At around 04:45 WIB on Thursday (19\/3) in the early hours, Ghina\nZuhairan hurriedly woke up for suhoor while preparing various items or\nnecessities in her rented room in the Jeulingke area, Kecamatan Syiah\nKuala, Kota Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh Province.<\/p>\n
A backpack and a handheld bag were already filled with clothes and\nitems considered important or sufficient for about a week of Eid al-Fitr\nholiday in 1447 H\/2026 AD. The motorcycle\u2019s fuel had been filled the day\nbefore.<\/p>\n
The medical student at Syiah Kuala University (USK) in Aceh quickly\nate suhoor with a slice of white bread and two glasses of plain water.\nThen she prepared herself while waiting for the time of Subuh prayer,\nwhich was only a dozen minutes away.<\/p>\n
The young doctor, currently interning at Zainoel Abidin General\nHospital (RSUZA), wanted to go home to Woe U Gampoeng (return to the\nvillage) to enjoy the mameugang day (the traditional day of eating meat\nor vegetable dishes with meat) together with her parents and family.\nThen to celebrate the beauty of Eid al-Fitr 1447 H in her\nbirthplace.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother and father are very precious in this life. They are the\nenergy to achieve the future, the light in silent darkness. Far from the\nhustle and bustle of traffic jams, vast rice fields stretch out, I miss\nmy hometown where we were born. I want to hear the melodious call of my\nmother in the kitchen while cooking mameugang meat.<\/p>\n
This heart always remembers you because the hometown is part of my\nlife story,\u201d thus partly expressed Ghina Zuhairan to Media Indonesia on\nThursday (19\/3).<\/p>\n
In the westernmost province of Indonesia, known as the Veranda of\nMecca, Mameugang and Eid are like two inseparable sides of a coin. This\nis a blend of tradition and religion that holds many meanings.<\/p>\n
Mameugang, or in other words megang, is a hereditary religious\ntradition where the child who has successfully grown into an adult buys\nmameugang meat for their mother and father. The wealthy share alms with\nthe poor. This cultural heritage tradition is carried out two days\nbefore Ramadan, two days before Eid al-Fitr, and two days before\nentering Eid al-Adha.<\/p>\n
Even in the era of the Aceh Sultanate under Sultan Iskandar Muda from\n1607-1635 AD, the poor, orphans, and other disadvantaged people were\ngiven mameugang meat and cloth for Eid clothes. Even though they had\nfasted for a month, on the day of happiness mameuhang, everyone could\ntaste the deliciousness of buffalo or beef curry.<\/p>\n
Eating meat dishes or breaking the fast together with the family is\nnot only an opportunity to share joy, but also an opportunity to meet\nwith equal social status.<\/p>\n
The desire to enjoy the mameugang tradition is not only a tradition\nto welcome Ramadan, to honour Eid al-Fitr, or a habit in anticipating\nEid al-Adha. But it also builds the religious character of the educated\ngeneration from the Veranda of Mecca wherever they are.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother is in the village. I really miss her cooking served every\nday. It\u2019s been 4 years studying in Jember, every time Eid comes I always\ncan\u2019t go home. Sometimes the holiday time is very short or due to\nlimited costs. I really miss gathering with family like other friends.\nI\u2019ve wanted to visit relatives and childhood friends for a long time,\nbut it never happens,\u201d recounted Teuku Khairil Akli, an eighth-semester\nstudent at the Faculty of Economics and Business, State University of\nJember (UNEJ), East Java, originally from Krueng Seumideuen, Pidie,\nAceh.<\/p>\n
Muhammad Jundi Rabbani, a final-semester student at Sakarya\nUniversity, Turkey, told Media Indonesia that he has been away from his\nhometown in Sigli, Pidie Regency, for seven years. Because he hasn\u2019t\nseen his mother\u2019s face and his father\u2019s wrinkled face directly for so\nlong, for Eid al-Fitr 1447 H this time, he has to bear an overwhelming\nlonging.<\/p>\n
The longing peaks most on Thursday in the early hours, precisely when\nin Aceh the first mameugang day takes place and the next day continues\nwith the second mameugang.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been in Turkey for 7 years, but for some reason this year the\nlonging for Aceh feels so suffocating. Especially when remembering the\nMameugang moments. Here the atmosphere is calm, but in the village,\nMameugang is like a \u2018fun war\u2019,\u201d said Muhammad Jundi Rabbani, the hafidh\nof 30 juz, who is studying in the Ilahiyat department in Recep Tayyip\nErdogan\u2019s country.<\/p>\n
The son of the couple Nur Ainun and Abdullah AR misses the mameugang\nhabit in Aceh of waking up at dawn, then going to the market that is\nextraordinarily crowded just to hunt for fresh beef. The sounds of\ntraders calling out to each other and rows of hanging meat are truly\ncharacteristic that don\u2019t exist in Sakarya, Turkey.<\/p>\n
Returning home, the kitchen immediately smells of spices from sie\nreuboh (boiled spiced meat) or rendang. Tired from cooking, but the joy\nis extraordinary because of eating a big meal together with the family.\nOn Eid day it\u2019s also different. Here, Eid al-Fitr feels like it passes\nquickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI miss walking to the mosque in Aceh while hearing the echoing\ntakbir everywhere. I also miss sitting in the living room, eating Eid\ncakes while chatting casually with neighbours and relatives who come and\ngo.<\/p>\n
Seven years have indeed made me accustomed to life in Turkey, but\nhonestly, nothing can replace the \u2018warmth\u2019 of Eid in Aceh,\u201d added\nJundi.<\/p>\n
Jundi admitted that in his life, it feels like something is missing\nif the day doesn\u2019t hear the bustle of the meat market and doesn\u2019t smell\nthe distinctive homemade cooking. Moreover, the young man who has been\nstudying abroad in the country neighbouring Iran now receives daily\ninformation about the tensions between the US-Israel and the land of the\nMullahs.<\/p>\n
A similar sentiment was expressed by Aulia Saiful Hadi, an alumnus of\nPrasetiya Mulya University, Tangerang, Banten. According to Aulia, the\nmost unbearable longing is the atmosphere of Meugang Day.<\/p>\n
The teenager from Reubee, Pidie Regency, Aceh, revealed that\nMameugang is not just about eating meat, but a symbol of togetherness\nand respect for parents. There is an extraordinary warmth.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-mameugang-tradition-in-aceh-binding-the-longing-to-return-to-ones-hometown-1773924692", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }