Ramadhan is here

Today is the first day of Ramadhan 1430H. It is ten minutes to five pm now. I imagine the bazaar ramadhan stalls are up everywhere and the sellers putting out their trays of food. In an hour's time, there will be hundreds of people buying food for buka puasa. In the past, everyday during Ramadhan, I would be one of the first to throng these stalls and buying more than I can eat. Mata lagi besar dari perut.

Not this year. This year, I will restrain myself and only go to the bazaar a few times a week. The same goes for buka puasa. Before this, every year I will buka puasa 5-6 times outside and checking out the papers for buka puasa buffets. In short, fasting before this was only about abstaining from food and drink - I thought that was good enough. How ignorant I was. Well, I have changed and this Ramadhan for me will be more about ibadah as Allah has commanded.