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praises of the Divine.

We had all entered Ramadan anxious at how we would do. Would we be able to break free from our daily routines and mundane thoughts to rise to a higher level of existence? Could we lose a bad habit in Ramadan? Could we accustom ourselves to eating and drinking mindfully and with immense gratitude? Could we bear those hunger pangs with patience and keep our good humor in the process? Could we be consistently kind, charitable and prayerful? Could we really attain that nearness to Allah that is most coveted in Ramadan? Could the mercy of Allah be ours to shelter and sustain us for the entire year? Eid was the day of answers, of results, and judging from the faces in that mosque and by the charged atmosphere we all did pretty well.

One of the chief signs of the rahmah or blessing of Allah is the peace, contentment, love and joy that warm the heart and soul, like a delicious happy secret that the soul has and wants to savor alone and yet is impossible not to share with others. We were One at that time. We experienced the Oneness of our Creator and we felt united with our fellow human beings. There were no Shia's or Sunni's that day. We prayed shoulder to shoulder and the yearnings of our heart were the same. The sermon was filled with the good news that we all wanted to hear. As we stood up to greet each other and say "Eid Mubarak" (Have a blessed Eid) we were all family. Black and white, brown and pink all embraced with love, just as we had embraced our differences and embraced our oneness. I remember thinking that even though I didn't know everyone here, they seemed like family and this felt like home.

Learn more about this author, Zainib Ahmad.
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