Ramadan Day #2

Assalamu alaikum,

Auzu billahi minash shaytan al rajeem. Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

Day two was an eventful day! AstughfirAllah I had slept through suhoor, because I forgot to set my alarm, Alhumdulilah I didn't miss fajr so yesterday was slightly more difficult than the first.

Unlike the day before, I was at work and thus was surrounded by images of people drinking and eating. I admit it was hard when one of my co-workers were crunching on snow peas before going off to lunch, but by the grace of Allah I wasn't deterred from continuing my fast and eventually managed to ignore it.

One thing that was a bit difficult during fasting yesterday was remaining calm even when something would normally bother me. Instead of responding to a comment I had found offensive I simply went silent and tried to relieve myself of the frustration. The person had approached me realizing that I had become suddenly silent and apologized which was nice. Though admittedly as the day wore on, there was one incident that I had shown clear discontentment. May Allah forgive me for this.

Something interesting actually happened yesterday though. When I was leaving work, my sandal broke and it made it impossible to walk in my shoes. I literally was walking like a duck! I had gone into the bookstore on my university campus and asked for staples and tape. Ridiculous I know! But the thought of potentially walking barefoot was frightening to me, especially considering that I can be somewhat of a "germophobe!" Anyways, after many flimsy staples and pieces of scotchtape I left, walking less strangely as before to catch my bus.

While on the bus I had decided that my shoe would hang in there until I got home, but I was wrong, so very wrong. The staples and tape did not hold up and I decided to take off both of my shoes. Alhumdulilah! It was actually a liberating experience as well as a time to self-reflect. Even though I walked for only 10 minutes, I was given the opportunity to stop and think of the people, some who are our Muslim brothers and sisters, that don't have the simple luxury of protecting their feet. For the most part, there was not much poking or stabbing of my feet, except for when stepping on small pebbles. When crossing the road I was fearful that it would have been worse, but all thanks to Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) I made it through safely. I believe it was a type of spiritual experience that seemed to be accessed after the barrier which was my shoe was removed. Perhaps on day three you should try walking without shoes ha-ha!

Assalamu alaikum,

-Aisha