Ramadhan Month

(FYI Ramadhan month is the holiest month for Muslim where Muslim people do the obligatory fast for 30 days.)

My parents started to teach me to fast since I was in the first grade of elementary school, I was about seven years old at that time. As this was the first time—the first experience for me—they taught me to fast only until noon—the time for Dzuhur pray. I could have my breakfasting around 12.00. When I was in the second grade of elementary school, my parents taught me to lengthen the fast till Asar pray time. I could break my fast around 15.00. And when I reached the third grade of elementary school, I could fast just like adult people, until Maghrib pray time, around 17.45. Since I didn’t get my period yet, I didn’t have time to be ‘off’ to fast.

I finished reciting Alquran the first time (“khatam” is the Arabic word for this), when I was in the third grade of elementary school. And when I was in the fourth grade of elementary school, my father taught me to recite Alquran one chapter (in Arabic we call it as JUZ) one day during Ramadhan month. Therefore, in one Ramadhan month, I could finish (khatam) one Alquran that consists of 30 chapters (JUZ). As a good teacher, my late father did that too. He read three chapters one day that meant he could “khatam” Alquran three times during one Ramadhan month.

I remember during the fasting month, my parents prepared many kinds of food for breakfasting at the Maghrib pray time. Some people call it as “to take revenge”, LOL, after not eating and drinking anything for more than 12 hours a day, then at breakfasting time, we could eat anything we wanted. Delicious snacks were prepared by my mom at Maghrib time. After praying Maghrib and Isya plus Tarawih, then we ate a big meal.

Without his awareness, my late father taught my siblings and me something that was not really appropriate coz it was not really the essence of fasting, I assume (now). Why should we do something like ‘taking revenge” after fasting for more than 12 hours? “Eat as many as you can now that you can do it, before the time to fast comes again,” was a lesson I recognized. My late father was not the only one who thought so, of course. Abundant Muslim people do that too in Indonesia.

The time I started to learn how fasting was really like, and after breakfasting I didn’t “take revenge” was when I was in my undergraduate study. I was out of town, living all alone in a boarding house. The limited money I had as a student couldn’t make me buy as many kinds of food to eat for breakfasting. And I survived. LOL. When my late father knew about this, he said, “Oh poor you my dearest daughter.” But still he didn’t give me more pocket money per month. LOL.

Three years after I studied out of town, my father passed away. Since then on, no more extra food during Ramadhan month for breakfasting. My mother doesn’t work, she just gets some pension money every month from my later father’s office coz my father used to be a civil servant. She sometimes provides extra food for breakfasting, yes, but not as “crazily” as when my father was alive. LOL.

I taught Angie—my only daughter—to fast just like my parents did to me; since she was in the first grade of elementary school. She could fast for the whole day—from dusk till dawn—since she was in the third grade of elementary school. However, I free her from an obligation to recite Alquran one JUZ for one day. I suggested her to recite Alquran more than during the other months. I was not as fussy and strict as my late father though. LOL. I focus more on raising her to be a good person—not harm other people, not easily judge other people as bad people only coz they have different religions from us. I have found many people who recite Alquran everyday, pray five times a day, but at the same time harm other people too. My late father as the best example to me was the only one I have found so far in my life; that by being a good Muslim (read è pray five times a day, recite Alquran everyday, fast during Ramadhan month, pay zakat by the end of Ramadhan month, go pilgrimage to Mecca), he didn’t do harm to other people. I believe there are many other good Muslim people just like my father, only I don’t know then personally. And in my own experience, I know many other good people who are not Muslim, even those who are non-believers; one thing that my parents didn’t teach me when I was a kid.

Happy fasting for my blog readers who practice it during this holy Ramadhan month.

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