
I’m not starting this with any expectations. Other than just being able to write about my experience, any interesting people I might end up meeting while at the mosque, getting to know about the areas surrounding the mosques, and of course, food. While I think it might be a good idea to keep a sombre tone, and a lot of people might want me to keep it this way, but I might keep slipping into some bit of humor (yes, I do slip while trying to be humorous too). After all, who says that Ramadan isn’t fun? If it’s fun, I can try to insert some fun into it. We aren’t exactly supposed to carry drab morose faces like Droopy through the day – not that we do that either.
I will try to actively inform everyone about my plans for the mosques to be visited in advance through here, and more so through my Twitter account. Feel free to let me know if you might be around the mosques I intend to visit – I would surely love to catch up with you for a few minutes. A list of mosques is already in place, but any suggestions for mosques which just can’t be missed out would be very welcome.
Here’s wishing you all a very happy month of Ramadan, a month which fills the rest of our lives with peace and happiness, more than most other things.
I’m based in Delhi, in case you thought about starting to send out suggestions about mosques.
If you feel intrigued to know more about me, you may please visit www.asifkhan.in.
