Fak-Fak tribe in Papua maintains holiday traditions

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Papua

Visiting friends and families at Idul Fitri has been a long- standing tradition for the Fak-Fak tribe, the majority of whom are Muslim.

They live in Fak-Fak regency, hundreds of kilometers west of Jayapura, the capital of Papua.

According to the Fak-Fak annual Idul Fitri tradition, Muslims visit their friends or relatives after they have performed Idul Fitri prayers in mosques or fields in the morning.

The prayers mark the end of Ramadhan, when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk for a month.

Carrying tifa (traditional Papuan musical instruments) and tambourines, some Muslims form groups, walking and playing the instruments on their way to the houses of friends and family.

"When I lived in Fak-Fak, the sound of instruments was a signal for us that our neighbors would visit us to celebrate Idul Fitri together. Shortly after we heard the sound, we then prepared food, biscuits and drink, so that we could enjoy them together with our guests," Zubair Husein, a leading figure from the Fak-Fak tribe, living in Jayapura, told The Jakarta Post a few days ago.

The visit is usually short, because other groups of Muslims will be waiting afterward, he said.

A religious atmosphere can be felt very strongly in the surrounding Muslim neighborhood in Fak-Fak regency during Idul Fitri and for several days afterward, because shalawat (prayers of adoration for God) are chanted for seven days after Idul Fitri, said Zubair.

Fak-Fak regency, where the Fak-Fak tribe live, is one of 28 regencies in Papua, a province where a majority of the population is Catholic.

Hundreds of years ago, Fak-Fak regency used to be under the territory of the Sulawesi-based Tidore sultanate, so the Islamic influence in the area was evident.

This can explain why the culture of the Fak-Fak tribe is so different to other cultures in Papua. Fak-Fak is simply a blend of Malay culture from the West and Melanesia from the East.

Celebrating Idul Fitri was one manifestation of cultural difference between the Fak-Fak tribe and other tribes in Papua.

According to Zubair, as time went by and civilization became more modern, the Idul Fitri tradition changed slightly.

He said that the change could be found clearly in Jayapura.

There, Muslims no longer visit their relatives or friends on foot, but use vehicles, partly because the houses of Muslims are quite far from each other.

Muslims here, mostly university students, visit relatives, friends or prominent religious leaders by car.

After getting out of their cars, they play the tifa and tambourines in front of the houses of friends or relatives, and then the gatherings begin.

A gathering is kicked off with Idul Fitri prayers, led by the oldest person, asking God to bestow health and wealth upon them.

After prayers have concluded, the hosts and guests begin to eat and drink whatever the host has provided for them. Hasan, a Fak-Fak university student in Jayapura, admitted that he had no idea when the tradition began.

In Fak-Fak, religious tolerance is magnificent.

"In Fak-Fak, if there is a Christian religious function, Muslims are involved in the function committee, and vice versa.

Religious tolerance is high. They belong to one family, and if there is a difference, then it is merely one of religion," said a reporter from state-run RRI radio station in Jayapura.

Zubair said that in Fak-Fak, members of a family can profess different religions, such as Islam, Catholicism or Protestantism.

But they do not perceive it as a problem, because their religion is merely a direct personal relationship between them and God.

"People in Fak-Fak understand that they are heterogeneous, so sectarian conflict cannot exist here," said Zubair.