Read for Relief

Dear Reader, We look forward to Ramadan because it is a time for reset, for resolve, and for endurance. We know that it is a time for shedding ruinous habits and for forging new patterns of behaviour that will be beneficial for our lives and bring us closer to Allah and his Prophet ﷺ. Perhaps as Muslims, our resolutions to be better versions of ourselves should be on the first of Ramadan, rather than the first of January.

Ramadan’s capacity to bring about renewal is not lost even on Singapore’s Health Promotion Board (HPB) which in 2018 launched the Ramadan I Quit campaign specifically targeting Muslim smokers. HPB must have realised that their existing 28-day I Quit programme for smoking cessation dovetails nicely with the month-long fast. Although I am not privy to any of HPB’s statistical data, I assume the numbers are good because in 2021, HPB widened the Ramadan campaign to include reducing sugar intake in the community for the fasting month and beyond, thus tackling the two major healthcare issues in Singapore: cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Beyond physical health, we should also pay attention to the health of the heart and the mind; and there are many exhortations to this effect in the sunna of the Prophet ﷺ. For this holistic renewal, we turn to the Quran, for Ramadan is after all, the month of the Quran.

So as the sun sets this evening and we make ready to perform the first tarawih prayers of the year, we make all the noble intentions we can, whether it be for our physical or metaphysical wellbeing, and we realise these intentions by the recitation and contemplation of the Holy Quran, and earnest supplication to Allah.

For Wardah Books, our resolution is to donate a percentage of our sales proceeds in Ramadan this year to providing aid to the dire food crisis in Gaza. According to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, “four out of five of the hungriest people anywhere in the world are in Gaza”. Our contribution will be channeled via Mercy Relief’s Hope for Gaza, West Bank, and Palestine Refugees Fund. You can make direct contributions to the Mercy Relief fund. The fund's focus is to provide essential ready-made food packs and hygiene kits to people in Gaza, as well as hot meals to displaced individuals in the Rafah Refugee Camps.

And Allah’s support is always near.