TIME TO CLEANSE BODY AND SOUL
Don’t speed on road — it’s okay to be a little late for iftar; Don’t gorge on food after ending fast
DUBAI — Ramadan Kareem! You may have heard colleagues or friends exchange this greeting — which literally means ‘Ramadan is generous’ — in the past day or two.
It is not that the month is considered generous, but the activities in the month inspire generosity.
For the next 29 or 30 days, Muslims around the world will
I congratulate the people of the UAE and all Arab and Islamic peoples on the occasion of Ramadan, the month of goodness. We will keep working during the month for the good of our country and people HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum @HHShkMohd I ask God to keep our country safe and secure, and always proud and strong. I pray to God to protect our sons in the fields of their duty, to guide them and bless them. I also congratulate the leaders of Arab and Islamic nations HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan @MohamedBinZayed
abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk, but that’s just one aspect of it.
Ramadan reinforces solidarity — abstaining from food is symbolic of the hunger pangs of the underprivileged; praying together in mosques for longer hours helps Muslims reconnect with the Almighty; ending fast with strangers during mass iftars kindles the community spirit; and all of these combined just inspire generosity.
This is also the month of ‘special offers’ — spiritually, and if you are in the UAE, for shopping, too! Muslims will be thronging mosques or increasing charity and supplications, for there is a divine offer of rewards of up to 700 times for every good deed that’s performed during this month.
The whole country has been decked up for the month, let’s deck up our hearts, too — with good thoughts and intentions, prayers and spirituality, generosity and empathy — and show solidarity with the less fortunate.
You should go easy on the food while ending your fast. If you are on the road around Iftar time, don’t speed your way home — it’s okay to be a little late. In any case, the police here are pretty generous — they distribute food and drinks at traffic signals during Iftar.
If you are not fasting, spare a thought for your fasting colleagues — it’s the month of mercy after all. Refrain from having food around them or maybe even fast with them for a day and join them as they end their fast.