the days are longer in our area. we break our fast around 7:50pm and the Esha and Taraweeh starts around 9:15pm. we live thirty minutes away from the Masjid. its crazy after iftar because as soon as we finish eating and praying Maghrib, we have to get ready for Esha and Taraweeh. Every one in the family goes to the Masjid to pray Taraweeh. we do have another Masjid which is 5 minutes away from our house. But we like going to the other masjid (30 min from our house) because the Imam is really great, he tries to keep people in the Masjid. after Taraweeh he briefly gives us Tafseer lecture on the surah we read in Taraweeh that night. then we read Qiyamul Liyal (voluntary night prayers) after midnight. last ramadan we read 3 to 5 Juz a night in 4 Rakat. it was so hard but Alhamdullilah many people showed up to pray, little kids (age 8-10) as well. Make Du'a for us.

wasalam
-SI-

Day three for us in Utah and i feel great. Well I'm president of the Muslim Student Association at my school and next week for us what we call "Islamic awarness week at school" its quit fun atcually for next week of school well be giving out heenah tatoos and samboosa for lunch its fun we do this every year on the second week of Ramadan.

September 15 - New York

Just broke fast a couple of hours ago and been doing homework since then. Not looking forward to going back to school on Monday. That place is evil and full of sins. And it makes me miss Zuhr and sometimes Asr prayers and I just hate that. The people there are just so anti-Islam, I swear. Even the so called Muslims. Makes me want to cry . I'd rather just stay at home, spend time with the family, reading the Quran and worshipping. I wish I was in a more Muslim place.

I love Ramadan. Ramadan Mubarak to everyone. Hope everyone's is going well.

sunday sept 16th 12.54pm--Sydney:

salams...

Iftar is in a good six hours or so...

My younger brother, age eight, just forced me to make him a toast...he couldnt stand the wait.

the rest of us are all fasting, my father, who lives in brisbane, is working hard while fasting, he is also very sick...lets pray for him inshallah.

my older brother doesnt fast...let us pray for the strengthening of his Iman inshallah...

the rest of my family goes out for dinner every night, i am obliged to stay home and try and finish off essays...i simply chomp on watever i can find in the fridge..im not a lover of food.

it is hard at uni...especially mine..it is huge (staging over six suburbs) and i need to scoot from one side of the campus to the other sometimes...it is really hard..approaching summer--no water..long sleeves, hijab..not a friendly combination...but inshallah i am one of the luckier ones who can see the wisdom behind it all.

My interfaith club on campus is working franctically to try and finish organisations for this years 'Fast-a-thon'...inshallah we expect to attract a lot more non-muslims this year...pray for us.

may the peace of ramadan be upon all of u...

might i add that it would be gud to hear some non-muslim accounts of ramadan...have they experienced anything, seen anything?

w/s...

Saturday Sept 15,

Today was the hardest so far of fasting mostly because I was home all day and not really doing anything. It was so boring at home and it felt like time was going too slowly. I felt extremely exhausted and tired today because of school -- it was a crazy week subhanallah. But, I just have to get used to it. On the plus side, I managed to get some of my homework done..! May the rest of Ramadhan go on with ease insha'allah. Ameen.

September 16, 2007 Austin, TX

Today is a busy day. My son-in-law is bringing some of his co-workers home with him to break fast with us this evening. My daughter is busy in the kitchen cooking up all kinds of good stuff. The kids are busy cleaning house. I'm here posting.

16th Sept 2007

Had Iftar with other muslim brothers in a jamaat mashallah. Prayed nearly all my prayers in Jamat too, & inshallah will pray Isha & Tarawih in Jamat too.

May Allah give us all the ability to make the most of this blessed month.

Jazakallah Khairun, Assalamu'alaykum.

This is my second Ramadan and it feels so good to fast again. I have been reading a part of the Qu'ran each day and trying to keep myself busy throughout the day. I wish all of you the best. Ramadan Mubarak!!!

September 16th (4th day of Ramadhan):

This Ramadhan is definitely different from all others I had. My husband is doing his Omra and for the first time in ten years of marriage, we're apart. He's a very righteous and soft-hearted man. When others would react violently or excessively, he chose to be very patient with me. That was the right strategy indeed. I can be such a hard-headed woman. I'm rooting to his come back so that he sees the different woman I have become.

