Thank God it's Ramadhan

The holy month of Ramadhan always brings happiness for me, whereby I would be fasting from dawn to dusk every day for one full month, refrain myself from eating & drinking during fasting; and avoid thinking, feeling, doing, saying bad things. As a result, I can expect that after Ramadhan I would be healthier because of regular eating & drinking, slimmer and more wiser.

Last night, the Minister of Religion Maftuh Basyuni has announced that this year’s fasting month of Ramadhan will start tomorrow, Saturday, 22 August 2009.

But this year's Ramadhan is quite different from the past, whereby two largest Muslim organizations in Indonesia i.e. Nadhatul Ulama & Muhammadiyah, tend to be different in starting the Ramadan, this time they both have finally agreed to start on the same day. Beside both of them, there are 3 smaller organizations which have also agreed on the date i.e. Dewan Dakwah Islamiyah Indonesia, Al Irsyad and Persatuan Islam.

Further, there are other developments which are very good for Indonesia i.e signs of reconsiliation among Indonesian leaders which is shown by the congratulations given by the losing candidates of the presidential election i.e Jusuf Kalla/Wiranto, and Megawati/Prabowo, to the winner i.e. incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono and his running mate Boediono.

For details on the above, please click here, here and here.

Considering the above, I hope that this year's Ramadhan will strongly motivate the Indonesian Muslims to be more broad minded, have more respect on other people, think more positive and work much hard together, so that every problems can be solved much easier & faster. That way the development of Indonesia can be carried out a lot much faster.

Marhaban ya Ramadhan, Welcome Ramadhan.

Photo: Courtesy of Noorhadi Saleh/Foto Kita