Yussif Ahmed Ibn Yussif

Dear Khadija, I know it’s your first too Believe me, I know it’s not easy But take heart and make dua’a For Allah listens to His servants Tears roll down Hands tremble Even the most arrogant Becomes humble The month of Ramadan is here again Rounding us up in faith The month of mesmerizing mercy The month of gigantic joy The month of perplexing peace The month of relaxing remembrance The month of all Godly goodness There is both peace and turbulence in my heart Why This is my first My first Ramadan without my father My first suhoor and iftar without him I am a believer And I believe and pray he is in a better place with ALLAH Here is to all the people experiencing their first of same and others You’re not alone Let’s pray and ask for forgiveness for our departed loved ones For our Lord, ALLAH assures us He is the most merciful and ever forgiving Ramadan Kareem Ramadan Mubarak                        Yussif Ahmed Ibn Yussif

The moon sighting struggle, huh Ha! Well, Insha Allah, Ramadan is upon us again For us, Muslims, Ramadan is the most sacred month It comes with some peculiar perks that no other month brings Ramadan, the month that we respect The month that we retrospect The month that we radiate The month that we are relatable The month that we are refreshing with goodness Ramadan, the month that we act The month that we are active with good deeds The month that we are absolutely adorable The month that we abide by almost all religious and worldly rules and regulations The month that we are bursting with affirmations and awesomeness Ramadan, the month that we meditate The month that we make amends The month that we are mindful The month that we motivate The month that we beam with mercy Ramadan, the month of acta non verba Ramadan, the month that we are dispassionate Ramadan, be acta non verba Ramadan, the noble month Let the observers of the noble mon

Well, Congratulations You’re afraid of the one thing that is certain in life Ha!! (Not funny) Seriously? Are you telling me that in your personal life, You have never experienced any turbulence that (to an extent) equals The world’s current predicament Sure, that was on a personal level But this is also personal Isn’t it? Tell me you would be as much terrified if COVID-19 was still just news to you That it wasn’t yet in your country Taking people by surprise You would be concerned for others but…….. Really? Panic buying Lockdown Nope…. Not this much I once wrote that ‘life sits on a pendulum of balance A life springs and a life shrinks’ But now, too many lives are shrinking within a blink of an eye The world is on its knees But it will rise again I am a believer And Allah tells me in the Holy Quran that He will not burden a soul beyond its capacity And not once but twice, on a row He tells me that, there is ease after every hardship To some extent, ever

My religious beliefs sidestepped Not a good idea, I know But let’s do this Some say it’s the end of the world I say, maybe it’s just the beginning of it Maybe God is preparing a whole new generation to take over I mean, there are scriptural connotations to suggest so But, …………………….. Fill in the blanks I want to see my friends again I miss them People are dying People are dying Some have recovered and others are still recovering Some are also getting sick We are to practice social distancing Self-isolate Quarantine It’s a whole new world of superficial practices I see two possibilities Maybe, this new world is perpetual Maybe it’s just temporary Even if there comes a cure for this claw-clenching, deadly fisticuffs punching coronavirus Can we really come back to our old selves What if we are to remain this way to prevent getting infected Sure there may have been a cure for it But would you risk getting infected I pray this w