- To develop compassion for the poor and needy who feel hungry every day.
- As a spiritually and physically cleansing experience. Just like many other faith traditions, fasting is seen as an opportunity to separate yourself from the things of this world and to concentrate on your relationship with God.
- To become closer to God by contemplating his will in your life.
- To build self-discipline and to become a better person.
So what does this look like living here in Salatiga, Indonesia. Our mornings start early between 2-3 am with a wake-up call provided by band of drummers walking through our neighborhood. Their job is to wake everyone up, so they can eat a meal before the sun comes up. You can listen to it below:
Then shortly after that the local mosques call out bangun, bangun, bangun (wake up) and a short prayer. Then about an hour and half later the first of five official calls to prayer comes. The call to prayer sounds something like this:
The pace slows down during the month as there is no eating or even drinking of water during the day. Many take naps during the day and are awake at night. Around 6 pm (sun goes down at around 5:30 pm) the fast is opened (buka puasa). Family, friends, and neighbors eat together in a very celebratory fashion. There is an added extra hour of prayer in the evening after the fast has been opened for those that want to attend. Evenings and nights tend to be nosier as more people are awake and there are lots of (big!) fireworks etc going off. I will admit it has taken some time to get use to the noise but it has been interesting to observe.
This week Ramadan comes to a close, with two days of celebrating and feasting called Idul Fitri. All offices are closed, people have received a bonus and they head home to their villages. This creates a mass exodus from big cities like Jakarta, creating huge traffic jams. Shopping places and markets are packed and prices are high as people buy food for the feasting and new clothes. Typically, people go to visit their extended family members, neighbors and others to pay their respects. It is typical to say when you greet people during these days, mohon maaf lahir dan batin, which is basically an apology for anything you might have done in the past year to cause offense or to shame them.
One of the things I try to do every morning is read an online version of the Jakarta Post, which is an English language newspaper from Indonesia. I figure it is a good way to learn more about this place I am living. Here are a few recent articles from the Jakarta Post about things happening during Ramadan and Idul Fitri...
- This article talks about the many different sects of Islam in Indonesia and how they determine when Ramadan starts. Let's just say they don't all agree.
- During Ramadan, many restaurants are closed during the day and stay open late at night. As you can imagine, it is considered rude to eat in front of those fasting during Ramadan, even if you are not fasting. In some places there are raids on local eateries, if they are not following the rule. This article has a picture taken of a couple during one of those raids and lists as some of the different regulations being enforced in different areas of Indonesia.
- To prepare for Idul Fitri, this article had several suggestions of things to do.
- The huge increase in traffic though does lead to lots of problems, including severe injuries and deaths. Last year 908 people died in traffic accidents during Idul Fitri. As of this article today, the number of deaths for this year was 178 and climbing but still significantly less than last year.
Last night Idul Fitri started and this was part of the parade that went in front of our house. It was quite long and loud but fun to see!
Sorry the quality isn't better, but it was dark out and there are not a lot of streetlights around.
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