Borneo 4: Ramadan

Ramadan began this week. Ramadan begins when the first crescent moon of the 9th month of the Islamic calendar is seen. Being seen is critical and the general location to determine if the crescent moon is seen is Egypt. However, last week smog was so heavy in Egypt (and I doubt it was much better in Kuala Lumpur) that the moon actually could not be seen, at least by Islamic astronomers. Well, they declared Ramadan anyway.

I happened to come across the Malaysian National Islamic Mosque this afternoon, while walking through the city after a visit to the city Bird Park. Non-Muslims were allowed in after 5:30 and since it was 5:35 that sounded like an invitation.

The Mosque official that I spoke to was certainly friendly and happy to talk about Ramadan and the Mosque. During Ramadan, Muslims do not eat between sunrise and sunset (this has already caused a change in the restaurant hours in my hotel), and food is laid out for sunset (7:20 pm here) as seen above. By tradition here this starts with dates and a dessert and is then followed by a full meal. All can join, non-Muslims included, so during Ramadan, I suppose one could eat quite well for nothing. I was invited to join the feast but wasn't planning on being in the area that late.

Photo Credit: Me. Photos taken in the Malaysian National Mosque