Out & About: Greetings to you, fasting or not

Tue, 10/07/2008 9:57 AM  |  City

The lazier you get the harder fasting becomes. This is at least true of my recent experience. With the interruption of my period I ended up fasting maybe 20 of the mandatory 30 days. To not know the exact figure is a violation in itself; you're supposed to calculate all the days you didn't fast and make up for it before the next Ramadan comes.

Which is damn hard. I have no idea how I fared in terms of fulfilling the Muslim adult's obligation of fasting as I never made up for the days in which I didn't fast. I'd like to pay my way through but the wise say there are no short cuts. Bother.

A friend reminded me of those who manage to just whiz through Ramadan, "going through the motions", without dwelling on everything you're supposed to do in the holy month.

That used to be me.

Fasting was fairly easy once you got past the first excruciating day without caffeine, spending most of the day in an air-conditioned office or napping at home.

Bowing to some gentle persuasian I once bought a tape on the short verses of the Koran in an attempt to understand my religion better. I thought it would be great if one Ramadan I could begin learning an extra short verse each year, and even if a small target, it was realistic for me.

I had witnessed my father stumble through short verses, learning and relearning them like a small boy, while holding a lidi (palm stalk) underlining the Arab text. Now an adult, I thought I should make some effort too.

But it's been a long time since I bought that tape of Koranic verses, and I fear it remains as unopened as the day I bought it.

Now even going through the motions is not all that easy. Even drinking coffee at the dawn meal in an attempt to avoid headaches and the harshness of fasting doesn't work anymore.

Such a lengthy discussion of the physical aspects of Ramadan though is generally embarrassing for an adult.

Families and schools in Indonesia encourage infants to learn to fast, at least for a few hours a day, leading to happy fasting toddlers while you still count down those horribly thirsty hours.

Nearing the end of Ramadan I belatedly noticed loads of new books focusing on "30 days of reflections" for the entire holy month. These texts offered advice on improving yourself throughout the annual God-given opportunity of Ramadan, and how not to waste it. One of these new and popular versions of religious teachings is Quran, The Ultimate Secret, which is co-authored by a former model and boasts a cover inspired by The Secret.

Alas, after trying so hard to wake up for that dawn meal I, like many others, have wasted the month by unwittingly turning off the alarm.

All the books and sermons throughout Ramadan and the Idul Fitri prayers extol the virtues of the holy month and the victory of those who founded it, held their tongues and minds against sinful thoughts and speech and tried their best to get closer to Allah.

Somewhere at the bottom of the nonreligious heap I'll be merely admiring those who managed to simply fast without the benefit of the AC and still not complain and whine I did. While others will be mourning the end of the most joyful month of the year, I'll likely be sheepishly, sinfully, relieved and regretting of course my inability to enjoy the spiritual experiences of my devout.

Here's wishing you all a Happy Idul Fitri. May you all be blessed, however well or poorly you think you managed to go through Ramadan.

-- Ati Nurbaiti

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