{"id":484,"date":"2009-09-19T07:08:03","date_gmt":"2009-09-19T07:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/cityofbrass\/2009\/09\/the-final-fast-of-ramadan.html"},"modified":"2009-09-19T07:08:03","modified_gmt":"2009-09-19T07:08:03","slug":"the-final-fast-of-ramadan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/09\/the-final-fast-of-ramadan.html","title":{"rendered":"the final fast of Ramadan"},"content":{"rendered":"

???? ?????? ?? ??? ?????!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Today is the final fast of Ramadan. Unlike last year<\/a>, it looks like almost everyone will be celebrating Eid al Fitr together on Sunday, a happy convergence of the Ummah. But talking about Eid is premature; it’s still Ramadan for one more day, and we have to make the most of it. That the last day happens to fall on a Saturday is quite an opportunity to really focus on ibadat<\/em>, prayer and Qur’an.<\/p>\n

It’s always a bittersweet moment to realize that Ramadan is done (Rama-done?). On there’s a palpable sense of relief, just one more fast to go. On the other, there’s almost a sense of panic as we realize just how little ibadat<\/em> we actually did, relative to our grandiose ambitions and promises at the outset. It’s not possible to cram a full month’s worth of prayer into this last day, but many of us will try anyway. Given that oppressed muslims in China are forbidden to fast<\/a>, and many muslims right here in the West are unable to do so for various physical reasons or illnesses<\/a>, those of us who did manage to observe the fast should have more humility and appreciation of being able to partake in the blessing and opportunity for spiritual cleansing that Ramadan provides, but the sad truth is that most of us are more concerned with the upcoming feast and counting down the final hours. I pray that I have the will and the strength to treat these final hours of Ramadan with the respect and gratitude that it deserves.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the best way we can ensure we make the most of Ramadan, is to keep trying after Ramadan ends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

???? ?????? ?? ??? ?????! Today is the final fast of Ramadan. Unlike last year, it looks like almost everyone will be celebrating Eid al Fitr together on Sunday, a happy convergence of the Ummah. But talking about Eid is premature; it’s still Ramadan for one more day, and we have to make the most…<\/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":[99,45,24,25,46],"class_list":["post-484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-pillars-of-faith","tag-eid","tag-fasting","tag-islam","tag-news","tag-ramadan"],"yoast_head":"\nthe final fast of Ramadan - 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=\"the final fast of Ramadan - City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"???? ?????? ?? ??? ?????! Today is the final fast of Ramadan. Unlike last year, it looks like almost everyone will be celebrating Eid al Fitr together on Sunday, a happy convergence of the Ummah. But talking about Eid is premature; it’s still Ramadan for one more day, and we have to make the most…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/09\/the-final-fast-of-ramadan.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-09-19T07:08:03+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":"the final fast of Ramadan - City of Brass","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"the final fast of Ramadan - City of Brass","og_description":"???? ?????? ?? ??? ?????! Today is the final fast of Ramadan. Unlike last year, it looks like almost everyone will be celebrating Eid al Fitr together on Sunday, a happy convergence of the Ummah. But talking about Eid is premature; it’s still Ramadan for one more day, and we have to make the most…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/09\/the-final-fast-of-ramadan.html","og_site_name":"City of Brass","article_published_time":"2009-09-19T07:08:03+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\/2009\/09\/the-final-fast-of-ramadan.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/09\/the-final-fast-of-ramadan.html","name":"the final fast of Ramadan - City of Brass","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-09-19T07:08:03+00:00","dateModified":"2009-09-19T07:08:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/87dfd5533a0222456bb5ad6eaf152fbb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/09\/the-final-fast-of-ramadan.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/09\/the-final-fast-of-ramadan.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/09\/the-final-fast-of-ramadan.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"the final fast of Ramadan"}]},{"@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\/484","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=484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}