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Longer fasting challenging but doable: Indonesians living abroad
The Jakarta Post talked to several Indonesian Muslims living in countries in the northern hemisphere who share their summer Ramadhan experiences.
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View of the midnight sun in Norway. (Shutterstock/-)
T
his year will be the longest Ramadhan in the last 33 years for Muslims living in the northern hemisphere, as the festive month coincides with summer solstice on June 20. To provide a glimpse on this, The Jakarta Post talked to several Indonesian Muslims living in countries in the northern hemisphere who share their summer Ramadhan experiences.
“Yes, this year's Ramadhan comes in the middle of summer. We have the midnight sun every year during summer, which means from May to August the sun never sets,” said Retno Aini, who resides in Tromsø, Norway, since March 2013.
“It's almost impossible to determine the subuh [dawn prayer] time, or the iftar [breaking of the fast] time based on the sun's movement,” said Retno. “As far as I can say, it’s not very different to Indonesia, only that the duration is 15-16 hours.”
By contrast, a day lasts for 12-13 hours on average in Indonesia, while on the Arabian Peninsula, where the religion originated, countries see daylight of no more than 15 hours.
Despite long daylight hours, Retno feels blessed to live in a country with pleasant summer weather, as it makes keeping the fast much easier for her.
“Even in July, the temperature ranges between 20 and 23 degrees Celcius. So, it's mostly a cool, pleasant summer that we have here, though the air humidity is lower than in cities in northern Norway.”
Those who do not keep the fast will find it impossible to abstain from drink and food for such long hours, but Rika Melissa, who lives in Kerava, Finland, manages to practice the fast nevertheless.
Moving to Kerava to follow her Finnish husband, Rika has experienced Ramadhan there since 2009. While for this year's holy month she is in Indonesia, she will never forget her experience last year, when she had to fast for almost 21 hours.
(Read also: Muslims in Reykjavik fast the longest compared to other cities)
“The idea of fasting for more than 20 hours was very frightening, but I have learnt that it is doable, albeit very difficult,” she said.
Last year, a day during Ramadhan in Kerava lasted 21 hours on average, said Rika. Imsak (pre-dawn) was at around 2 a.m., and maghrib (sunset) came at around 11 p.m.
“I did not make any special preparation; I just did it,” she said. “[Luckily,] Ramadhan [last year] coincided with my holidays, so I did not have a lot to do during the day. I went out less during Ramadhan; for example, I would only shop once a week and not take the kids out.”
Unlike Rika, Retno, who works as content editor of parenting community The Urban Mama in Indonesia, doesn’t get the chance to pause and concentrate on her religious practice.
“Everything is at its usual dynamics. My husband is still going to his workplace at the usual time. I'm walking my daughter to her kindergarten at the regular time in the morning and later pick her up in the evening. We socialize, have meetings, attend kindergarten parent meetings and activities as usual,” Retno said.
“Frankly, somehow I feel that this kind of Ramadhan is much more peaceful and easier, because it is about trying, controlling and restricting ourselves for the entire month.” (kes)
