In Reply to: Ramadan posted by Rambutmerrah on Tuesday, 11. July 2006 at 04:51 Bali Time:
Basically this is how their day is spent...get up about 3am in the morning (the mosques will be loud as at 3am) , and have a "breakfast" which they call locally "saur" then just before sunlight, they'll pray and probably go back to sleep.
Some villages have volunteers that wake everyone up at that hour yelling SAUR SAUR...whilst walking around the area so no one sleeps in.
However this would be a time when you will find a lot more people on the streets at an early hour... after their brekky some take the time to go for a stroll or jog etc...then go back to sleep ...
If they have to go into work, where actually during this month not much work gets done...well more likely the first week until they get used to not eating all day, they will be lazy, and complain of being tired and hungry... bla bla bla..
So they go all day without eating or drinking, if they are really strict with themselves they arent even allowed to swallow their own saliva... btw, women who are pregrent or have their period,breastfeeding etc..are not allowed to fast, as are people who are sick. However if they are a good muslim, after lebaran (idul fitri) they will continue to fast ... to "pay back" the missed days...
They arent allowed, to curse, swear, have sex, and a whole lot more during the daylight hours.. i cant remmeber off hand... otherwise this will "cancel = batal" their puasa = fast...
Anyway then at about sun down.. the time changes about 2 minutes every couple of days.. .. 6.00pm .. then 5.58 etc... this is when you'll hear the call to prayer from the mosques.. this is the time that they are allowed to eat and drink again, until the morning call to prayer at about 4.30am the next morning. then usually about 7pm the mosques will be full again, for the terawih prayers.. these will last the whole month as well.
funny that during this month, indonesians do put on a lot of weight...because at the break of fast they do binge on the food all night till the next morning.. I always hear my friends complaining..oh no i've put on 5 kilos... but they again they are still tiny as ever hehehehe...
anyway all this goes on for about a month, then on the eve of Idul Fitri, they will celebrate late into the night, banging on large drums, this is called TAKBIRAN.. basically celebrating that they made it through the 30days of fasting.
The next morning there are special morning prayers at the mosque again called sholat Ied (or sholat idul fitri) Ied is the arabic word for Idul Fitri, they wear their best clothing, the children are usually given money, and they visit their family and friends...
The younger members of the family must visit the older members first, if say all the brothers and sisters are married, then all the children must visit the parents and ask for forgiveness.. Selamat Idul Firtri Mohon Maaf Lahir dan Bathin... is what you say...
Yes basically its their christmas.. in the month before hand, stores will have sales, because everyone will be buying new clothes, supermakerts will be busy, cuz they will be buying up and stocking the food, Buses, planes and trains will be full to the brim with people going home to their villages to celebrate with family, or having a holiday with their families such as bali.. the traffic all over indonesia will be macet = jammed..even the national roads..
:O)
hope this was some interesting info for you .. :)