The Mid-Ramadan slump hits hard. I’ve been itching to pick up my phone again, and shamefully, I have to admit that I got lost in the scrolling a few times and exceeded my Ramadan screen time limit.
It’s a horrible feeling, really. I’ve already gone ahead and scrolled through the same old things I’d sworn to myself not to before Ramadan. I’d promised that I wouldn’t binge on good-for-nothing ASMRs, recipe videos (dishes I never ever even cook :/) or a day in my life during Ramadan, kinda randomest #content. But despite everything, I…just slipped.
Suddenly I feel like giving up. The Shayateen are chained up, but my nafs, having had that sudden dopamine hit I’d been starving it of, is suddenly up and roaring. “You’ve already ‘ruined’ this Ramadan anyway!” it yells at me. “You promised yourself it would be ‘perfect’! Well, now you’ve gone ahead and seen all these time-wasting things already, so why stop? You’ll never be Miss Perfect – so stop pretending to be! That makes you a hypocrite!”
I stare at the screen of my phone, a completely nonsensical #reel of some ‘satisfying slime’ being looped in front of me. What…am I doing? I ask myself. My soul suddenly fights back against my nafs, screaming. WHAT AM I DOING?
I exit the reel feed, and I’m back on the explore page. A pretty picture catches my eye, and I click on it. I read the caption – this caption – and my eyes widened. This is exactly what I’ve been facing.
So, I made an intention. Let’s make it #together. Yes, I slipped up. But Ramadan is not over yet. I still have more chances to make it right. I’m human. I will slip up. I’m not perfect, and that’s okay. I will fall, but what matters is that I won’t stay and grovel in the mud. I’ll step up, wipe myself off, and keep walking. I’ll repent a hundred more times if I have to, because that’s what Allah loves.
Step by step.
I read the last paragraph of the caption, then I head to my screentime timers and reset the limits. I deleted my most useless social media apps off my phone again. Then I close the phone with a click, and head back to my next Ramadan task with a lot more peace in my heart.
Read our latest posts: Ramadan Reflections: Feeling a Sense of Gratitude, Ramadan Reflections: One. Ummah. One Body. Ramadan Reflections: The Reality of Life
