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| Lutfi's time when he visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque (Photo: By courtesy) |
Having a chance to undergo Ramadan fasting in a country that has a thick Islamic culture like the United Arab Emirates is a dream for some Muslim communities in our country. This luck came to Lutfiana Sausan, a student at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM) who is currently undergoing the 2022 Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) student exchange program in Abu Dhabi. For the first time undergoing the month of Ramadan in a foreign country, Lutfi has a myriad of new experiences.
Lutfi explained that the time for suhoor and iftar is always different every day. From day to day the time for the dawn prayer continues to advance, while the time for the evening prayer continues to retreat. This makes the fasting time longer each day. In addition, the climate in Abu Dhabi is very hot. During the day the temperature can reach 42 degrees celsius. With such a hot climate, the last of three children admitted that he avoids outdoor activities during the day.
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“I start my fast at 04.30 and break my fast at 18.48. But now I have suhoor at 04.26 and break my fast at 18.55. Because of the time difference that often occurs, my friends and I have to pay better attention to time,” said the industrial engineering student.
Meanwhile, to perform the tarawih prayer, Lutfi chose the third largest mosque in the world, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Lutfi said that to get to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, he and his friends had to travel 14 kilometers every day. With this distance, it takes Lutfi an hour by bus and 14 minutes by taxi.
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"In general, the implementation of the Tarawih prayers here is the same as in Indonesia. Only, for the last ten-day, the tarawih and witr prayers are separated. The witr prayer will be held at midnight along with the tahajjud prayer. What amazes me is that with such a large mosque, every day it is always full of people. The covid protocol is also strictly enforced, one example is the distribution of disposable prayer mats to the congregation," said Lutfi.
Another unique experience he had was being able to taste food from all over the world. At the beginning of the month of Ramadan, Lutfi and other international students did iftar together in the dormitory. Each student brings special food from his country.
“Usually to break my fast, I buy a typical Egyptian bread called Umm Ali. The bread is at the same time my favorite food while here. However, when breaking fast with other international students, I was very impressed because our dining table was filled with international food that I saw for the first time. There was one food that became my favorite at that time, which was processed meat with yogurt and a taco on it,” explained the student from Malang. (*/wil)
