I drafted a few essays (birthing a book, falling in love, etc.) to share with you today, but then I saw an infographic that stopped me from my regularly scheduled, stream-of-consciousness posts for the Ramadan Learning Series. This made me stop and take in each number.
What do you do with so much insidiousness? You don’t stop asking for God’s help1:
Our Lord! Shower them with perseverance, make their steps firm, and give them victory over the disbelieving people. (2: 250)
Our Lord! Grant them the good of this world and the Hereafter, and protect them from the torment of the Fire. (2: 201)
O God, conceal their faults, calm their fears, and protect them from before them and behind them, from their right and from their left, and from above them.
Here’s another verse that asks us to pause and contemplate.
Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while such [trial] has not yet come to you as came to those who passed on before you? They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken until [even their] messenger and those who believed with him said, "When is the help of Allah?" Unquestionably, the help of Allah is near. (Qur’an, 2:214)
My writer friend
has written a poem titled “To be a Gazan During Ramadan,” which is a must-read/ must-listen.Because you’re not an AI-generated bot, and you feel something, here’s where I would recommend giving to alleviate the pain and where most of my zakat is going this Ramadan: The Human Development Fund.
Welcome to the Ramadan Learning Series, which offers micro-lessons for Ramadan. Here’s what I have so far:
Pre-Read: Ramadan: A Guest That Stays a Month.
Lesson 1: A Small Intention
Lesson 2: 3 Levels of Fasting
Lesson 3: Sleep is a Gift
Lesson 4: Do Less, Not More
Lesson 5: More Gifts
Lesson 6: Five-Minute Phone Calls
Lesson 7: Who’s Your Pharaoh
Essay “What is it to believe?” that explores supplicating for the dead and dying in the middle of the night.
Making dua for the people of Gaza every day. 💔