.: lifeofabitch :.

13 September 2007

I greatly welcome the month of رمضان. =D The glorious month is here. This is the month where most good things occur, and with exams around the corner... hey! =D

[ Now Listening To: Justin Timberlake - What Goes Around ]

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Fasting

The most prominent event of this month is the fasting (sawm) practiced by most observant Muslims. Every day during the month of Ramadan, Muslims around the world get up before dawn to eat and perform their fajr prayer. They break their fast when the fourth prayer of the day, Maghrib (sunset), is due and can eat and drink until dawn the next day.

During Ramadan, Muslims are also expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam as well as refraining from anger, envy, greed, lust, sarcastic retorts, backbiting, and gossip. They are encouraged to read the Qur'an. Obscene and irreligious sights and sounds are to be avoided. Purity of both thought and action is important. The fast is intended to be an exacting act of deep personal worship in which Muslims seek a raised level of closeness to God. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the inner soul and free it from harm. Properly observing the fast is supposed to induce a comfortable feeling of peace and calm. It also allows Muslims to practice self-discipline, sacrifice, as well as sympathy for those who are less fortunate, intending to make Muslims more generous and charitable.

Conditions of Fasting

Throughout the duration of the fast itself, Muslims will abstain from certain provisions that God has otherwise allowed; namely eating, drinking, and sexual intercourse. This is in addition to the standard obligation already observed by Muslims of avoiding that which is not permissible under Qur'anic or Shari'ah law (e.g. ignorant and indecent speech, arguing and fighting, and lustful thoughts). Without observing this standard obligation, Sawm is rendered useless, and is seen simply as an act of starvation.

If one is sick, nursing or travelling, one is considered exempt from fasting. According to the Qur'an, for all other cases, not fasting is only permitted when the act is potentially dangerous to one's health - for example; those elderly who are too weak to fast for extended periods of time, diabetics, nursing, and pregnant women.

Observing the fast is not permitted for menstruating women. However, when a woman's period has ceased, she must bathe and continue fasting. Any fasts broken/missed due to menstruation must be made up whenever she can before the next month of Ramadan. Women must fast at times when not menstruating, as God indicates that all religious duties are ordained for both men and women.

Breaking oaths and the consequences

During Ramadan, one who fasts and breaks the oath out of forgetfulness must nevertheless continue, since the fast will remain valid. If, however, one intentionally breaks the fast, by eating, drinking, smoking or having sex, then they must continue for the rest of the day, add one day onto their fast and fulfill a set "penalty" (kaffarra). These exist in three forms, of which the person chooses one:

* Fasting for an extra 60 consecutive days, if he/she couldn't then;
* Feeding and clothing 60 people in need, if he/she couldn't then;
* Freeing a slave.

Penalties for voluntary fasts at other times of the year, are, however, more lenient; if an oath is given, and circumstances dictate that it be broken (or the one giving the oath deliberately breaks it), one needs to fast for three days consecutively if they cannot initially find 10 poor people to feed and provide clothing for (both of which are commanded before the act of fasting as a form of repentance). The penalties are harsher during Ramadan because all mentally able Muslims are expected to have an increased awareness\consciousness of the fast at that time.

Benefits of fasting

Fasting inculcates a sense of fraternity and solidarity, as Muslims will feel and experience that which their needy and hungry brothers and sisters feel; however, even the poor, needy, and hungry may participate in the fast. Moreover, Ramadan is a month of giving charity and sharing meals to break the fast together, the latter offering more reward than if eating alone.

As briefly mentioned earlier, fasting can also be observed voluntarily (as part of the Greater Jihad ): Sawm is intended to teach believers patience and self-control in their personal conduct, to help control passions and temper, to provide time for meditation and to strengthen one's faith. Fasting also serves the purpose of cleansing the inner soul and freeing it of harm. Most importantly, the fast is also seen as a great sign of obedience by the believer to Allah. Faithful observance of the Sawm is believed to atone for personal faults and misdeeds and to help earn a place in paradise.

While fasting in the month of Ramadan is considered Fard (obligatory), Islam also prescribed certain days for non-obligatory, voluntary fasting, such as:

* each Monday and Thursday of a week
* the 13th, 14th, and 15th day of each lunar month
* six days in the month of Shawwal (the month following Ramadan)
* the Day of Arafat (9th of Dhu al-Hijjah in the Islamic (Hijri) calendar)
* the Day of Ashuraa (10th of Muharram in the Islamic (Hijri) calendar), with one more day of fasting before or after it

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*pokes* ^ Random facts on Fasting from Wiki =P

[ Now Listening To: Paula Deanda - Easy ]

Anyways, today usual stuffs. More blahs from my blah life.

