| Nuri Sufri |
NUR Faizah binti Abdullah Crane is spending her first Ramadhan as a newly-converted Muslim in Brunei Darussalam, and shared her aspirations for the holy month with the Bulletin last Monday.
Having lived in the country since 2007 when her father took up a job with Royal Brunei Airlines, she took the path of Islam in April this year. Only two months into Islam, Nur Faizah had been anticipating and preparing herself for the fasting month, which is one of the obligatory pillars of the Islamic faith.
“Seeing that this will be my first ever Ramadhan as a Muslimah, I have been mentally preparing myself by reading and watching Islamic materials that can help inspire me. I think that the main aim of this month is to improve our relationship with Allah the Almighty,” she said.
“I hope that I will be able to wake up for Fajr (dawn) every morning, and stay up to read a few more verses of the Al-Quran. I want to see how much of the Al-Quran I will be able to read during Ramadhan. Not only to read it, but to also understand it.
“I think it is important for Muslims to understand what they are reading about, including the Hadiths. This month is really about purification and strengthening our understanding of Islam and our connection with Allah the Almighty.
Nur Faizah binti Abdullah Crane – AZIZ IDRIS
“As a new convert, Ramadhan is going to be a magical experience for me. I have already made plans with my best friend to try to finish reading the Al-Quran and join others in Tarawikh at different mosques,” she said.
Nur Faizah claimed that her best friend had been a huge source of inspiration, during her journey into Islam, “Being able to help each other becoming a better Muslim, especially with someone you hold dear to your heart is going to be amazing.”
As the only Muslim in her family, she does not think that her fasting schedule will be affected by her family’s daily activities, such as breakfast and lunch. “As Muslims, this is our test. We should be able to suppress our cravings and we must respect other people as well. It is quite contradictory if we cannot handle one of the five pillars of Islam.
“Another point of Ramadhan is to step inside the shoes of the less fortunate; the ones who do not have the food or shelter over their heads. We are supposed to better ourselves and our dean for the sake of Allah the Almighty,” she said, adding that “Ramadhan prepares us to be better people for the whole year.”
In preparation for this holy month, “I fasted on the 13, 14 and 15th days of last month. I managed to complete my Sunnah fast last week. I found it exhilarating because there is nothing that can get in the way of being faithful to Allah the Almighty and ourselves,” she said.
Nur Faizah is also inspired by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)’s instructions concerning food and drink: “We should only eat to sustain ourselves, and refrain from excessive eating.”
“Although we will be fasting this month, we should all practise this guideline in eating and drinking. We need to think about what we put into our bodies, whether it is healthy for us or not. Food might taste nice for a few minutes, but we know what the effects are in eating fatty, oily, overly sweet and overly salty foods,” she said. “We need to take care of our bodies. They are only ones we’ve got.”
“I wish a very blessed Ramadhan to both Muslims and non-Muslims,” she said, concluding the interview.
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