First day of Ramadan in Year 2011

Hello world. It has been really a while since I fast. To really really fast is not to eat and drink from dawn to dusk. For a muslim, the dawn is marked by the azan (the call for prayer) of subuh prayer. It is not obligatory but strongly encouraged to eat just before the dawn and stop 10 minutes before the azan, sort of like a breakfast to prepare the body for the journey ahead. Then, the dusk, when the breaking of fast is permitted when the azan for maghrib is being called. Depending on where you are in the world, the duration of fasting may vary from place to place. As such, at any time of the day in the world, azan can be heard somewhere in the world, due to timing difference from one place to another.

Today, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the beginning of fasting, as mentioned is during the azan of subuh, which happened today at 5.51 am. And the breaking of fast will be during the azan of maghrib which will occur at 7.30 pm. Therefore, today I will be fasting for 13 hours and 45 minutes, since I stop eating before dawn, at 5.45 am, i.e. few minutes before the azan of subuh. The practice to eat before dawn that I am encourage to do is called "sahur". While the practice of breaking the fast is called iftar. Many of the unfamiliar terms mentioned is in Arabic words, with slightly different spelling as compared to other writings.

It is almost half past six in the evening. I am alone at the back of the office waiting for iftar. I am planning to break the fast at the nearby mosque which at times like this prepare food for people like me. I am not feeling hungry typing. Just now when everyone was here, it has been a mixed feeling. Talking and laughing has resulted in slight realization of hungriness and thirstiness.

I am one man without anyone waiting for me at home at this moment. My parents is overseas while my sister is 3 hours drive from here. She is married with one daugther. I am always with one mission to find a wife, for the rest of my life.