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For something that comes around every year, observing the fasting month of Ramadan doesn’t get any easier with practice. Work, domestic and social pressures combine with Indonesia’s enervating weather to make the Muslim test of faith more difficult than it may initially seem.

Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, is a monthlong period during which healthy Muslims over a certain age are expected to refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual conduct from dawn to sunset. They should also control their tempers — not always easy when one is hungry, thirsty and, subsequently, lacking energy.

Construction worker Ita, who is employed at the Bakrie Tower site in Kuningan, South Jakarta, said his job is tough most days, but it becomes much more difficult during Ramadan. However, as an observant Muslim, he is determined to complete the fast, as he has tried in past years. “We are in the finishing stages [of the tower], so the work is less strenuous than it was before,” he says. “I lost a week during last year’s Ramadan because I couldn’t cope with the weather. It was very hot.”

Co-workers add another level of difficulty and Ita has to strive to control his temper.

“Sometimes people boss me around and that really upsets me,” he says.

Ramadan’s two daily meals, sahur (predawn meal) and buka puasa (breaking of the fast), are traditionally a time to gather with family. However, this year will be quite different for Ita, as the 36-year-old is now a single father to his daughter, who is just over 2 years old.

“My wife left us five months ago, I don’t know why,” he says. “So this year I will have to prepare everything myself, from the early morning breakfast to the breaking of the fast. I guess I will just have to buy food from a warung. I don’t cook.”

Ma’il, who drives an angkot (public minivan), says he knows fasting during Ramadan is compulsory and believes it is a way to clean one’s soul of sin, but he isn’t sure he will observe the obligation.

“You feel how hot it is these days,” the 55-year-old says. “Last year, I could only fast for 17 days. I had to break my fast as I couldn’t stand the heat.”

Everything seems to get tougher during the fasting month, he says, and very often he found he was unable to control his temper.

“As an angkot driver, you deal with things that make your temperature rise a lot,” he says. “The hot weather, passengers who don’t pay enough, competition with other drivers to get passengers, not to mention the bad traffic — it can all make you very heated.”

He plans to observe the fasting period as best he can, especially when he isn’t working.

“I work every two days so there are times when I can [fast] and go to the mosque in the evening,” he says. “I want to be clean in front of the Almighty One.”

A more patient person for the test is perhaps Ardini, or Dini, who hopes to complete the Ramadan fast this year. Fasting is a way to teach oneself to refrain from temptation and anger, the 23-year-old says.

Dini is a janitor at a shopping mall in South Jakarta, where she works eight hours a day cleaning toilets. She says her job doesn’t require a lot of energy, so not eating or drinking during the day is relatively easy, but staying calm often isn’t.

“In doing my work, I get upset by a lot of things that mainly are the fault of the [mall] visitors,” Dini says. “For example, many people don’t use the toilet seat when they pee, they squat instead. People throw tissue into the toilet, too, blocking it. It’s worse on weekends, especially Sundays, when there are a lot more visitors.

“But I guess that is part of the test I have to pass.”


Basic Observance Requirements:

1. The Ramadan fast is one of the five pillars of Islam. Fasting is obligatory for any fit and able Muslim who has reached puberty. Certain people are exempt from taking part in the Ramadan fast, including children, the sick, the elderly and anyone who is unable to fast, such as when people are ill or on a tiring journey, or if a woman is pregnant, lactating or menstruating. In these cases, the person must make up the fast at another suitable time or provide meals to the poor in order to make up for breaking the fast.

2. During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from eating and drinking, smoking and having sex — including not having “impure thoughts” — from dawn to sunset. This is a time for spiritual reflection and spending time with family and friends. The fast is an act of deep faith, through which Muslims are taught self-discipline, piety and generosity. It is also intended to remind them of the suffering of the needy, who may rarely get to eat a decent meal.

3. It is common to have one meal just before sunrise, known as sahur , and another, known as buka puasa , directly after sunset. Buka puasa typically starts off with a few sweet dates, following the example of the Prophet Muhammad.

4. In addition to the five daily prayers conducted by observant Muslims, there are special evening prayers in Ramadan, during which lengthy passages of the Koran are recited. These special prayers are known as tarawih . The word tarawih comes from an Arabic word that means to rest and relax. During tarawih, worshippers stand, bow, prostrate themselves and sit. After each four cycles of movement, they sit for a brief period of rest before continuing, which is where the name tarawih comes from. Tarawih are usually conducted in the mosque after isya (last of the five daily prayers).

Additional Requirements:

1. Increase the quality and quantity of prayers, as God will reward Muslims for every single prayer during Ramadan.

2. Increase the invocation of blessings and peace upon the Prophet by saying “Peace be upon him.”

3. Study the Koran.

4. Ask for forgiveness for one’s sins as God opens the door of heaven wide during Ramadan.

5. Increase charity and help others more.