My the first Ramadan

[sister herb]

Salam alaykum sisters and brothers, may this time be blessed to you. My special salams to those whose this Ramadan is the most special as its their the first one.

My the first Ramadan was 20 years ago. I had just found this wonderfull path of the life called Islam few months before. It was a long road to me as I lived in small town without any connections to muslim communities and also it was time before internet and all of information and connections it gives to us. I found all my information from reading books and amount of them was limited too.

Anyways; I read and read some years and finally I found out what Islam means and I wanted become part of the Islamic family - the Ummah.

I bet my the first Ramadan was quite similar like every others - a lot of questions what I should or should not to do, when to start fasting, when to end, how to pray, when to pray, what is the right direction (qibla) and so on. Problem was, I hadn´t anyone to ask advice. I, like everyone at the beginning, was unsure. What if I make everything wrong? Does it means I am totally bad muslim and never become any better and Allah never forgives me?

Fortunate, I read the Quran and found something what gave peace to my mind:

Only the acceptance of repentance by Allah (is) for those who do the evil in ignorance, then they repent soon after. Then those will have forgiveness (from) Allah upon them, and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. (4:17)

As I understood; it´s not a sin if I make mistake in ignorance. But I need to repent when I get more knowledge and understand my mistake. That was a big relief to me. You know, when you are new in any matter, you realise you have a huge amount of things to learn and to remember. Learn to be mercy to yourself, my new sister or brother. You don´t need to be perfect at the first moment. Islam is a life-long journey and we all have more things to learn than we have life-time to seek knowledge and understanding - even if we would live 1000 years.

To all my muslim sisters and brothers I wish blessed month of Ramadan and special salams to those whose this one is the special - the first one.

your sister in Islam, sister herb

[BeTheChange]

Walaikumasalaam sis,

Your post made me smile.

I can imagine it must be very difficult for individuals who live in remote areas with no access to internet, or even back in the days when internet wasn't readily available.

Alhamdulilah for internet and Islamic forums which allow people to spread the message of Islam.

May Allah protect you from harm Ameen.