{"id":2764,"date":"2016-06-03T15:26:38","date_gmt":"2016-06-03T19:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/?p=2764"},"modified":"2016-06-03T10:23:06","modified_gmt":"2016-06-03T14:23:06","slug":"ramadan-reading-roundup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/06\/ramadan-reading-roundup.html","title":{"rendered":"Ramadan Reading Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As Ramadan approaches, few Muslims will genuinely welcome it. The vast majority of practicing Muslims view Ramadan&#8217;s impending arrival solely through the lens of fasting, and the logistics thereof. What will I eat for suhur? How will I stay awake at work? How will I focus? Will I have enough energy to get Things Done? Can I beat traffic to get to the mosque for iftar? How much sleep will I get? What time should I wake up? Do I have time to go back to sleep after suhur? What do I do about my workout? and so on. This is all perfectly natural and doesn&#8217;t detract from the spirituality of Ramadan; if anything it is part of the ibadat in a sense, because it boils down to one question: how do I enable my fasting? <\/p>\n<p>That mental battle is tiring, though, and it sucks to be sapped of enthusiasm for Ramadan&#8217;s reflective nature because of the stress about how fasting will impact our lives. Which is why I like to read about Ramadan, especially the things I&#8217;ve written during Ramadans past, when I&#8217;d already surmounted the initial logistical obstacle and was closer to the spiritual communion  aspect. Here&#8217;s a roundup of links from this blog that is useful to me for this purpose, and I hope they are equally useful to others. I&#8217;d love to see similar roundups from other Muslim bloggers too, and I&#8217;ll link to them accordingly. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2012\/07\/preparing-for-ramadan.html\">Preparing for Ramadan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/08\/receiving-ramadan-the-esteemed.html\">Receiving Ramadan, the esteemed guest<\/a> (by Taha Raja)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2015\/07\/ibadat-in-ramadan-process-as-piety.html\">ibadat in Ramadan &#8211; process as piety<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2014\/07\/the-criterion-reading-the-quran-is-the-foundation-of-ibadat-in-ramadan.html\">The Criterion: reading the Qur\u2019an is the foundation of ibadat in Ramadan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2011\/08\/ramadan-the-month-of-jihad.html\">Ramadan: the month of Jihad<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2011\/08\/the-paradox-of-time-in-ramadan.html\">the paradox of time in Ramadan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2011\/08\/fast-pray-cook-ramadan-in-the-kitchen.html\">Fast, Pray, Cook: Ramadan in the Kitchen<\/a> (by G. Willow Wilson)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/08\/rendezvous-with-ramadan.html\">Rendezvous with Ramadan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/08\/be-thankful-this-ramadan.html\">Be thankful this Ramadan<\/a> (by Taha Raja)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/08\/sleepwalking-through-ramadan.html\">sleepwalking through Ramadan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2011\/08\/3-stages-of-30-days-my-journey-through-ramadhan.html\">3 Stages of 30 Days \u2013 My Journey Through Ramadhan<\/a> (by Taha Raja)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2013\/08\/ramadan-wanes-the-final-countdown.html\">Ramadan wanes: The Final Countdown<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2011\/08\/ramadan-realities.html\">Ramadan realities<\/a> (by Hesham Hassaballa)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2013\/07\/ramadan-as-a-meditation-on-nothingness.html\">Ramadan as a meditation on nothingness (essence vs existence)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2012\/08\/running-to-stand-still.html\">Running To Stand Still<\/a> (by Aamer Jamali)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2011\/08\/memories-of-a-friends-college-ramadan.html\">Memories of a (friend\u2019s) college Ramadan<\/a> (by Araven)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2011\/08\/a-lifetime-between-one-adhaan-and-one-salaat.html\">a lifetime between one adhaan and one salaat<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2012\/07\/my-plans-and-allahs-plans.html\">my plans and Allah\u2019s plans<\/a> (by Taher Suratwala)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2008\/09\/a-burkean-view-of-ramadan.html\">a Burkean view of Ramadan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2011\/08\/zakat-in-god-we-trust.html\">Zakat \u2013 in God we Trust<\/a> (by Aamer Jamali)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Well, that turned out to be longer than I expected! I am grateful to all my guest bloggers over the years, who have helped me build such a trove of reflection and inspiration as above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Ramadan approaches, few Muslims will genuinely welcome it. The vast majority of practicing Muslims view Ramadan&#8217;s impending arrival solely through the lens of fasting, and the logistics thereof. What will I eat for suhur? How will I stay awake at work? How will I focus? Will I have enough energy to get Things Done?&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[24,46],"class_list":["post-2764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-pillars-of-faith","tag-islam","tag-ramadan"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ramadan Reading Roundup - City of Brass<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ramadan Reading Roundup - City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As Ramadan approaches, few Muslims will genuinely welcome it. The vast majority of practicing Muslims view Ramadan&#8217;s impending arrival solely through the lens of fasting, and the logistics thereof. What will I eat for suhur? How will I stay awake at work? How will I focus? Will I have enough energy to get Things Done?&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/06\/ramadan-reading-roundup.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-03T19:26:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-06-03T14:23:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Aziz Poonawalla\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ramadan Reading Roundup - City of Brass","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ramadan Reading Roundup - City of Brass","og_description":"As Ramadan approaches, few Muslims will genuinely welcome it. The vast majority of practicing Muslims view Ramadan&#8217;s impending arrival solely through the lens of fasting, and the logistics thereof. What will I eat for suhur? How will I stay awake at work? How will I focus? Will I have enough energy to get Things Done?&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/06\/ramadan-reading-roundup.html","og_site_name":"City of Brass","article_published_time":"2016-06-03T19:26:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-06-03T14:23:06+00:00","author":"Aziz Poonawalla","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/06\/ramadan-reading-roundup.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/06\/ramadan-reading-roundup.html","name":"Ramadan Reading Roundup - City of Brass","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-06-03T19:26:38+00:00","dateModified":"2016-06-03T14:23:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/87dfd5533a0222456bb5ad6eaf152fbb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/06\/ramadan-reading-roundup.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/06\/ramadan-reading-roundup.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/06\/ramadan-reading-roundup.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ramadan Reading Roundup"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/","name":"City of Brass","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Aziz Poonawalla","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/87dfd5533a0222456bb5ad6eaf152fbb","name":"Aziz Poonawalla","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a95\/a95f814e7f2984c887f3b03aed357433x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a95\/a95f814e7f2984c887f3b03aed357433x96.jpg","caption":"Aziz Poonawalla"},"description":"Aziz Poonawalla is a member of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, and currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. City of Brass is his weblog, which was founded in 2002 under the name UNMEDIA. He is a co-founder of the annual Brass Crescent Awards. The name City of Brass refers to the Story of the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights, and the poem by Rudyard Kipling of the same name: Here was a people whom, after their works, thou shalt see wept over for their lost dominion; And in this palace is the last information respecting lords collected in the dust. -- Thousand and One Nights, Story of the City of Brass IN A land that the sand overlays, the ways to her gates are untrod, A multitude ended their days whose fates were made splendid by God, Till they grew drunk and were smitten with madness and went to their fall, And of these is a story written: but Allah Alone knoweth all! -- Rudyard Kipling, The City of Brass (1909)"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2764"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2777,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2764\/revisions\/2777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}