O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted. (Qur’an Al Hujurat 49:13)   —May 20th, 2019; 03.56 pm, raining—   One-third of Ramadan has passed; today is already the 15th day as I am writing this post, it means we only have two weeks left before the month of Shawal.   I just had a suhoor a few minutes ago and stopped eating as Fajr prayer started around 03.32 a.m.   I didn’t eat that much this time, I just had some cashew nuts baklava that I bought from Itaewon earlier today and a few sips of water. I am still feeling very full after eating iftar at my friend’s house. My friend is a Korean-Muslim who converted to Islam from Christianity about two years ago, she called herself a ‘baby Muslim’ because it’s only her second Ramadan experience. We met last year in Busan Al-Fatah Mosque, now that I moved to Seoul she invited me to have iftar in her house.   Eonni: Sister assalamu alaykum, can you come this evening for iftar today?^^ Because we want to have iftar together in our house today~~>,<Me: Wa’alaykumsalam~ InshaAllah I can come…Eonni: … Today we have two Muslim university students coming and I remember you~>,< I went to Itaewon wearing a long black dress/abaya, a light blue jeans jacket, and a dusty pink pashmina after changing the color of my hijab a few times. It was raining the whole day so I brought an umbrella (my roommate’s because I couldn’t find mine until now) and walked pretty slowly because it was slippery. I arrived at 6.40 p.m and met my friend from Egypt, Amira, who came along the way from Ansan to Seoul only to break her fast and spend Ramadan vibes together.  I was shocked when I saw her also wearing a black dress and light pink hijab, I was laughing so hard as it was unintended and coincidental. Then we went together from Itaewon station exit 3 to buy some cookies and snacks from a halal Kervan Turkish bakery, we bought some baklava and some other Turkish snacks that I don’t know what the names are for gifts since they must have prepared a lot of foods (tHEY REALLY DID I AM STILL IN FOOD COMA) It was narrated that Zayd ibn Khaalid al-Juhani said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever gives iftaar to one who is fasting will have a reward like his, without that detracting from the reward of the fasting person in the slightest.”  We arrived at her house around 7.15 p.m after walking for 20 minutes only to find out that another friend of us wearing the same black dress and pink hijab! HHAHAH it was so funny (and embarrassing) because now we looked like a group of choir lolllll. She, my eonni, didn’t know that we knew each other before but we came wearing the same dress code although it wasn’t planned at all. In the table, three of her kids were eating while she was holding her fourth baby, they were all so cute and I love babies :p Anyway, there were also two more guys sitting in the dining room, one of them is her husband and the other one is a university student like us. My eonni is Korean and she married an Algerian, they really are a beautiful family! So now we have Egyptians, Koreans, Algerians, and me, the only Indonesian there. My friend’s husband or I refer him as samchon 삼촌, which means uncle in Korean, started to introduce himself and talked about Islam and the Muslim community in Korea, sharing and giving, and encourage us to build a strong community. He also talked about how he met his wife and discussed Islam further with love and compassion as we waited for the adhan Maghrib to break our fast. Suddenly uncle said, “…there are two things that are the happiest for a Muslim while fasting…”and I continued the verse, “…it is when he breaks his fast and when he meets his Lord“He smiled, “You’re right, thank you.““MashaAllah, may Allah give you barakah.“ The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “He who fasts has two joys: a joy when he breaks his fast and a joy when he meets his Lord.” We broke our fast at 7.40 p.m with Algerian dates (kurma), it was big and soft but less sweet compared with other types of dates. It’s my first time to eat it and I love it! I always love dates tho. For starter, they served us Harira soup which has a lot of herbs, something-very-signature-from-Algeria that I forgot the name-ugh sorry, and tomato juice.  Anyway, that something-very-signature-from-Algeria is like small thin pebbles made from dough. The old women or mothers in Algeria (or his family) always saying dhikr Allah or adhkar while shaping every single thing so we believe there’s so much barakah in it. Insha’Allah.  After that, we prayed Maghrib prayer together in jama’ah (congregational prayer) before continuing the talk and eating.  Alhamdulillah. We finished Maghrib prayer and started eating dinner together, they have prepared so much that whenever we finished one dish, they will give us more! I am so grateful, alhamdulillah, may Allah give them abundant blessings, barakah, and hidayah throughout their entire lives. Aameen.  They have such a beautiful family with knowledge, sincerity, compassion, and love. We couldn’t stop talking as we engaged ourselves with lively and deep conversations. One of the guy from Algeria is also in the same major as I am, International Studies—just different university although it is just 15 minutes from mine—so we found ourselves talked about the world’s politics, Islam, economics, issues facing our ummah today, until the Rothschild family, the nature of both genders in science and Islamic perspectives to polygamy even hahahahahhah. It was so beautiful and engaging because whenever we talked about certain topics we never forget to relate it with Qur’an and Hadith of Prophet Muhammad SAW, laa hawla wa laa quwwata ilaa billah. I always love it so much talking about deeper things rather than shallow ones with people who share the same values as I am, although sometimes we might have different opinions we will go back to the Qur’an and learn to understand it from the perspective of Islam. We don’t need to backbite or disrespect other people to have a wonderful conversation and create deeper bonds with each other. I respect them a lot. Once again, I am so grateful that Allah blessed me with beautiful and warm people that I can rely on like a family; I love how they treated me like their own children, and they told to me that “we are one family.” as we exchanged prayer for each other. I am so grateful that Allah put me in a situation to be around the righteous people who love knowledge; to learn the meaning love beyond the mediocre and shallow understanding; to get to know each other despite our differences and backgrounds. And in the end, I’ve always believed and convinced that Islam unites us together only if we allow ourselves to take heed and reflection of the verses of Allah and the saying of Prophet Muhammad with sincerity and pure intentions. May Allah protect us. So, how is your Ramadan so far? Let’s strive to build a relationship with Qur’an even if it’s as small as reading on ayah/verse or listening to the recitation every day. Have a blessed Ramadan!May Allah accept our good deeds and burns our past sins. Aameen. Love, Aurora     —Glossary Iftar (or Fatoor) (Arabic: إفطار‎ ʾifṭār ‘breakfast’) is the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset. Adhkar/dhikrullah (also spelled Zikrullah) (Arabic: ذكر الله ) is an Arabic given name built on the words Dhikr and Allah, meaning Remembrance of Allah.Hidayah is an Arabic word meaning “guidance”. According to Islamic belief, guidance has been provided by Allah to humans primarily in the form of the Qur’ an.Salat al-jama’ah (Congregational Prayer) or prayer in congregation (jama’ah) is considered to have more social and spiritual benefit than praying by oneself.