Back in the month where Allah SWT could do no more to urge us to worship him

It's been a while. I'm not yet another one of those blogs who has been electrically active then disappeared into thin air when posting gets tedious. Because it's all for Allah SWT right? We don't get tired of praying and fasting, so how can we tire of spreading the word of Allah?

Post maternity leave 3 month return to work, a mad trip with two young children to Malaysia which although was supposed to be leisure ended up being an examination of my patience and stress levels. But now alhumdulila back at home, with the kids, wondering how to structure life, with no work lying ahead, no new baby about to come, it's just about fulfilling my responsibilities in the best way possible. And as someone asked, will I get bored? Bored? What a question. How can you get bored when you have the weight of the responsibilities of a Muslimah on your shoulder... Where is the time or audacity to feel boredom? The Angel of Death lurks behind us, in front of us every twenty minutes or so, someone once worked out if I remember correctly - Would I tell him, when he finally decided to take me, yikes I was bored with fulfilling my obligations of being a mother and bringing up my children in the best way that I can so Paradise can be at my feet, bored maintaining the home which brings me the reward of a jeehad, and tired with trying to carry Allah's deen to everyone around me in a time which is as dark as the time the Sahabah struggled in...??!!! So nope, bored, doesn't even fit in the equation. And I'm sorry, but I'm not that much of a sheep that I will kill myself working in the office in the day, working at home in the night, fighting with my kids and fighting with my hubby, just to get through the day. Yes everyone around me is doing it, people in my office even did it, but I have to ask myself why and I would rather choose tranquility in life, any day.

But having returned from Malaysia in the blessed month of Ramadan, of course Ramadan always sparks thoughts about what ibadah means. And my thought for tonight, as we enter the most blessed ten days of Ramadan, is that understand what ibadah really is. Because something is clearer than crystal, whatever action you do, whatever intention you have Allah SWT is the All Hearing and All Seeing, he knows it all. So if you neglect Allah's commands all year round, going by what pleases you, what fits in with the people you hang out with, over what Allah wants of you, Allah doesn't forget this, come Ramadan. Even though you may begin your fasting, retrieve your prayers and even maybe don the hijab, Allah SWT knows that you do it in this month maybe because everyone else does it, maybe because this month has a special spiritual atmosphere that motivates you, or maybe you do just want to please Allah. But our obedience to Allah knows no limits, no seasonalities. Allah keeps out hearts beating 365 days a year, every second every minute of the day, not by season or by month. Allah SWT grants us the mercy of family, rizq (provisions) even the mercy of tests in life to gain reward and expiate our sins, these mercies are never part-time, or intermittent.

So without questioning whether we mean to worship Allah sincerely in this month or not, the bigger question is why we have the mentality that we can choose when to obey Allah and when not to:
'But no, by your Lord, they can have no real iman until they make you (oh Muhammad) judge in all of the disputes and find in themselves no resistance in your decision and accept them with fullest submission' (surah Nisa)
Allah SWT uses many things in his Noble Quran to swear by, but in this ayah he views the content to be of so much importance that the Lord of the worlds swears by Himself. And Allah SWT majestically tells us in this verse, that our obedience to what the Messenger of Allah brought us goes beyond the fancies and superficial desires we human beings hold - And real faith is by embracing the code of Islam, as our own code for life. Despite the fear of what friends and family will see, the fear of loss of a job or client, the desires of status and honour in this world - whatever it may be - fullest submission is only what it can be.

Don't end this Ramadan by switching off the religious button in your brain. And anyway, you can only switch off something when you have the power to do so. But this is Allah Subhanahu Wa Taala we are talking about. The Allah who exists all year round, sees everything you do, and is closer to you at this very moment than your jugular vein. And let's face it, it's not us who really does the switching off, that's for Allah isn't it, when he decides to make that last intake of cool oxgenated air, our very last.