Ramadan!!

w00t!!
Only 6 weeks to go :dance:
I can't believe how fast its come round.
And now I'm using the pill on 3 month cycles I don't have to miss a day.

Can't wait either. i love it when it's in Winter. The hours are shorter and the dinner time is just that little bit more special, with the warm soup at the beginning to open your fast with.
I love the family and friends gatherings at dinner time.

Can't wait!

mmmm soup.
I love having soup because it's food and drink all in one. The fuuny thing is after a day fasting I'm not so hungry but anyone who stands between me and my glass of water better look out lol.

Funny you say that because i'm not a water drinker usually. But come Ramadan, water is the one thing i miss during the day esp, during summer.

The dinners have so much more preparation in them too. i love it. You look forward to cooking and eating the food in Ramadan, whereas normally its whatever i can be bothered to cook that day.

I have a gathering of all the women which i know, one night in Ramadan. Where we have dinner, a gf will read some Koran and then we have tea and sweets and just sit around and catch up. It really is awesome. I am really looking forward to it this year too. Most of the ladies are divorcees/widows so i hope i am gaining some good deeds :pray:

Do you invite family and friends over for big dinners during Ramadan?

Yep, we have people over and do the rounds of their houses too lol. I love going to one of our local restaurants that brings out all the food and big jugs of water when the fast breaks. It's great breaking fast with a big group of strangers.
I use my slow cooker a lot. It's good being able to get the main meal ready in the morning because early in Ramadan I find that I'm totally out of steam in the afternoon and I just want to take a nana nap when I should be cooking dinner. Once I get over the caffiene withdrawels I cope better lol.

LOL. Yep caffeine withdrawals, i hear ya. Isn't it funny though that you set the table and put 101 things on there to eat and you don't even touch 95% of it? Your eyes are more hungrier than your stomach.

Can i tell you a little story, completely different to this topic Bron?

A few years ago, i began to get all curious about Islam. My parents never taught me anything. So i began some soul searching. I read up on the life of Muhammad (pbuh) and only got half way. I wanted to find out how to do the 5 x daily prayer. I learnt from the net. I wanted to learn more dua (surah?) so i memorised a few more off the net. I wanted to learn how to do the abdest (wash before prayer) properly, so i learnt that too. I wanted to find out which way i needed to lay my mat towards Mecca, so i found that too. I learnt everything that i needed to know how to do my prayers. But i was missing something. I had to wake up one morning and do it. i just needed that push. I prayed to God a few times, to get Him to show me Muhammed (pbuh) in my dreams. I wanted to see him.

One night i went to sleep. I was in Mecca with my mum. I was sitting in front of the Kabbah, thousands of people was there. Muhammad (pbuh) appeared in a long white gown with white pants. He was speaking to the crowd. He was walking back and forth in front of the Kabbah addressing the crowd. I didn't see his face. Just to his shoulders, even when He was walking towards us. It was amazing.

I woke up that morning for my first prayer. I could do it. I felt such at peace it was wonderful. From that morning on, i did 5 x a day prayer. I couldn't pray at work so i saved my prays until i got home. (I don't do it anymore and i feel so bad)

I told my friend who is very religious (about my dream) and she told me that it must have been Muhammad (pbuh) whom i saw as he never shows his face when he does appear in dreams and so forth. That explains why there aren't any images of Him. I did some research on the net and i read that whoever sees Muhammad (pbuh) in their dreams really does see Him as the Seytan (devil) can never disguise himself as Muhammad (pbuh). I am very blessed to have seen Him in my dreams and i wish it upon everyone.

I regularly see the Seytan in my dreams and once he through the Koran from underneath my pillow across the room, hit the wall and the pages flew open. i now know how to scare him (the seytan) from my dreams. I say the Fatiha and he disappears. It's like magic.

Just wanted to share it with you.

wow, what an amazing dream, m'shAllah. Thanks for telling me about it :hug:

Ramadan is a great time of the year. We should make a lot of dua's inshallah. I didn't fast last Ramadan as I was breastfeeding but I will be this time. It is going to be a tough once this year: a baby, cooking meals, fasting and doing my final semester. May Allah make it easy for me, ameen. And the rest of us.

Turkish Delight,

I read about your dream - amazing. My younger sister also once dreamed about the Prophet. By the way, you should try reading: al-Fatihah, al-Nas, al-Falaq, and al-Ikhlas each three times and your dreams will not be disturbed nor will the Shaytaan come near you.

Brontide,

Maybe you can share your soup receipes with me.

Sorry to jump in girls...I love reading your posts in here, really interesting for me, not exactly sure why..

Anyway, I had a question if I may? am wondering Bron why the pill matters in Ramadan? Do you need to fast form medication too? Sorry if that is a really ignorant question..lol

If you need to take medication that has to be taken during the daylight hours you can't fast because you have to look after your health.
When you get your period you get a dispensation from fasting but you're meant to amke it up before the next Ramadan or some schools say you can pay the cost of feeding a starving person for each day you miss.
The reason that the pill is relevant to me and Ramadan is that I skip the sugar pills for 3 months and only have a period every 4th month. This Ramadan I won't have my period so excluding any unexpected sickness I'll be able to fast every day instead of missing 6 days when AF arrives.

Ah well that makes sense.
Thanks Bron :)

Bron, do you do the 5 x day prayer? I know you have two little ones so it must be hard, but just curious.

Girl22 - my favourite soup is that made from lamb neck with potatoes and carrots.

When i go to the butcher i purchase lamb neck and ask them to cut it into casserole size pieces. I put the necks into a pot filled with water and leave for a few hours. All the blood drains out, tip out the water and wash the necks, refill with water and leave overnight in water. The next day, i tip out the water and refill and boil. I let it boil for about 10 mins and then tip out the water and refill and boil for about 3 hours. i top up the water in the pot as needed. After three hours, i strain the soup into a new pot and pull the meat from the neck bone and cut into small pieces. I also dice the carrot and potato into very small cubes and put the meat and vegetables into the soup water and boil for another 1.5hours until the consistency is right. Serve hot obviously with cracked pepper and a little lemon. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm the littlies might not like the pepper and lemon so don't add it in for them. Yummo

TD, it's been a while since I managed 5 x a day. I find the morning one the hardest. I really struggle with getting out of bed :(

I'm soooo going to try your lambsneck soup - it sounds yummy.

If I'm in a hurry I make a pumpkin or lentil soup but if I have more time I like to make pho. I usually try to do it the day before so it has lots of time to get all all the flavours and so I can let the fat set and take it off.

Totally off the topic but I was wondering if you ladies are reading any Islamic books? I am currently reading 'The Ideal Muslimah'. It's great.

assalamu alaykum ladies.
love reading all your posts :)

Cant wait til Ramadan, cant believe how quickly it has come, last Ramadan feels like just yesterday!

May Allah make it easy for all of us to Pray, Fast, Live and Die for the sake of Allah :)


just a thought - maybe Ramadan is a good time for you ladies to start praying again, especailly in the morning coz you are already up to eat breakfast early, after doing it for a month hopefully it will become a natural habit and wont be so difficult? just a thought...