Ramadan: It’s Lessons and Lexis

Abdulwarees-Solanke/

Marhabaan bika Yaa Ramadan, welcome oh Ramadan, Yaa ayyu aladhiina aamanu, kutiba alaykum siyaawmu ( O you who believe, we have made fasting incumbent on you).

These statements are suffusing our airwaves already even before the sighting of the moon crescent to herald the breaking of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Hijrah calendar during which able-bodied Muslims are enjoined to fast as compulsory worship.

So, here comes the season of fasting, the glorious month of Ramadan, the month in which the gates of Jahannam, hellfire, are shut and that of Al-Jannah, paradise, are opened; the month in which the Quran, Huddan linnaas wa bayyinnah, was revealed to Mankind as a guide and the distinguisher or criterion, of right from wrong.

Muslims are therefore expected to take as much as possible of the benefits of Ramadan, a season of release of bounteous blessing, vast rewards, and sincere reconnection, of total rehabilitation and renewal, true regeneration, sincere repentance, and return to Allah; a month of rebirth, restoration, and revitalization, recharging and regaining in full measure.

It’s a month of strong resolution and revolution, a month of rededication to Allah but also of relaxation and retreat to Allah from all worldly concerns and a month of reckoning our deeds, income, and expenditure so we can pay our zakat or Sadaqat in due or right measure.

In this month, Allah specifically prescribed fasting for believers so that we might learn or attain piety or righteousness. Not only did He prescribe to believers that whoever witnesses Ramadan must fast, for a specified number of days 29 or 30. In His Rahma, he also allows an exemption for some categories for unavoidable conditions that can threaten one’s life or lead to health complications.

He gave windows of restitution if one is unable to fast or misses some fast. He allowed that fasting is not a 24-hour deal, just from Fajr, dawn to dusk, Maghrib, and allows every lawful thing including mating from dusk till fajr. All these, Allah says he wants ease for us and not difficulties.

So sawmun Ramadan is never a burden but a blessing whose rewards, tawaab, are immeasurable. Ramadan, the Season of bounteous rewards comes with many rites and ibaadats, devotion in nawaafil of religious obligations.

That’s when our tilawaatul Quran, reading at a measured and regular pace, and we are afforded the grace and choice of Tafsiirul Quran, the exegesis, explanation of the book of Allah daily whether in our major masjids or on air with vibrant scholars offering deep insights on various aspects of life.

With Ramadan, we take seriously Taraweeh prayers popularly called Aashamu in Southwestern Nigeria, a supererogatory prayer with witr, all totaling 13 rakats. Though not obligatory, it is very meritorious a practice that Muslims must cultivate as daily tahajjud, because Allah encourages rising in the night, Qiyaamu-layl to offer nawaafil, commonly called Tahajjud as the night is the time that impression is most keen, prayers easily accepted.

In Ramadan, we end each day’s fast with iftar, breaking of fast at dusk with fruits water, milk, and meals with family and friends. In our clime, the culture of iftar is deeply taking root, becoming as popular as cocktails and banquets in corporate settings daily.

In my life, I’ve also taken Iftaar in government houses, one in old Gongola State, now Adamawa and Taraba States as National Concord Correspondent, and one in Lagos house, dining with governors and senior government officials.

After Iftar with big men in high places, you’re so filled and fulfilled that you mutter, it’s good to wine and dine in class and glamour. It’s not a sin. Get a good education and be diligent to merit invitations from the top.

Aah, Sahuur! Saari.  It’s always something to look forward to in childhood. To encourage us to fast in the 70s when we were growing up, our ration and the accompanying meat or fish were like that of our parents.

We were encouraged to fast agbadaila or agbadalaasari. Agbadaila and agbadalaasari are training fasts for children till noon or afternoon…

We were in the habit of counting in numbers the fasts we made or completed. It’s like a competition among children. The more you make till dusk, the more gifts of good and sumptuous meal you earn from mummy

.As Ramadan enters its third leg, that is 20th, it’s time for Itikaaf, the retreat of Muslims to the masjids in the last 10 days of Ramadan, for intense concentration in ibaadat.

In those days when we were growing up, Itikaaf was not a common practice but restricted to the aalim and sheikhs. Now itikaaf is a popular phenomenon because of its tremendous merits. Some of us indeed take casual leave or plan our annual leave to coincide with the last lap of Ramadan.

For many who are wealthy, these last days are spent on Umrah in Mecca. At home here, depending on the facilities or the caliber of Muslims, Itiqaaf comes with various packages. There are classy itikaaf where the cost can go as high as N50,000 for those 10 days and there are some  Itikaaf for commoners whose expenses are borne by fiisebililla.

Nonetheless, any itikaaf should be what it is for: retreat, seclusion, concentrated ibaadat. There should be no distraction or engagement in mundane activities during the period to maximize its benefits and value.

We cannot talk about Ramadan without a mention of Jaka. What we know as Jaka in those days has been correctly refined to be Sadaqatul Fitr, it’s obligatory to be done on each member of a household. Jaka, we are told, ensures the completeness and acceptance of your fast.

It’s for the needy to have the joy of celebration like those of the eaves. It’s the responsibility of the breadwinner to ensure it’s done before going for Eid to have benefits and meaning.

Baami would buy gari or agbado of enough quantity to go around his entire family. He measures his own first, bringing his two palms to make a cup and dipping them in baafu of gari, cupping out four measures into another bowl, a basia or agbari Ojukwu.

Altogether, we were 11 that jaka will be measured for. Baami, his two wives, seven children, and my niece. But in our culture, there is nothing like cousin, nephew, niece, uncle, or aunt. It’s Maami, Baami, Boda mi, or Aunty mi no matter how distant you are in the extended family circle. Any of the family members measures on behalf of those in the boarding school.

For most of my adolescent secondary school days, I was an itinerant, not so much at home with Baami, as after Abadina in Ibadan, Asero Abeokuta where Egba High School is located was my abode as a boarding student and then Adeke Iwo, Baptist High School was my home during my A levels. Ramadan at UNILAG was another experience for the three years I schooled at Akoka.

It was a tradition that baami buys two cockerels at the beginning of Ramadan and two at the end to celebrate Eid el Fitri. Maami also had the habit of cooking beans to distribute to neighbors on the first of shawwal, the day of Eid el Fitri. In our Oke Foko neighborhood of Agbole Laatosa, down to Adesokan and Adesope compounds Maami’s beans are the first course on Eid days.

Times have changed, nobody eats saaraa anyhow these days. God bless the souls of Baami and Maami who made Eid el Fitri special for us in childhood. I still remember Baami who shops for the Eid wear of my junior brother and me at Kingsway.

Kingsway, like the Palms or Shoprite of today, was the shopping mall of class for the elites and the nouveau riche of our childhood years. In Ibadan, where I had my childhood, our Yidi was always at Ansarudeen Praying Ground opposite the iconic Liberty Stadium.

The drive from Oke Foko through Oke Ado to Liberty was always fun-filled. While going we were taught to be doing adhkar, God’s remembrance. On the return leg of our journey, with dripping ice cream, awe tan oju ti ajosan is part of our songs of euphoria.

As we start this year’s Ramadhan in high spirits, we pray to end it in full joy O Allah. Aamin. 

Abdulwarees Solanke. a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Diplomacy and Management and 2007 Commonwealth Broadcasting Association scholar in Public Policy at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Head/Deputy  Director, Strategic Planning and Corporate Development, Voice of Nigeria; Abuja.
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