LifeInContrast.com

Thursday the 13th marked the beginning of the holy month of Ramadhan (also known as “the fasting month”), when all Muslims must refrain from food, drink, and sex during the daylight hours.  In fact, nothing must pass their lips during the day, so that includes water and smoking.  Ramadhan is a time when Muslims are expected to show great restraint in emotion, and also tremendous spiritual discipline as they attempt to focus and become closer to God.  Here is a Wikipedia article on Ramadan.

Since the sun rises around 5:00am or so in Indonesia, that means that the morning call-to-prayer now comes around 3:30am, reminding the faithful to wake up and eat something before they start the fast.  I guess it’s more of a wake-up-and-eat than a call-to-prayer.  When the sun finally sets around 6pm, they break their fast, generally with a light meal and some tea to get their digestive systems moving again.  Indonesians often break their fast with friends, and with joy.  In the evenings (and often during the day), they visit the mosque to pray.

For Westerners, it is noticeably harder to get food during the daylight hours, as all of the myriad warungs (streetside food stalls) sit eerily empty during the day.  You can find some restaurants open, but even then you must take care to be respectful, not eating outside or brazenly in front of those who are fasting.  The streets have much less traffic, and the calls-to-prayer seem to happen much more often, almost constantly.

Last night I was talking with my Sumatran friend Dedyan in his brother’s Padang restaurant in our neighborhood.  He explained to me that this month (about 29 days) is about control.  Control of desires, control of hunger, control of emotions and thoughts.   This month is “all about God,” as he put it.  Truly a holy month.