Friday, September 26, 2008

Being a Muslim (contemplation)

When I read this article, I felt bad. I feel I am everything what's on that articles. I am not going to be hypocrite here, I have to confess that it is much harder to do fasting in non-Muslims country.

There's no sound of Adzan on Magrib time (you always have to check online for exact fast breaking time), longer fasting time, people surround you dont care about your fasting, sometimes when people find out that you're fasting, instead of being respectful, they are mocking you up, there is hardly anyone who also fasting (at least not within 1 mile distance), you wont see people hurrying home from work to be able to break fasting together with the rest of the family, you wont see any food sellers selling sweet beverages for breaking the fast, if you are female, it's harder for you to do Tarawih with the rest of community, since we dont have large room in town to do so..etc..etc...etc..

So you kind of feel, you're by yourself.

To make it even 'worse', even the fellow Indonesians here that I know also a Muslim, they dont fast either.....they even kind of forgot about 'Ramadan'. 

'Mbak, puasa?' this Indonesian Guy asked me with very unbelieveble tone in his voice and I answered :'Iya. Insya ALLAH. Situ puasa?'

He replied :"Ndak Mbak. Susah ah/ (he even got married on this very Ramadan month...)

2nd person, an Indonesian married female :'Day, let's meet at the mall, have lunch together.'/ Mmm..sure we can meet at the mall, but I cant have lunch with you, I am fasting'/O yes. Fasting. I forgot about that/

Then when I was in the mall, meeting her, there's another Indonesian lady with her son, and she also ordered food in the foodcourt...

So......as an individual, I feel bad that I am not doing good fasting in this Ramadan and as a Muslim, I am sad, that many of my fellow Muslims skipped to fast on this Ramadan for whatever reasons.

I know it's not my business whether or not someone is doing fasting...but I cant help but feeling 'sad'. I am sad that the fact of my religion is no longer way of life for some people (probably including me) but it's merely a 'label' ....

Should we still say we are a Muslim?

 

 

 

 

 

 

10 comments:

  1. Berat emang Day. Secara di sekolah ada acara tour dan annualy profession gathering. Ampunnn dah, untungnya dua acara itu makanan yang tersedia pork :d

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  2. Hi hi hi tabah ajah lah, secara di Bozemen gitu loh, coba kalo di kota2 besar di US pasti gak se parah ini kan Day? ... Luk2 and Ale klo cerita2 ttg puasa di DC and Chicago kok kaya di Jkt aja, ada kolak, buka bareng, tarawih dll dll..he3x

    Well di Yangon juga mayoritas gak puasa kok, gak ada suasana "Ramadhan", tapi nothing special juga, bisa ajak buka bareng sama rekan2 yg non muslim, intinya kita yg bawa suasana Ramadhan,

    but if it make you easier Day, what you have been longin is Ramadhan ambience in "Jakarta" or Indonesia, .. soal nya even ente ke negeri Middle East pun yg notabene majoritas muslim, pasti beda bgt sama jakarta ..

    ... so you chose your life than you just need to except the reality dear ... he3x ...

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  3. Yah mau gimana lagi Day...disini turkish2 juga banyak yang ngga puasa malah kebingungan ngeliat kita puasa, supervisornya Balang yg american malah pengen ngajakin buka bersama maksudnya pengen ngundang makan tapi waktunya dipasin sama jam buka kita so temen2nya dia yg lain yg mesti nunggu kita, semoga elo selalu diberi kekuatan...:-), btw, masak apa buat lebaran nanti?

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  4. yah susah kalo emang mereka udah nggak ada niat puasa Day.... mau diapa2 in juga ya dasarnya nggak niat puasa kali ya....
    disini juga banyak kok yg arab2 atau asian lainnya yang nggak pada puasa.
    gue pribadi ngerasa sejak tinggal disini puasa lebih enak, malah nggak banyak 'godaan' hehehhe
    abis kan nggak ada yg jualan2 di jalan, nggak ada teh botol yang pastinya! Emang sih gue nggak bisa mungkir kalau suasana puasa di Indonesia tuh bener2 bikin kangen banget... hiks..
    Gue nggak tergoda banget deh sama makanan sini pas lagi puasa..... ;-p
    gue udah cukup seneng juga krn Seb udah mulai engeh ttg 'fasting & praying'

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  5. sama aja kok kondisinya dg disini... byg orang Indonesia muslim yg malah gak puasa dg alasan tidak kuat :D

    alhamdulillah, aku tinggal dilingkungan orang-orang asing yg mostly Arabian, dan diseberang rumahku ada mesjid Arab, walaupun tidak ada adzan... tapi bisa ikut buka puasa dan shalat disana
    bahagia rasanya

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  6. tapi emang susah si mbakk..bukannya mau melegalkan dosa2ku tahun lalu dimana bolosnya sampe 10 hari lebih puasanya, tapi ternyata memang susah banget puasa di tengah2 orang yg gak puasa. padahal disana muslimnya banyak banget sampe ada mushalla (bukan mesjid soalnya cuman di gedung kosong) buat solat jumat. not that I'm no longer belief my religion, tp ternyata aku sadar kalau g belum 100% Islam...susah utk tidak mengandalkan environment dan hanya mengandalkan kekuatan diri sendiri utk nahan godaan, yang banyaknya gokil..kira-kira sebelum waktunya kita dipanggil Tuhan, kita udah bisa belum ya menjadi 100% Islam? walahualam..Insya Allah, Amien..:)

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  7. bener banget Wit! G ngeliat sandwich, steak dll mah tenang2 ajah...
    coba kalo gado2 boplo ato ayam suharti tiba2 nyampe depan pintu rumah G...nah itu tuh..susyaaaaahh!! ;p

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  8. ini sama kondisinya kayak aku tahun lalu, bolosnya juga banyak banget. Tapi Alhamdulillah tahun ini 'lebih nyantai', dah lebih biasa...

    kali kamu juga tahun lalu kan pertama kalinya tinggal di luar gitu..jadi ya bolong banyak deh..

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  9. iya ya Sef...sama aja yah..
    kadang G bingungnya pas G tanya, udah pernah nyoba puasa? jawabnya belum...
    jadi gimana tahu ya kalo gak kuat? ;D

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  10. gw setuju Day, gak usah mikir orang laen puasa/sholat apa kagak, kita sendiri aja dulu...

    krn aku jg belajar untuk makin meningkatkan iman jd muslim yg baik...

    yg bikin gw bersyukur selama disini, teman-2 kita di US, selalu memberi hidangan yg kaum muslim bisa makan. bahkan mereka rencana BBQ pork, jadi diganti ama ayam krn kita bakalan hadir di udangan itu :-)



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