COVERED Edition 3 Ramadaan & Eid Special | Page 38

Internal Mirror
By: Aisha on behalf of Lead-In Lady
R amadaan is not associated with the mere
robotic act of abstaining from food and drink
but it is a time of worship, a time to foster a
sense of unity with the wider community, a time
to appreciate the ‘everyday’ blessings, and a
time to sincerely introspect. For the majority of
the ummah; it is our favourite time of year and
many could attest to witnessing what could be
described as an “other-worldly” sense of peace
which encompasses the earth the moment that
the moon is sighted.
It is normal, however, for relapses to occur at
the close of the month wherein some of us
revert to our usual temperaments and we
simply forget about the commitments that we
made during the month to the Qur’aan, to our
Deen, to our fellow human beings, and to
ourselves. The focus herein rests on
establishing healthy personality changes which
can be maintained even after the month of
Ramadaan so as to ensure personal growth.
It is accepted that a solution can only be found
when a problem has been identified and
understood. The practice of reflection,
therefore, is central to finding what we would
like to change in our lives, what can be
changed, how it can be changed, why it should
be changed, and how to maintain the change.
Often; we make a list of habits that we would
like to change and we enter full-force into
implementing the change of all the habits
concurrently with the effect of abandoning
some or all of our efforts because it was
unsustainable.
In the spirit of Ramadaan Lead-in
Lady is offering a free session on
‘Reflection’ to the first reader who
sends a DM on Instagram:
lead_in_lady
Reflection, however, annihilates this relapse
because it creates tangible goals that have
been understood and which can be tracked.
For example; and I choose this example
because it is something prevalent affecting our
Muslim community in Johannesburg, if a
person wishes to eliminate the habit of
harboring competitive behavior associated
with pride and jealousy then the person would
need to understand the concepts of pride,
jealousy, and competitive behavior fully. There
would need to be a noting of whether it can be
changed (yes, behavioural issues can be
resolved if not alone then with professional
support) and then the ways in which the
behaviour can be changed would need to be
explored such as stopping the time spent
stalking other people’s social media accounts
so as to cease to mimic their latest buys and
outings. Thereafter; the reason why the
behavior needs to be changed would need to
be understood so the individual would need to
accept that our Deen forbids the behavior and
that the behavior actually infringes upon
individuality because in trying to compete with
and ‘copy’ people you lose your sense of self.
Finally, the way forward needs to be mapped,
so for example, the individual could focus on
performing tasks that she finds pleasing such
as painting or gardening to ensure that her
attention is diverted to other areas
perpetually. In this way a commitment to
eliminating a habit was not just acknowledged
and emphasized for a few days; but it was
understood which will automatically allow the
individual to focus on disengaging from the
damaging behavior for the long-term.
Ramadaan is a wonderful opportunity to
become a better human being and the power
of reflection is something to consider. Lead-in
Lady wishes everyone a joyous and fulfilling
Ramadaan and Eid. Lead-In Lady wishes further
to extend love and warmth to those individuals
who are spending Ramadaan alone, for the
first time without a loved one, or who are
away from their homes. May Allah Accept our
efforts, grant us inner peace, make us of
benefit to the Ummah, and Grant us the
Highest Stages of Jannah. Aameen.
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