GEORGE TOWN, MALAYSIA -- In any normal Ramadan, the month Muslims spend daytimes fasting as part of our religious practice, I would be anticipating the delights of iftar, the meal which breaks the fast in the evening, and looking forward to the week I spend in my hometown with my family.
Stretching across the whole ninth month of the shifting Islamic calendar, at the moment falling in spring, Ramadan requires fasting from dawn to dusk every day until Eid al-Fitr, the festival which ends the month. In Muslim-majority countries like Malaysia, fasting is a national ceremony, with community outreach, annual bazaars and, for many, an entire change to the pace and routine of daily life.
