Ramadan in Kelantan

Last week, I spent the final few days of Ramadan (the Muslim month of fasting) and Hari Raya (day of celebration = "boo ya, Allah is cool with us eating now") with my coworker and his family in Kelantan, on the east coast of Malaysia. I had wanted to see traditional Malaysia for quite some time and now was my chance. I was probably the only white person in the village, which was situated next to some rice paddies and a 20 minute drive from the capital of Kelantan, Kota Bahru. To give you some idea of just how 'different' this place was: the slogan for Kota Bahru is "Kota Bahru: the Islamic City". Even though I don't think this is very creative, it speaks to the prevalence of Muslims and ethnic Malay people here. In fact, the government at one point tried to impose Islamic Shariah law here at one point. Note: this project failed.

I fasted from food (makanan) for the final four days of Ramadan and then broke fast (buka puasa) every night with the family. We gathered in the kitchen, sat cross-legged on the floor, and dug in to the plates of chicken, rice, beef, a few veggies, and sometimes some desserts. And when I say dig in, I mean it. We ate with our right hands, formed like shovels:-) After dinner (which was always new and delicious), I played with the kids, read, watched some fireworks or napped:-) Fasting takes a lot out of you:-P The father of the house only spoke Malay so my conversations with him were abbreviated and often consisted of him making kissy faces trying to refer to different things around the room. Because he had trouble pronounced my name, he called me either 'Azrul' or 'Orang Putih'. The first is a generic Malay name and the second means 'white person'. Above, there are a few pictures of the kids, fireworks, and food...

Finally the day of celebration came! And boy, was it a celebration. I dressed in Baju Melayu (traditional Malay clothing--see above) and welcomed neighbors as they arrived. The day started with eating...really. I woke up and went into the kitchen to greet the family saying "Andrew, Andrew, makan makan" which means "Andrew, Andrew, eat eat" Then, on to more food with the neighbors in my friend's traditional house. After that, we walked around to the neighbors' houses (many of whom we had just seen) and ate MORE! I think I got full 4 times a day for the following few days. I did not feel that healthy, though I ate some delicious food!

On my final day there, I attended a traditional Malay engagement ceremony. The entire family drove an hour to the fiance's house and was greeting by gifts and a lot of food. We ate, the men talked about the terms of the engagement, the rings were exchanged, and then we left. It was a really great time of experiencing some of the social and cultural traditions of this place.

Note: if some were taken back by my comment about Allah, I will explain here. 1. In Psalm 51, David's Psalm of repentance, he says "sacrifice and burnt offering you did not desire, but a contrite heart." I think this highlights not the anti-nomian nature of the true Gospel of Christ but the true call to an inward repentence and reconciliation with God, rather than merely an external, law-based discipline. 2. Although the word 'Allah' is the translation for the word 'God,' Christians know a different God, I would argue, than Muslims know. Its a failure to refer to the same God, in this case. My light-hearted comment about Allah does not refer to the God who sent his son Jesus Christ, but rather to a god whose followers reject the divinity of Christ and the redemptive power of the cross. If we were in the time of Ireneaus, this god would be called a false god.