the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan is now in full swing. For recently arrived non-Muslim foreigners in Indonesia, it may be something of a culture shock. However, many expatriates find the holy month embrace in various degrees. Some expats in the end even convert to Islam before marrying an Indonesian and observe Ramadhan seriously
Ramadan this year started on 29 June and ends on 28 July include the first two weeks with two major events took place , The FIFA World Cup, which ended on July 13, and July 9 presidential election, the uncertain outcome of which caused no small amount of voltage. It can be a blessing that people will still be fasting when the official election results on July 22 is announced as the real losers defeat with grace and humility, should instead accept with anger that could lead to conflict.
The purpose of Ramadan is to purify the soul, mind and body. It is to develop self-discipline, so that the body can resist bad habits and sinful desires. The idea is to act with respect and compassion, ever closer to help to God and the needy
Every morning the holy month begins with sahur -. The pre-dawn meal. In many neighborhoods there are alarms, either drums with wheels about children, people clinking metal pipes on fences or from mosque loudspeakers - and sometimes from all three
Some people have half a dozen mosques. their neighborhood, all with a different time for sahur announcement that seems from 02:20 to reach 03:40, so if you are the first through sleep can stand for the second. This month loud applause from spectators televised World Cup matches also awaken sleeping.
Inner Peace
PR, a British civil engineer based in Jakarta, has Ramadhan observing for many years and says that there is a sense of accomplishment and inner peace at the end of each day of fasting. Nevertheless, he says that fasting is not easy. "If I'm at home or in Jakarta, and not on a long journey to a remote village, I will fast. The night before, I prepare a meal with some protein to keep me going through the day. Setting my alarm for 3:30, I get up and eat before the hour of fasting, and then say the morning prayer. then I'm still trying to get a few hours sleep, before they leave the office for a normal day. "
as its workload is not too heavy, he tries to leave his office at about 16.00, so he can come home to, to break the evening prayer quickly after Maghrib. "Otherwise I break the fast with my office staff at around 18.00."
PR says that it is difficult to observe the fast when he is in London, especially in summer when the sun is not set to 22.30. He says one of the simplest pleasures of Ramadan in Indonesia is to break the fast with his wife. "Just a simple cup of tea with an Indonesian sweet give us our energy back. The fasting month is a time to think, to back basis, and it makes you realize the important things you need in life."
the fasting month is to be the holiday period of Idul Fitri on, in the urban residents traveling traditionally in their homes with their extended families.
PR, he says, as a rule to East Java on Idul Fitri travels the village of his wife to visit parents. He says the Eid Morning Prayer is held in a field in the village, with a volcano as a dramatic backdrop. "Here, I can take all the boys in the village, and it is a religious, but a festive atmosphere."
The annual family reunion is a valued tradition. "Everyone in high spirits, but it is a difficult time, when everyone asks forgiveness from her parents and siblings, and vice versa, made for errors in the last year," says PR.
"Then on the second day of Eid, it's time for the neighbors to visit, and all kinds of traditional snacks in each house prepared to receive people falling in. This Indonesian traditions are really something else that we no experience in the west these days. "
commercialization
as some western Christians weep for the commercialization of Christmas and Easter, to do so, some Muslims the feeling that big business is drowning out the importance of Ramadhan. Rizqi, an office worker in Jakarta, originally known in the Central Java town of Pekalongan, for his many Islamic boarding schools. He raised Ramadan as a time for increased prayer to be closer to see God. "My first two years in Jakarta showed me another side of Ramadhan;. That the month discounts and sales ... During Ramadhan is held at mosques swarms, people are swarming to shopping malls"
Rizqi says Ramadan in Jakarta also a time is "excessive social gatherings", especially around breaking the fast, which is known as buber ( berbuka Puasa ) or Iftar in Arabic. He says it's not uncommon to receive an invitation to a fast-breaking event almost every night.
"You may also be invited to post Buber activities. Unfortunately, the one I visited to be far from religious. These included karaoke, movies or chat all night long with old friends until sahur time to watch. So we often forget to pray when the time came. Or have we simply choose to forget? "
clinic
Some offices in Indonesia, the workers allow early to leave during Ramadan in order to break them get home in time, the fast with the family members. Such early markers do not always mean that people will get home before 18:00.
Take the case of Lina, a bank employee in Jakarta. They left happy their bank early by train to catch last Monday at her home in Banten, west of Jakarta. When taking a ojek (motorcycle taxi) to Tanah Abang station, she was confronted by a sea of people. A technical problem on the line had caused delays. By the time a train on the platform arrived, patience commuters was' evaporated.
"Everybody pushed, shoved, stomped, cranked, kicked and jostled each other, either get out or in," says Lina. "Everyone wanted to get home early for Iftar and taraweh prayer. It was worse at each station. Overcrowding, snail pace speed and defective air conditioning worsens the nightmare".
She says a passenger finally in the heat of the car fainted. After more than an hour of complaints, the passengers heard the call to prayer, but there was no joy as they remained trapped inside the train. That is, one of the points to get the Ramadhan need is to endure without complaint.
section conversions
When expatriate men decide here, to convert to Islam, it is generally because they Muslim an Indonesian woman whose family her husband on made to marry. they should feel Some men are circumcised true to become Muslims. The Koran does not cover circumcision, but it is mentioned in some hadith (reports on the sayings and activities of Muhammad and his followers) and Sunnah (Islamic customs based on Muhammad's teachings).
The time for circumcision around the age of seven is usually, sometimes earlier. John, a living New Zealander in South Jakarta, he says converted to Islam when partly to please in his mid-30s, his future wife and her family. "There it meant everything, so I did it."
He decided to get circumcised before conversion. "You did not really;. No one checked, but I thought it was an interesting experience and something to talk about The certainly proved to be the case," he recalls.
"Snipping the top of a small boy small appendage off is not a problem. Men, on the other hand, have little control over the tumescence of their penis, especially when they are asleep., On the first night after surgery popped out every stitch, which they had been together. It was like I had been shot in the groin. It healed horribly. "
Despite mixed feelings about his circumcision, John loves Idul Fitri. "I enjoy heading back to kampung for Idul Fitri with the family. In addition to the problem which it is traveling, of course, because of the traffic. Although Once home, it is a beautiful experience."
For expatriates who choose to be long-term stay, include faith or at least the spirit of Ramadan is to be not only about fasting, but to get closer to Indonesia.
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