Bewildred

16th September - Dublin, Ireland

This is my first Ramadan and I am so happy fasting is a lot easier than i expected , elhamdulillah. Because i work full time its the tiredness that gets me more than anything since Tarawih prayers finish in the mesjid at around 11pm and it takes me an hour to get to and from the mesjid so home at midnight , then up at 4.15 for suhoor back to bed at 6 after fajr and reading Quran and up again at 8. My epilepsy which is triggered by tiredness has not made an appearance at all Elhamdulillah! I slept through suhoor and fajr last night i was just so tired and when i woke up this morning considered not fasting the day. Then i remembered all the poor starving children in this world who dont eat for days on end and I decided to stop babying myself . Sometimes i disgust myself . Well SubhanAllah i have had iftar (approx 7.45pm) today and yesterday at two other people's houses since I am a revert living with Christian friends its great to be around muslims in this month especially at Iftar. And although i can't understand arabic and Quranic passages the imam recites in Tarawih unless i know the surah, i am still feeling very peaceful and happy to be there and just to be standing in rows of people praying reminds me of the surah Saffat (Those ranged in Ranks)

"Was saffati saffan, Faz zajirati zajran, Fat tali yati dhikran, Inna ilahakum la Wahid, Rabbus samawati wal ardi wa ma baynahuma wa Rabbul mashariq"

" By those who range themselves in ranks, And so are strong in repelling evil, And thus proclaim the Message of Allah!, Verily verily your God is One!, Lord of the heavens and of the earth and all between them and Lord of every point at the rising of the sun!"


It brings a tear to my eye to see the rows of people like an army for Allah swt MashaAllah, may Allah swt forgive us all.

sunday 16th

Just spoke to some weird people who getting me angry - going to go sleep because ma head is spining round and round!!

16th Sep. 4th day in the blessed month of Ramadan.

was reciting Qur'an & completed few juz Alhamdulillah. taking time off & spending it here & just completed preparing dinner for ma fam.

Sunday Sept. 16, 4rth of Ramadhan

I still have about 5 to 6 hours left
and i have a pile of homework i have been laying off
i'm takin a break from all my work

Ma'salamah

monday 17th sept...11.55, sydney:

well..i woke up a few hours ago...i dnt feel anything at the moment...i must sincerely say that the hardest part of fasting for me is the inability to use toothpaste while brushing teeth...argggg...i hate it..im one of those, brush ur teeth after eevery meal sor of person...anyways...

there are quite a few hours left for iftar...my mother is giving a large dinner at this place for like 100ppl tonite...i need to help out...its not gna be fun watching all that food get ready...

oh..and lets hope my lil bro hangs in today...

peace.

sunday Sept. 16th 10:44PM

A crazy hectic day this was.. today we had guests (my extended family) and their children.. my niece and nephew were both fasting.. for a 7 and a 10 year old I commend them..though, they have driven me around the bend and there was positively no room to escape ..I thought about the plant pot to hide but I knew I couldn't fit in there.. Anyhow to give them some direction, I decided we should play clue.. in hopes it would get them to sit down and stop making noise.. but then my sis dropped off my two year old niece, so she could do some last minute shopping... so no board game, instead a zoo...

I got out my binoculars so we could take turns looking at boats... and that didn't go well either as each of them wanted to hog it...
The hours seemed to go rather slow and long today.. The weather was changing and I felt a little chill while reclining on the couch.. it was great.. knowing autumn is approaching ( I love cashmere wraps and could see myself sandwiched in one for a brief moment ) but I digress... eventually my sis and hubby showed up 4 minutes before break fast..I knew I was going to sit at the kiddie table.. I didn't mind.. we had salad and soup for starters which the kids loved and wanted seconds, but there were no seconds to be had.. I couldn't concentrate on food since the littlest niece was completely neglected in the process and I wanted her to have something in her tummy, All she had all day was a sippy cup of milk...we also had grape leaves... some squash in Béchamel sauce , green bean casserole.. chicken, steak and lamb... .. the soup and salad were really my favorite... my mom also made tart and this middle eastern desert called 'ata'yef' I have never been fond of it.. it is filled with nuts and fried.. I don't like fried anything, but it was a big hit with everyone else... my mom packed everything in zip lock bags to give our guests... my sister brought dates and cakes.. which is what I really wanted to have with my coffee but ended up having the home made tart instead... eventually the men left to make tarawee7 at the mosque... and I was just so glad this day came to an end.. we'll be having left overs for a week.. but I look forward to that along with some peace and quiet ...