Eurgh... woke up today with a sore ass and right thigh. And it hurts a lot esp when I sit down or when I bend my legs... >.< Gah! The pain...

Anyways, woke up at 5.15 for my pre-fast meal. Then actually bothered to reach school early because I had nothing else to do at home... =.-"

History. Damn boring. But like Leo said, "We need to enjoy and love History to actually do well for History..." =/ Haiz... Facts, facts, facts. All of which require memorising. Not it's not only for History, but for Sciences and other Humans subjects as well... >.<

[ Now Listening To: Pink - U + Ur Hands ]

A. Maths. Whee.. more formulae to memorise for exams. Because there's a certain 'likelyhood' that these formulae won't appear in the formulae sheet that is usually provided in A.Maths papers... >.<

Haiz... my brain is seriously gonna explode with all these memorising...

Recess. Found is unknown key attached to my keychain/keyring. And I just realised it was there today. =P Apparently it is the Sea Room key. So me and Farhan decided to slack there for recess. Then comes 37 who joined us. Then Bobo. Then Jackson. =.=" Disturbances chasing after Farhan's PSP... =P

Speaking of which.... FARHAN! Let me play Naruto pls!! ^^

Then Chemistry. More blahz...

[ Now Listening To: My Chemical Romance - Teenagers ]

Malay. Blah blah... Decided not to jack Hasif, even though he was hiding from everyone. Why? Cuz I myself am feeling the pain of a sore ass. So being a kind gentleman, I decided to let it slide.. =P Heh...

But the truth is, one fun part of jacking is to see the person's face anticipating and hiding from your attacks. Which is usually 75% retarded... Heh...

Speaking of jacks, Jackson was first to jack Hasif today with the flagpole Peh was keeping in her house for a week... =P

[ Now Listening To: Kanye West ft. Daft Punk - Stronger ]

Speaking of which, I finally got back my phone!! After a week of being phone-less, I'm glad to finally retrieve my phone back from the evil clutches of NCC... >.<

And was surprised to see over 50 messages in cue in my phone... =P Was practically vibrating throughout History class when I first switched it on... Heh...

Apparently the hostel people were evacuated today in the morning because they felt some tremors. It occurred around 9-ish, during History class. Surprisingly, even though we were in the AV Room, which is close to the hostel, we didn't feel any tremors... =/

No one felt the tremors yesterday too in the canteen... =/

Oh ya! Nawawi pon-ned History class today... =.="

[ Now Listening To: The Click Five - Jenny ]

Heh. Anyways, after school. Slacked in the Sea Room a while with Farhan + Hasif. Then went to the stupid International Coastal Cleanup Breifing by Ms Leow in the AV room. =.=" Haiz... the things I do for CIP hours. Leow, like Nawawi, dragged everything a hell lot... what a waste of time... >.<

Then joined back Hasif + Farhan and went back home....

Standard fasting month ritual for me... School, reach home, sleep till it's time to eat again. =P Heh...

At night, went for Terawih (some extra prayers done during Ramadhan) at Masjid Mydin. To my shock, saw some Land CLTs there with their Mat Rape gang lepak-ing at the mosque and the nearby coffee shop. =.=" Oh wells... they didn't notice me, so I pretend nothing had happened.

But I have a feeling I'll see them again tmr if I go to the same mosque... =.-"

[ Now Listening To: Evanescence - Call Me When You're Sober ]

Heh. Found this video in my phone. Video-taped by Josh, it's a video of Bobo jacking Hasif during Sea Comp with Jackson selit-ing in between...

Hehe... feeling a bit crazy now...

[ Now Listening To: Boys Like Girls - The Great Escape ]

Anyways, on a random note, I'm now learning how to sketch people beautifully. As in sketch professionally without tracing. =P

My first two attempts, and since today is his birthday... :

Not bad I guess. But there's still room for improvement, especially with the facial features and the shading... He looks fat in my sketches though... xP

And FYI, there's no way for sketches to actually look like the original human being. Remember, pirated versions are never as good as the original... xP

[ Now Listening To: Katharine McPhee - Love Story ]

... 9:36 pm