'Takbiran' is more unified<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): In many local neighborhoods, the coming of Idul
\nFitri on Friday was marked with people hurrying to and from
\nhouses carrying rantang (sets of stacked containers) of food.<\/p>\n
Inside the rantang containers were ketupat, rice cake boiled
\nin rhombus shaped packets of plaited coconut leaves, and various
\nother traditional foods that many people still identify with the
\nend of the Moslem fasting month of Ramadhan.<\/p>\n
As the well accepted custom dictates, the person who brings a
\ncontainer full of food cannot go home empty handed; his or her
\nrantang is filled again with similar food, all with a different
\ntaste due to having been cooked by different people.<\/p>\n
Even in modern housing complexes such as Bintaro Jaya and
\nPondok Indah, whose busy residents usually do not have time for
\nvisiting, many people were spotted carrying the containers from
\none house to another.<\/p>\n
Late Thursday afternoon, almost all mosques had started to
\nwelcome the celebration with the beating of beduk (drums) and the
\nresounding recitation of takbiran, the praise of Allah's name,
\nall night.<\/p>\n
Right after the Idul Fitri prayers on Friday morning, held in
\nmosques and any nearby empty lot, people joyously greeted one
\nanother with Minal Aidin Wal Faidzin, the Arabic words which is a
\nrequest for complete forgiveness, or the Indonesian version Maaf
\nLahir dan Batin.<\/p>\n
These words will continue to echo in offices and work places
\nfor the next several days as people resume work after the two-day
\nMoslem Idul Fitri holiday and Sunday.<\/p>\n
For the first time in many years, this Idul Fitri saw an
\nabsence of noisy debates among astronomers and scholars on when
\nthe holiday should be celebrated.<\/p>\n
Thanks to the government's rigorous campaign for a unified
\nonset and end of Ramadhan, all of the major Moslem organizations,
\nincluding the usually-dissenting Nahdlatul Ulama, agreed that
\nIdul Fitri fell on Friday.<\/p>\n
This agreement was a major feat, as Moslems here, and in many
\nother parts of the globe as well, have often differed on the
\nmatter for many reasons, including different methods of
\ndetermination.<\/p>\n
Last year, Nahdlatul Ulama urged its some 30 million followers
\nto stop fasting and celebrate Idul Fitri a day earlier than the
\ndate ruled by the government.<\/p>\n
This year the Ministry of Religious Affairs announced on
\nWednesday evening that 17 out of 19 calendars issued by major
\nMoslem organizations determined that a new moon, which signifies
\nthe end of Ramadhan, would not be seen on that day.<\/p>\n
Investigation teams of the 19 organizations, posted in various
\nparts of the country, also failed to sight the new moon then.<\/p>\n
The organizations' representatives then agreed to complete the
\nfasting month to its 30th day, and celebrated the holiday on
\nFriday. Among the organizations were Muhammadiyah, Nahdlatul
\nUlama, and Persatuan Islam.<\/p>\n
Differences did occur, but they concerned only with small
\ngroups such as the congregation of a mosque in Central Jakarta
\nand a boarding school in East Jakarta. They celebrated the Idul
\nFitri on Thursday, as did people in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
As for the Idul Fitri prayers, several locations in Jakarta
\nsaw the gatherings of thousands of people. President Soeharto,
\nVice President Try Sutrisno, cabinet ministers and foreign
\ndignitaries joined thousands of Jakarta's Moslems in the Grand
\nMosque Istiqlal.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema Hasan Basri said
\nin his sermon in Istiqlal that only faithful people will make
\nIndonesia a quality nation able to withstand the rush for
\nglobalization.<\/p>\n
Afterward, President Soeharto and First Lady Tien Soeharto in
\ntheir residence received Vice President and Mrs. Tuti Try
\nSutrisno who visited for a halal bihalal, a traditional rite of
\nstating and seeking forgiveness for past mistakes.<\/p>\n
At the Senayan Eastern Square, some 100,000 prayed and
\nlistened to the Idul Fitri sermon delivered by famous preacher
\nZainuddin M.Z. Some celebrities, including the \"king\" of dangdut
\nmusic Rhoma Irama and poet W.S. Rendra, were seen among the
\ncongregation there.<\/p>\n
At the Ministry of Transmigration, noted Moslem poet Taufik
\nIsmail said in his sermon that Moslems needed to strengthen
\nsocial solidarity by cultivating an alms-giving habit.<\/p>\n
\"Increase this habit to four, five times, cease seeking
\nbusiness profits to provide for seven generations (of family)
\nafter your own,\" Taufik said. \"(Earning) to provide for one
\ngeneration is enough, give the rest to the poor.\"<\/p>\n
Minister of Defense and Security Gen. Edi Sudradjat attended
\nthe prayer service at the Mosque Taqwa located on the ministry
\ncompound, while Maj. Gen. Koesparmono Irsan, deputy to National
\nPolice Chief for operational affairs, joined other members of the
\nNational Police in their prayers at the Bhayangkari Square.<\/p>\n
In South Banten, West Java, some 3,000 recently-converted
\nMoslems in the Baduy society, whose majority adhere to a pre-
\nIslamic system of belief called Sunda Wiwitan, also celebrated
\nIdul Fitri on Friday.<\/p>\n
As did their brethren throughout the country, the Baduy
\nMoslems spent the previous night by beating the mosques' drum and
\npraising Allah, and visiting relatives and friends.<\/p>\n
In Surabaya, East Java, Governor Basofi Soedirman and military
\ncommander Maj. Gen. Haris Sudarno joined around 200,000 Moslems
\npraying at the headquarters of the Brawijaya military command.<\/p>\n
Preacher Qosim Nurseha told the gathering that Indonesians who
\nwere unable to exercise self-restraint, as is taught by Islam,
\nwill undermine the national development efforts.<\/p>\n
Some 5,000 Moslems in the predominantly-Hindhu Bali province
\nprayed at the Puputan Square after listening to Governor Ida
\nBagus Oka's broadcast earlier that Moslems contributed more to
\nthe efforts to eradicate poverty. Some Rp 22 million (US$ 10,000)
\nof zakat fitrah (tithe donated to the poor in rice or money a few
\ndays before Idul Fitri) was collected.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta and other major cities, most of the mosques
\ngrounds, roads and other lots displayed an identical scene: heaps
\nof torn, dirty newspapers used by the Moslems as their prayer
\nmats.<\/p>\n
In Surabaya, according to the Antara news agency, some 200
\nroad sweepers had to \"celebrate\" the holiday by picking up and
\ncleaning up the roads strewn with paper.<\/p>\n
Many Jakartan Moslems chose not to go straight home after the
\nIdul Fitri prayers, but went to cemeteries to pay homage to their
\nlate relatives. As usual, this ritual created heavy traffic in
\nsurrounding areas, such as near Tanah Kusir and Pondok Kelapa
\ncemeteries.<\/p>\n
Beggars, vendors of flower petals, and informal cemetery
\nworkers, who offer to clean graves for a fee, all contributed to
\nthe activities which are uniquely of Indonesian Moslems.
\n(team\/swe)<\/p>",
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