Reborn as (hopefully) better Muslims

Reborn as (hopefully) better Muslims

Ahmad Najib Burhani, Jakarta

Wishes of Selamat Lebaran, minal aidin wal faizin! are heard
everywhere on Idul Fitri. On Idul Fitri Eve, people gather in
the mosques for takbir prayers (glorification of God) until
midnight. In the streets, the sound of the bedug drums and the
chanting of Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar is heard from the mosques
all through the night. It is a symbol of happiness at the end of
the fasting.

Idul Fitri is a celebration of the end of the fasting month.
In a very simplified sense, people say that fasting is abstaining
from food, drink, etc. But, in fact, it is more difficult to
refrain from what the mouth produces than from what the mouth
consumes.

Saying "No" to a slice of cake is easier than, for instance,
controlling our temper. In prophetic tradition, Muslims are
prohibited from hurting others, both non-Muslims and Muslims.
Ramadhan is a time for reflection and disengagement, a time of
worship and devotion to God, self-discipline, austerity and
giving alms. It is also a time for reflection, purifying one's
behavior, and doing good deeds. We should also contemplate about
our status as a Muslim. We should ask ourselves, "How deep is my
faith in Islam and my knowledge about Islam? How great is my
reverence for it? To what extent and in what form is my
submission to it? Am I accepting the right understandings or
teachings of Islam?"

Fasting during Ramadhan is a calendrical rite for Muslims. It
is intended as a process of social transformation or as a
catharsis.

In Ramadhan, Muslims find themselves in a condition of
separation from their previous state or situation. After fasting,
they are reborn into society in a transformed state or situation.

In their daily lives, Muslims live in a structured fashion.
They eat, drink, work, and wake up in a regular or customary way.
Perhaps, they eat three times a day, wake up at 4 or 5 o'clock in
the morning, and work from 8 am until 4 pm. In Ramadhan, Muslims
live in an anti-structured world. They live outside the normal
structures of society.

After Ramadhan, they will return once more to the structure but in
different way. What is the intention of this anti-structural
life? Just like an initiation process, the anti-structural life
is a stage of change in our lives from our past form to a new
form.

After the fasting days or the anti-structured period are over,
there is Idul Fitri or -- as it called in Indonesia -- Lebaran.
It is a religious feast on the first day of the next month when
Muslims formally break their fast. Riyoyo -- as it is called in Java
-- is a day of victories for those who have fasted during
Ramadhan, so Muslims celebrate it.

The meaning of Idul Fitri goes back to the word fithrah.
Fithrah is a natural tendency. Therefore, Idul Fitri is a kind of
rebirth in a new life, a new Muslim. As a symbol of starting a
new life, people wear new clothes, and those who can afford it
repaint their houses and brighten up their living rooms with
flowers and new furniture.

As a way of preserving a continuous tradition, celebrating a
new life in Idul Fitri with symbolic manifestations such as new
clothes -- and performing sungkem (kneeling to show respect) in
many traditional Javanese families-- might be important. However,
is that symbolic manifestation really portraying the process of
transforming our lives from the old model (old structure) to the
new model (new structure)? Do we truly discard our bad habits? Do
we become aware of some bad aspect of our religiosity before
Ramadhan and then change it after the holy month?

Our religious life is often colored by sad events and even
catastrophes. To mention some unfortunate aspects connected with
religion that occurred before Ramadhan, there was the second Bali
bombings and the issue of Islamic terrorism, the attack on the
Mubarok campus -- belonging to the Indonesian Ahmadiyah
Congregation (JAI) -- in Bogor by a swarm of brutes calling
themselves Indonesian Muslim Solidarity (GUII), controversy over
11 MUI (Indonesian Ulema Council) edicts, the issue of the
expulsion of the Liberal Islam Network (JIL) from Utan Kayu, East
Java, the sealing of some places used for Christian worship in
Garut, and the attacks by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) on
some cafes and churches in Jakarta.

Our expression of Islamic tradition and civilization also
appeared in two contrasting and troubling ways; crises of
identity and acute social frustration. Some Muslims often promote
apologetic views such as Islam has liberated women, was
compatible with and even created democracy, endorsed pluralism,
protected human rights, and guaranteed social security.

Meanwhile, some others project their feelings of powerless,
alienation and defeat not by claiming Western civilization as
their own, but, quoting from Khaled Abou El Fadl's statement, by
defining "Islam as the exact antithesis of the West, under the
guise of reclaiming the true and real Islam." Terrorism is an
expression from those who feel powerless, aggrieved and desperate
to undermine the superpower.

With Ramadhan and Lebaran, we hope that we will be reborn again
with a new identity, as new Muslims. Finally, Lebaran is all
about giving, forgiving, charity, feasts, and, above all,
starting a new life! Happy Idul Fitri 1426 H. May the spirit of
forgiveness and wishing each other well always remain our hearts.

The writer is a researcher with the Research Centre for
Society and Culture (PMB) and the Indonesian Institute of
Sciences (LIPI), and an activist in Pemuda Muhammadiyah. He can
be reached at najib27@yahoo.com.