Ramadan in Java, The Joy & Jihad of Ritual Fasting

Andre Moller, "Ramadan in Java, The Joy & Jihad of Ritual Fasting"

Publisher: Almqvist & Wiksell International | 2005 | ISBN: 9122021167 | PDF | 451 pages | 3 MB

Fasting during the holy month of Ramadan is both a joy and a jihad for the Islamic community in Java, and it is arguably the most highly esteemed Muslim ritual in Indonesia (and beyond). To be given the opportunity to abstain from food, drink and sexual relations from the early morning hours till sunset during an entire month in a tropical climate - only to fill the nights with additional and supererogatory Ramadanic rituals - is thus waited upon each year and seen as a true blessing.

This is, according to the Javanese, what rightly can be denoted as the "greater Jihad." It is thus a struggle or exertion (jihad) that is both harder and more important within Islam than the "lesser jihad," or physical warfare, and it is directed towards one's own self and worldly desires. Taking into consideration that this month of fasting is of such immense importance to Muslims in Java and elsewhere, it is rather surprising to see how little scholarly activity it has caused.

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