Every year numerous articles are written about this month.
Everyone talks about it for a couple of days but, after that, many people need reminding about what this month means for them.
Ramadan is not about me typing an article, or about me going to a lecture, or about visiting relatives or even sitting and praying in the mosque.
It is about my regret for the things that I have done through the years that I have lived; it is about me seeking help, not forgiveness alone.
Life is so easy yet so complicated that we can never understand it. The question we should ask ourselves is: do we understand our own souls to begin with?
We can have a lot of arguments every day about everything. We can win challenges, exams and even wars, but how many of those who won all of these was able to win their soul, understand it or even have a peace agreement with it.
We laugh, cry, fight, forgive, trick and lie for the sake of our challenges, while we might face a civil war with our own souls.
The Arabs considered Muharram a month where all fighting ceases. I am not sure if what I am about to say could be considered a heretic thought - I don't mean it to be - but I would consider Ramadan to be Muharram to our souls.
We all know we are the ones who need Allah while he has no need for us. Allah would be glad if a person seeks forgiveness, but it is us who seek it.
I always make a peace agreement with myself and soul when it comes to Ramadan.
It is not an easy task when you cannot simply pause all your life for a month.
But I wonder how others can live in this time filled with opportunity and enjoy watching a drama or chatting all night with other humans instead of invocation to Allah the merciful.
Every Ramadan I realise that I could have done more, not less. I am not perfect, but I try to do my best as much as possible … and I feel sad whenever I see someone wasting his Ramadan.
I might do that too, sometimes - and if I do, it will be your task to remind me of my mistake.
Sami Husain Al Marzouqi
