Thousands line up for free meat at Istiqlal Mosque

Thousands line up for free meat at Istiqlal Mosque

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Over 3,000 people, mostly from the lower income bracket, lined up
at the Istiqlal Mosque, Central Jakarta, to get their share of
sacrificial meat during the Idul Adha celebration on Friday.

Idul Adha is the Islamic holy day that commemorates the
Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham)'s willingness to sacrifice his son,
Ismael, to Allah. On this day, the well-to-do donate animals,
mostly cattle and goats, to mosques which then slaughter them and
give the meat to the destitute.

The Istiqlal Mosque received 21 cows and 26 goats from
luminaries such as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice
President Jusuf Kalla, five Cabinet members, and even Siti
Hardiyanti Rukmana, a daughter of former president Soeharto.

At least 11 cows were slaughtered, with the meat then being
divided up and packaged into 3,000 bags weighing approximately
one kilogram, worth about Rp 15,000 each.

The goats and the remaining cows will be slaughtered today and
the meat distributed to orphanages and charitable foundations.
Last year, the mosque slaughtered 13 cows and 23 goats.

Unlike in previous years, the sacrificial meat was distributed
inside the mosque.

"We want to make it more humane and avoid the crowd rushing
forward, as happened in previous years," said Rozali Yunus, the
chief guard at the mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia.

The first five minutes of distribution were relatively calm.
However, as there were only two carts distributing the meat and
twelve long rows of men, women, and children, the crowd became
restless and started to gather around the carts.

The distribution was temporarily halted for Friday prayers.
Some people chose to leave empty handed, while some continued to
wait.

"It's OK if I don't get any. My daughter can't wait any
longer," said Dedi Sunarya, who had been waiting with four-year-
old Helen since 7 a.m.

Riky, who came along with his father, decided to sell his
coupon for Rp 7,000. "I'll come back later, who knows they might
have leftovers."

Other people decided to sell the meat directly to traders.
"It's better this way, otherwise it will go unused," said
Haryanto, who does not have a stove in his home, as quoted by
Antara.

Vendors of sacrificial animals said that this year's sales
were lower than last year. Dedy, who sold 20 cows last year, has
only managed to sell seven this year. He also has 30 goats
remaining out of 100 goats.

"There is more competition this year. Also, supermarkets such
as Carrefour are selling animals," said Dedy, who is a vendor in
Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

Meanwhile residents in flooded areas such as Kampung Melayu,
Manggarai, Jatinegara and Kalibata received sacrificial meat from
local mosques.

Thousands of Kampung Melayu residents were not able to spend
Idul Adha at home as their houses were still flooded.

"A lot of residents were not able to attend Idul Adha prayers
as they did not have clean and dry clothes," said M. Lutfi Kamal,
the head of Kampung Melayu subdistrict.

As of 9:30 a.m. yesterday, more than 1,400 Kampung Melayu
residents remained stranded in emergency shelters, down from
Wednesday's count of 9,000.

"It's not nice at all to have to spend Idul Adha in a tent,"
said Aminah, one of the residents who has not been able to return
home.