As we are in this region, we are the luckiest persons in some terms. We have more opportunities to be a
good muslim. We have Masjids within every 100 ft. The Sahar and Iftar never tested our nerves. You may have your sehari even if you are new to this region. Many hotels arrange sehari as a part of their business. And Iftars, they are just a mosque away. Not at all a problem. The class and the mass together manage the mosques beautifully. Poor relatives are supported in Ramzan copiously. Guests are invited on Iftars fabulously. Almost in all the mosques, taraweeh is being conducted. But you may see that all muslims are not so fortunate.
Once in nineties, it was mid summer when we sighted the hilal. I was working in TAW Ambur, and we had one gentleman deputed as our manager in the shoe unit. He was young and educated, an MBA from a Coimbatore college. It was the time when study of business administration attracted the youth and seemed to guarantee Louis Phillips, Raymond’s, Moccasins, Maruthi Suzuki, a well-decorated air-conditioned office and a fully furnished apartment in the twelfth floor. The industrialists also started to realize the need of fluently English speaking managers/employees to impress and communicate in a better way with the overseas clients. The start of boom in information technology and the technique available to convert data into money, made a sea change in the trade. Business was getting done scientifically and practices, methods, recipes and experiences were being digitized in databases for a handy reference.
The manager, a good hearted one, young and energetic, and eager to make his presence felt and to prove his efficiency in the field, quickly mixed with the staff and became friendly. One day in this holy month of ramzan....., he lamented that during his graduation, maybe in his 2nd year...... he was in the college hostel, away from city and remotely situated. He admitted that was the toughest ramzan in his life. He was the only muslim at that time in the college. He could not get up for sahar on time. He could not have food for sahar. Going to mosque for fajr was out of question. Hearing Azaan was a fortune. Somehow he would manage iftar as he would have time, but still the hardship was there to reach a mosque and find some hotel for halal foods. He had to miss the precious Sunnah, Taraweeh, in order to reach hostel in time. In those difficult hours, he sincerely prayed after every namaz before Allah swt to provide him an islamic atmosphere in the next ramzan if ever he was alive and had to work in such situations. He was happy that Allah swt had listened to him and he was in Ambur this ramzan. He was all praises for the facilities and the atmosphere. He was single then and was put up in the guest house of the company where he was taken care very well. A beautiful small mosque was there near Solur, hardly a-ten-minute-walk away under the banyans and amidst the sound of zipping-away automobiles in the NH 47.
But like that gentleman, now our boys are out there in such places, in those strange lands to earn their bread or to gain knowledge. Away from home, away from the culture, away from the mosques, practicing Islam could be a challenge for some of them with many more obstacles. Pray for them. In such situations, if you or your nears and dears are, please don’t worry, pray and ask His support and keep your imaan elevated. Help may come from somewhere miraculously. It is just a test. An intermediate phase. A bridge. Surely you are not going to be there for long. You have to cross that at any cost. A better place, kind vicinity and a prosperous future awaits you for sure in sha allah…. May you stay in the right path and be pious always and in Ramzan e Kareem. Ameen. My tribute to those brave momins who are in the most unIslamic situations with a strong Imaan.
good muslim. We have Masjids within every 100 ft. The Sahar and Iftar never tested our nerves. You may have your sehari even if you are new to this region. Many hotels arrange sehari as a part of their business. And Iftars, they are just a mosque away. Not at all a problem. The class and the mass together manage the mosques beautifully. Poor relatives are supported in Ramzan copiously. Guests are invited on Iftars fabulously. Almost in all the mosques, taraweeh is being conducted. But you may see that all muslims are not so fortunate.
Once in nineties, it was mid summer when we sighted the hilal. I was working in TAW Ambur, and we had one gentleman deputed as our manager in the shoe unit. He was young and educated, an MBA from a Coimbatore college. It was the time when study of business administration attracted the youth and seemed to guarantee Louis Phillips, Raymond’s, Moccasins, Maruthi Suzuki, a well-decorated air-conditioned office and a fully furnished apartment in the twelfth floor. The industrialists also started to realize the need of fluently English speaking managers/employees to impress and communicate in a better way with the overseas clients. The start of boom in information technology and the technique available to convert data into money, made a sea change in the trade. Business was getting done scientifically and practices, methods, recipes and experiences were being digitized in databases for a handy reference.
The manager, a good hearted one, young and energetic, and eager to make his presence felt and to prove his efficiency in the field, quickly mixed with the staff and became friendly. One day in this holy month of ramzan....., he lamented that during his graduation, maybe in his 2nd year...... he was in the college hostel, away from city and remotely situated. He admitted that was the toughest ramzan in his life. He was the only muslim at that time in the college. He could not get up for sahar on time. He could not have food for sahar. Going to mosque for fajr was out of question. Hearing Azaan was a fortune. Somehow he would manage iftar as he would have time, but still the hardship was there to reach a mosque and find some hotel for halal foods. He had to miss the precious Sunnah, Taraweeh, in order to reach hostel in time. In those difficult hours, he sincerely prayed after every namaz before Allah swt to provide him an islamic atmosphere in the next ramzan if ever he was alive and had to work in such situations. He was happy that Allah swt had listened to him and he was in Ambur this ramzan. He was all praises for the facilities and the atmosphere. He was single then and was put up in the guest house of the company where he was taken care very well. A beautiful small mosque was there near Solur, hardly a-ten-minute-walk away under the banyans and amidst the sound of zipping-away automobiles in the NH 47.
But like that gentleman, now our boys are out there in such places, in those strange lands to earn their bread or to gain knowledge. Away from home, away from the culture, away from the mosques, practicing Islam could be a challenge for some of them with many more obstacles. Pray for them. In such situations, if you or your nears and dears are, please don’t worry, pray and ask His support and keep your imaan elevated. Help may come from somewhere miraculously. It is just a test. An intermediate phase. A bridge. Surely you are not going to be there for long. You have to cross that at any cost. A better place, kind vicinity and a prosperous future awaits you for sure in sha allah…. May you stay in the right path and be pious always and in Ramzan e Kareem. Ameen. My tribute to those brave momins who are in the most unIslamic situations with a strong Imaan.
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