Stepping out of Comfort zone with Ramadan
For Muslims, the holy month of Ramadan is all about attaining taqwa. It is a month that trains Muslims to be cognizant of God, practice self-restraint and achieve piety. This is mentioned in verse 183 of Surah al-Baqarah to the effect that: “O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint.”
To attain taqwa is not something that is simple as this requires Muslims to step out of their comfort zone. On normal days during other months outside Ramadan, everyone is free to eat and drink. However during Ramadan, Muslims are forbidden to do this during the day between fajr and sunset.
This commandment is not to deprive Muslims of food and drink, but rather a training ground for Muslims to move away from their normal routine. Stepping out of the comfort zone is important for a character to be developed, strengthened and subsequently grow.
Character-building can be achieved during Ramadan. A Muslim who observes fasting would wake up early in the morning to prepare for sahur. The early start also allows for him/her to carry out optional prayers such as tahajjud and taubat as well as reciting the Quran before the compulsory Subuh prayer.
Getting ready early in the morning would also mean that he/she can have an early start to the day. We note that during Ramadan, many people arrive to their workplace much earlier than usual. The fact that people need not go out for breakfast means that people start working earlier than in other months.
With no need for lunch, focus can be given to praying Zuhur as soon as the prayer time begins, and whatever free time during the lunch break can be used for recitation of the Quran. All these are activities that break from the normal routine in other months.
During iftar or breaking of fast, it is a time when family members gather together. In normal months, having dinner together with family members can often be difficult, but somehow Ramadan is able to bring people together for breaking of fast.
Many would then throng masjids or suraus for Isyak prayer followed by terawih and witir prayers in the evening. People would be at the masjids for a couple of hours at least to take advantage of carrying out acts of worship that are much encouraged in this auspicious month.
Aside from these activities, Muslims are also encouraged to be charitable by helping and donating to those in need. Help can be given in many forms, in cash or in kind. What is important is the sincerity of one’s intention in helping.
All these are forms of training for Muslims to educate the self all throughout the month of Ramadan. In truth, these acts could not be done without Muslims themselves stepping out of the boundary of their comfort zone. If they keep to their normal routine, then character-building will not take place, and achieving taqwa will not be a reality.
Most definitely when a person goes out of his/her comfort zone, there exists a level of anxiety and discomfort. However, the whole month of Ramadan is a good training ground where we learn to familiarize with acts that we do not normally undertake such as getting up very early in the morning or spending a couple of hours in the evening at masjids or suraus.
The month also presents us with the opportunity to try new acts until we get comfortable with them. These new acts may be in the form of worship that are not part of our normal routine before, for example the tahajjud prayer in the wee hours of the morning or the recitation of the Quran on a daily basis.
There are many things that can be achieved during the month of Ramadan in terms of character-building. As such, it is important that Muslims take the opportunity presented in this holy month to build and improve our character so that we can reach a higher level of piety towards God.
What is equally important is that once we have familiarized ourselves with the new routines obtained and practiced during Ramadan, we should endeavour to maintain this new routine after Ramadan ends. In other words, we try to make our new routines as new boundaries for our comfort zone. This is important so as to ensure that we continue with these routines in the months following Ramadan.
However if after this Ramadan, we go back to our previous routine, then we have learnt nothing from this holy month. We fall back into our old comfort zone and failed to take advantage of Ramadan as a month of tarbiyyah.
Taking advantage of the month of tarbiyyah will enable us to grow in terms of character. We have to step outside our old comfort zone, and create a new zone for growth and development. When we meet Ramadan again in the coming year, then we will again try to step out of this comfort zone in order to further develop our character.
Hopefully, the more we improve our character, our taqwa towards God will improve in terms of quality, and this will make us better Muslims who can contribute towards the betterment of the society and nation.