Cerita ceriti puasa

After spending 3 Ramadhan as a student, Ramadhan at work is kind of 'new' again.
I know, I've been through it before.
But those days, I was still single; not married with three kids like I am today.
There was no real sense of urgency for me to get home before break of fast, and I was pretty much used to breaking fast in the car, on the way back home.
Alhamdulillah home is now just 10 - 20 minutes away from office (depending on traffic flow), and I have a trusty helper at home too.

Anyway, the good thing about fasting in the office is that I get to join a tadarus group. When I was in Tokyo, hubby checked on my Quran reading every once in a while. We could not commit ourselves to being consistent in it. Very unlike the small group that we have in the office - not only we checked each other's reading, we also share the translation of the ayat that we read. I can't say whether or not the group will continue having this tadarus group after Ramadhan ends, but I really appreciate it while it lasts...

The other good thing about fasting in a Malaysian government office is that we get to attend lots of "Ihya Ramadhan" programs. Talks/Forums are scheduled on almost all working days through out the month. Yusri, a colleague who has just returned from Paris, is keen on asking me to join him attending those talks/forums. Which is of course, something that we've both missed during our stay abroad. It was not so bad for me because once in a while, some group of Malaysian/Indonesian students would congregate at Asakusa mosque for "Semarak Ramadhan" program, but Yusri rarely had the chance of attending an "Ihya Ramadhan" program while he was in France. So yes, being given the opportunity, the rezq to attend "the meadows of Paradise"* in the office is something that we are really thankful for, alhamdulillah.

The not-so-great thing about spending Ramadhan in the office is that we have to communicate with others. Things might get heated up, things might go wrong and in the middle of it there is bound to be some resentment, dissatisfaction, anger, frustration etc. It is not easy to deal with all these negativity while one is fasting and wants to remain calm so as not to cause "decreased points" in fasting but at times, well, it happened anyway.

Oh, by the by, hubby had been invited to be the Imam for solat Terawih in a make-shift surau at Presint 14C2. Funny to note that after having used to lead the solat in a mosque in Tokyo, now that we're back, hubby is leading solat in a make-shift surau (2 20ft x 20ft tents) in Malaysia.
Siapa sangka, kan?

Note *
In reference of the hadith, which loosely translated as
“When you pass by the meadows of Paradise indulge freely in it!
They said: O Messenger of Allah! What are the meadows of Paradise?
He said: The circles of 'ilm (knowledge)”
Another related hadith would be,
"He who treads the path in search of 'ilm (knowledge), Allah will make easy for him a path to Paradise"