When the sun sets
2013
Ramadan is an important month for Muslims around the world. For 30 days, those who observe the fast abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, sex and other forms of consumption between dawn and sunset.
For some people in the West, the rituals and customs of the Islamic world can be difficult to understand and are sometimes dismissed as outdated or conservative. I am in Yogyakarta, on the Indonesian island of Java, and I want to understand what the fasting month means to people here and how they experience it.
With an estimated 230 million Muslims, Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world. It is therefore hardly surprising that Ramadan is an important time of year here. Muslim or not, the annual rituals surrounding Ramadan are an inescapable part of life.