Ramadan Around the World, After Class Talk #4
Ramadan Around the World, After Class Talk #4. International Office of Telkom University held another After Class Talk event (5/5) in collaboration with Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS Malaysia. This session was held in the month of Ramadan under the theme “Ramadan Around the World”. Attended by more than 40 participants, this session invited 3 international students from two universities. They are Irfan B Jusmila (UTP), Amal M Sayed (Tel-U) and Ayuba Jobarteh (Tel-U).
Irfan, a student from Malaysia, told how the Moslem community carried out Ramadan in Malaysia. In Malaysia, Moslem fast for 13 hours. Ramadan is not only celebrated by the Moslem community, but also non-Moslem because during Ramadan there will be many Ramadan bazaars, an annual gathering of food stalls which offers a variety of local scrumptious and mouth-watering delicacies for ‘iftar’. However, due to the Covid pandemic, there are restrictions on holding Ramadan bazaars and have a crowd so that many people only spend their Ramadan at home. Meanwhile, other activities such as Tarawih prayer are mostly done at home. However, this did not reduce the enthusiasm to do fasting in the month of Ramadan. Like Indonesia, Irfan said that activities after ramadan such as Hari Raya are mostly celebrated at home with unique traditions such as giving some money called ‘Duit Raya’ to the younger ones.
Ramadan in Egypt
Meanwhile, Amal, a student from Egypt, shared that Ramadan in Egypt is always filled with various activities, such as performances at night. And also during Ramadan there will be many Ramadan decorations that are put up in Muslim homes. In addition, there are routine activities that are always carried out in Egypt during Ramadan, where many people provide food for those who break their fast. Egyptians will put up large tables in front of their houses and distribute food to anyone who is going to break their fast.
Different with Ayuba, a student from Gambia, where he shared that Ramadan is always a special month in Gambia because there is a lot of goodness to be gained. The tradition of breaking the fast in Gambia is a little different because they follow a three-day meal, so even during Ramadan they will eat three times a day for suhoor, iftar and dinner. The unique tradition on Hari Raya as in Indonesia and Malaysia is the same, they usually give some money to the children.
This year’s Ramadan is felt differently for all Moslems in the world because of Covid pandemic. However, it is hoped that we can immediately carry out Ramadan under normal conditions.
The After Class Talk 2021 presents two main topics about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the International Student Series program which invites international students, professionals, and academics to deliver sessions sharing any area of interest and related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There will be more upcoming interested topics on International Students. So, stay tune, keep up your good health and don’t forget to register.(IO)***
