Editorial
note: This post was written before the Orlando shooting. The timing of this post about Islam and Muslim traditions in the wake of the Orlando event, is purely
coincidental, and has nothing to do with anything.
Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority
nation, meaning there are more Muslims in Indonesia than anywhere else on the
planet. By the official stats, if Indonesia was 100 people, 86 of them would be
Muslim. In Bogor, where we live, that number is almost certainly more like 95. There
is the odd “Christian” around (if you are not a Muslim, you are a Christian,
that’s the rule), but they are a rare and isolated breed. In my office of 50
Indonesians, there are 4 Christians (and 46 Muslims obviously).
OK, so if you are a student of religion and
know your world religions (or a Muslim J), you
are acutely aware that we are in the middle of Ramadan – the fasting month. But
if you are like me, and clueless about things Muslim, you are thinking….hmmm, I
have heard that word, but….what exactly is Ramadan? Excellent question. Technically,
Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, the ninth month of the Islamic
calendar, and is a commemoration of the first revelation of the Quran to
Muhammad. Whoa! OK. Got it.
Joking aside, Ramadan is a vitally
important part of being a devote Muslim and basically represents a month of
reaffirming their devotion, among many other things that I do not profess to
know anything about. On the ground, the biggest things us bules notice are: (1)
it is a month of daily fasting, and (2) the daily rituals like the call-to-prayer
and praying are ramped way up.
The fasting part of the equation is
incredible. By incredible, I mean you have to see it to believe it. The rule
is: no ingestion of anything from sunrise to sunset. By “nothing”, we mean
nothing, nada, zilchola. No food of any kind, and, get this, no liquid of any
kind, not even water. Basically the only thing allowed to pass by your lips is
air into your lungs. There are exceptions made for illness, pregnancy, mental
issues, and things like that, but pretty much everyone is on the program.
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| My go-to lunch spot with the blinders on |
As you can imagine, that tends to change
the daily equation. Imagine not drinking a drop of water (or coffee!!) from
about 6 am to 6 pm, every day, for 30 days….while maintaining your life, job,
house, kids, etc. Gotta hand it to them on the devotion thing. Makes for a
lonely coffee room these days though! Just me and the Christians. Although
anyone who is not Muslim, and not fasting, is encouraged to keep a low profile
while enjoying the sinful pleasures of food and drink. OK, I’ll grind my beans
at home instead of at the office J
Of course the biggest tragedy for us bules,
oh yes, and the Christians, is the complete lack of street food, a mere smattering
of open restaurants, and a serious reduction in the already scarce supply of
drinking establishments. Basically all things infidel are reeled in. Finding
lunch, and an after-work beer has become rather challenging. However, I was
warned in advance, and therefore made a special trip to one of the two places
one can buy beer in this city of 1.5 million people, and filled my beer fridge
(yes, dedicated beer fridge! Loving it).
Oh, and the curtains. Forgot about the curtains.
You see, one does not want to temp the fasters with the sights and sounds of food
and drink. So, in an ever-so-clever ruse, eating establishments that choose to
stay open during the day hide their infidel customers from the outside world
via curtains. I’m not making this up, it’s true.
OK, then there’s the “call to prayer”. The
call to prayer, is the Muslim equivalent of church bells calling you to the
church (the mosque in this case) – except for a few very significant, and very
noticeable items. First thing we notice is that it’s every day, 5 times a day.
Yep, by every day, we mean every day. No days off. Ever. Every day is Sunday.
By 5 times a day every day, we're talking about starting at 4:15 am (ish) until
the last one around 7 pm (ish). You may have caught the 4:15 am kick-off. Yep,
not sunrise (which is more around 6 am), like in the Lawrence of Arabia movies.
This is pretty much middle of the night. Pitch dark. Moon out.
Now, what happens you ask? Well, imagine an
air raid siren going off outside your house at 4:15 am, every day. I know, you
think I’m exaggerating. It can’t be that loud. I would think that too. Cuz
you’re thinking: that’s impossible. That just wouldn’t happen. Welcome to
Indonesia. J
You see, Indonesians are very fond of
technology. And what has technology brought to the call to prayer? Electronic
amplification of sound! Typically 4 speakers mounted at the top of the mosque
tower (called the minaret) facing the 4 cardinal directions. The louder the
better. I know what you’re thinking. Why not just live outside of earshot of
the mosque. Well, we would all love there to be 50 square centimeters of Bogor
where that would be true. That 50 square centimeters just doesn’t exist. In
fact, it’s more like Mosque wars than anything else. Whoever is the loudest
wins. However, I am told by the Christians that you learn to sleep through it.
We’ll see.
Interestingly, and somehow more incredulous
than ever, now that it’s Ramadan, the 4:15 am kick-off has been shifted ever so
slightly earlier to 2 am. Yep, screaming microphones at 2 am in the dead of
night. First time it happened I launched out of bed thinking I was having a
heart attack. You see, everyone has to get up earlier so they can make food,
feed the family, do the usual morning routine, and then get to the mosque, all
before sunrise. By the time people get to work, they have been up and moving
for 6 hours or so. So when do Muslims sleep?, you ask. Good question.
Ramadan Mubarak
