The 80th Ramadan.

 Tues, March 12, 2024.

The "80th" is mine.

Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) came 15 centuries ago.

This is my 80th year in this world. Today is the first day of Ramadan in the 1445 Hijriah.

But my first solat terawih, last night, was performed at home, not in the nearby surau or mosques. As ill-luck would have it, it was again the scooter that spoiled the plan. Just like last Ramadan.

The last time it was towards the end of the fasting month. I slipped 200 m. from the house going for my Subuh prayers.

This time it was half-way to the State Mosque for the first terawih. I slipped on the turn in front of the Tuan Said burial ground. And like before, I decided to abort that night's mosque plan. In fact there were just scratches on my right knee and right hand, with a little dried blood only on the knuckle of the right hand. But the shirt was soiled, and I wanted to tend to whatever injuries I might discover on closer examination back home.

So this morning I decided to change venue to my old Sg. Landak mosque. It's only 200 m. away. My right hand is swollen, and I can't handle the scooter. Taking the old car to the State Mosque is out of the question, because of the horrific parking woes.

Md.Noh Jidin knows why I went to the State Mosque these last few years. I met him at the Sg. Landak mosque this morning, and he inquired about not meeting me there. I said, without telling him of my accident, this year I'm changing venue. You see, the air-conditioned State Mosque is comfortable. Especially for the extended Ramadan prayers. Sungai Landak had struggled with the idea of better cooling for the congregation for years. Ever larger and larger fans have been installed, including the giants that took up the entire ceiling, but it was always the warm air being circulated, the breeze giving a sense of coolness. 

The last two years (yup, years !) the Sg. Landak mosque had been stuck with the operational problems for the finally installed air-conditioning system. When I met Md. Noh this morning, I didn't know the latest development on the a/c plight of the mosque. But I had braced myself for this year's non-a/c terawih. So it was a fan-cooled subuh prayers. But being subuh, it wasn't bad.

What a surprise when I came for my zohor prayers just now. The long-installed a/c was functioning!  At long last !

As I was leaving the mosque, I saw one of the crew that was still going over the a/c system's operations, and asked what had delayed things. He was eager to share the explanation. I concluded, and I told him, obviously the administrative jumble-up overwhelmed the technical issues. I didn't offer to elaborate. We both said "Thank God, everything's ok now".

I passed my comments to Md. Noh. He didn't answer my call. I wanted to gloat. I chose a venue change. In fact it has been a good decision.

....................................................................................................