Celebrating Eid el-Fitr 1427 H

Today is a great day. It’s Eid al-Fitri al-Mubarak! To many Muslims, it’s the day of victory after the completion of one-month fasting.

To be sure, celebrating Eid al-Fitr here in Adelaide is rather different from that in our home country. In the night of 1 Shawwal, just after sunset of the last day of Ramadhan, a little sadness came into our hearts. We suddenly realize that we're going to celebrate this year’s Eid far from our beloved families, in particular our parents. At the moment, we could not have "mudik", which is an Indonesian unique tradition of going home to visit the parents. Some of friends have to celebrate the Eid even far from their spouses and kids. Such a sad feeling could reach a peak when we’re together having “Takbiran”, a very special words and ceremony to express the greatness of the only God, the Almighty Lord of the World. It’s just because we used to have it together with our families and relatives in our home villages.

Apart from such a feeling, we have almost all the same ceremonies and rituals as we used to have them in our home country. Indonesian Muslim society in Adelaide had “Takbiran” last night in Mbak Yayuk’s house, a permanent resident living in a suburb called Warradale. In the morning, my family went to Majid al-Khalil (about 45 minutes from Pasadena, where we're living) to perform Eid praying with thousands people from different ethnics and nations. Some friends performed it in Adelaide Mosque and Clovelly Park Hall. After the praying, Indonesian Muslims gathered in Adelaide Botanic Garden to celebrate this very special day. Some friends and I actually had classes, yet many of us did not attend them. In the afternoon, we went to some friends’ houses just to “copy” the tradition in our home country -, that is relatives' home visit to “share peace and forgiveness” after Ramadhan.

FYI, today, we also have a variety of Indonesian traditional foods. Nasi kuning, lontong sayur, opor ayam, etc, all are available to serve in the Botanic Garden and in some Indonesian Muslim houses. In my house, my wife has prepared many Lontongs and opor ayam, just like having Eid al-Fitr in Indonesia.