Moslems cope with 17-hour fasting in Australia

Moslems cope with 17-hour fasting in Australia

By Dewi Anggraeni

MELBOURNE (JP): In this era of travel and global living, it is
not unusual to find ourselves away from our usual support network
and other familiar environments just when we need them.

Indonesian Moslems, being abroad during the month of Ramadhan,
are one such example.

It would be fair to assume that it may be easier for them to
be in a country where, like Indonesia, the majority of the
population is Moslem, than, for instance, in Victoria, a southern
state of Australia.

Here you are far from the comforting traditional cradle and
moral support group during fasting, and to top it all, during
summer, your fasting time stretches to almost 17 hours.

But while fasting here is not free from temptations,
Indonesians say it is not excessively problematic or traumatic.

To begin with, the Indonesian Consulate General for Victoria
and Tasmania in Melbourne makes it part of their business to
maintain a network with the Indonesian community in Victoria,
especially those in metropolitan Melbourne.

Two evenings a week during Ramadhan have been devoted for this
purpose. Friday evenings for tarawih prayer meetings, and
Saturday evenings for community breaking of the fast, followed by
the prayers.

Most universities with a number of Indonesian students have
Moslem prayer groups which meet regularly.

Students make a large part of Victoria's Indonesian
population: out of 10,000, about 7,000 are students.

Since Ramadhan this year coincides with Australia's school
summer vacation, many of the students have gone home to spend
their vacation with their families. However, a fair number stay
behind, and those who are Moslem, fast.

Buchari Daud, who has just completed his postgraduate studies
in Linguistics at Melbourne University, is one of the leaders in
the prayer and discussion groups. With his wife Lela and their
four children, Buchari has been in Melbourne for four years.

Buchari said that his family fasts every day of Ramadhan, and
he personally did not find the length of the summer day
excessively distressing.

What about the fact that he had to maintain his fast while
those around him were eating and drinking?

"In reality," he confided, "the fact that we are not among our
family and friends helps to emphasize that we are fasting out of
our own free will. In Indonesia, it is hard to tell sometimes
whether we fast because everybody else around us does, or because
we really want to."

Hard day

Buchari confessed that the first day was the hardest. After
that every day became easier.

"Especially after 3 p.m., I don't feel hungry and thirsty any
more. It just feels normal. And my capacity to work has not
suffered either."

"A friend of ours," he related, "has a peptic ulcer, which
means he normally has to eat every couple of hours. He fasts, and
because of his faith, he doesn't feel any pain or any negative
symptoms at all."

Buchari admitted that he missed the ambience of Ramadhan at
home.

"Apart from the feeling of security, fasting among family and
close friends, there are also particular dishes served in the
evening when we break the fast. In Aceh, where I come from, there
is a special dish for Ramadhan, a type of porridge. We can't get
the ingredients here."

Rini Akmeliawati, a PhD program student on Control Systems
Engineering at Melbourne University, confessed that fasting at
home in Bandung was a lot easier.

"Apart from all your family and friends fasting with you,
television programs are specially shown for those who fast, and
prayers can be heard even on the radio."

Like Buchari, however, Rini cited the acute awareness of her
own decision to fast. And being a minority in this society, those
who fast tend to give mutual moral support. They even form a
network by e-mail through the Young Indonesian Moslem Student
Association (YIMSA).

"The fewer we are, the closer knit we get," said Rini. The
evenings they do not go to the consulate general, they take turns
in providing the home for breaking the fast.

Rini believed it would be harder for the young male students
to fast in a non-Moslem country. "Women here don't wear clothes
that cover most parts of their body. I guess for a young man
fasting, this could be a source of temptation," Rini theorized.

Her friends and colleagues never show suspicion or contempt.
They even make an effort to make life easier for her. They avoid
eating or drinking in front of her.

"Actually it doesn't bother me if they do," said Rini.

Another student, Fahri Afid Abdullah, a second year Aerospace
Engineering student at RMIT University, confessed he found the
long summer days quite trying.

"After 6 p.m., I usually feel I've had it. But I persevere.
And every day it gets easier," said the 21-year-old.

Fasting in Australia has been morally edifying for him. Apart
from being away from home, he found he had to do all the chores
that his family would usually do for him.

Along with this independence also came maturity in faith. He
went to prayer and discussion meetings, which increasingly
improved his understanding of Islam.

Fahri observed that even Australians who were not devout in
their religion respected his choice to fast.

"To the average Australian, our fasting rules are fairly
severe. Some were astounded at first, when I told them that we
don't eat or drink from sunrise to sunset. But eventually, they
respect what we do."

At each campus of RMIT University there is a prayer room.
Lecturers and fellow students no longer wonder when Moslem
students disappear to go to the prayer room in the middle of a
lecture.

Like other young Moslems in the community, Fahri is determined
to complete his fasting well.