I don't think I've ever really talked about my experiences as a Muslim in a country where Muslims minorities. So I moved to the UK when I was 13 years old, and for the first 13 years of my life I lived in Indonesia, a country where the majority of the population are Muslims. There are quite a lot of Muslims in the UK, they make up around 5% of the total population. So it's not majorly difficult, but of course there are adjustments in practising the religion.
Prayers
As a Muslim I (try to) pray 5 times a day which are divided at specific time range during the day. When I was at school, it was a bit difficult to pray at school so I usually pray at home after school, depending on the season I might have to combine two of the prayers into one. When I started working, I was able to pray in a changing room, or a meeting room, or near the fire exit during the day. I told my manager that I would need to take 10 minutes out to pray and he was okay with it. In Indonesia, there was a mosque next to my school since I attended an Islamic school, and there is usually a prayer room in offices.
When I go out for a whole day, for example for shopping, I would usually pray in changing rooms. I've also had to pray in public transport, on a bench in a park, in a restaurant, you name it. I still don't feel comfortable to pray where people can see me, even if I pray while sitting down, so I try as much as possible to pray in a secluded area. In Indonesia, there are prayer rooms in the shopping mall and most of public spaces, so it's a lot easier to pray whilst you're out and about.
During summer, Ishaa, the last prayer of the day, comes really late at night. Therefore we are allowed to combine it together with Maghrib (done at sunset) if it is too difficult to stay awake before the time for Ishaa comes. Sometimes I have to do the same with Zuhoor (midday-ish) and Ashar (afternoon) if their time comes too close together during winter whilst I was at work.
I do feel bad sometimes having to combine the prayers, or doing prayer in a rush whilst out and about...trying to improve with each day I suppose!
Food
I eat halal food and drinks, which means meat which are cut in a specific way, no pork, no alcohol, and a few other exceptions but those are the main ones. In Indonesia, the majority of places to eat and drink are halal so it's quite easy to eat out. In the UK, there aren't a lot of places that serve halal food/meat, especially outside of London and Birmingham. So, most of the time when I do eat out, I order vegetarian or seafood dishes. UK is very vegetarian friendly, and lately even vegan friendly. Different story with France, they love their meat here, although I think they have started to bring vegetarian dishes too. It's not too much of a bother for me, sure sometimes I wish I can eat that mouthwatering steak that they put a picture of in the menu, but I can live with it. In any case, I save up a bit of money not eating out as much. I do have a favourite chain restaurant in the UK though, it's called Las Iguanas, and they serve halal chicken, lamb, duck and goat in all their branches (https://www.iguanas.co.uk/about). They do Latin American food and I love ordering their tapas and churros, because I prefer to eat small sizes but large variety of food. I also often check out the Halal Girl About Town website (https://www.halalgirlabouttown.com/) which reviews restaurants serving halal dishes across the UK (and other countries too where she goes for her travels).
In terms of halal raw meat, there are halal butchers in the cities I've lived in the UK, as well as pre-packaged halal raw meat in a few supermarkets (Asda and Tesco). In Grenoble, there are plenty of halal butchers and even more supermarkets sell halal raw and processed meat (Auchan, Carrefour and Casino). So for me, there isn't really any excuse to eat non-halal food.
Ramadhan and Eid
Ramadhan is the month where Muslims fast from sun dawn until sunset. It is the holy month for Muslims and in Indonesia (and I imagine in other majority Muslim countries too) there is a special vibe when the month comes. I never really get the same vibe in the UK (which I guess is pretty obvious). However, the local Muslim community usually hold events weekly to break fast together which makes it the experience the little bit more familiar. In some cities, there is even an event called Open Iftar (https://www.openiftar.co.uk/) where anyone (not just Muslims) can come to a specific place to have a free meal during Iftar (the time to break fast) and eat together. I attended one in London and it was lovely, there was a little talk, then we break our fast, followed by a prayer, and then everyone eats. You will meet and talk to new people as you are seated in front of and next to others on the floor, so you really get that community feels.
For Eid, the local Muslim community usually hold an Eid prayer in the morning followed by eating dishes that everyone brings, and afterwards my family and I would usually gather with other Indonesian to eat more food. Eid in Indonesia is like Christmas in the UK. In Indonesia, I usually travel to other cities to have gatherings with the big family, people usually take a holiday for a week or more. Whereas in the UK, we usually have to take time off school/work for a day to celebrate, then the next day everyone goes back to school/work. When I was in University I even had to go back to the lab after I did the Eid prayer in the morning.
I feel that those three categories are the most obvious ones in terms of differences between the UK (and possibly other western region) and Indonesia (and possibly other Muslim majority countries). In terms of social experiences with people, well, that will need to be another post by itself!
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