Qurban Bayrami

Here in Bandung, anything and everything gets transported on motor scooters. We thought we had seen it all. People riding with birdcages on their backs, families of 5 crowded on, hauling all kinds of building materials, an office chair, foods, you name it. Then a couple of weeks ago when we were riding in traffic, Ronnie asked if I saw the ram riding on the motor scooter. By the time he said it, it had already disappeared into traffic, but I was relieved to hear it was only riding as a passenger! ha

Since that first spotting, we began noticing more and more rams tied to posts along road sides all over the city. We also saw a few emaciated looking cows gathered as well. We finally figured out that these animals were for sale and would be sacrificed at the mass slaughtering of animals for the Muslim holiday Qurban Bayrami (Eid-al-Adha in Arabic).

it's holiday time again!

I'll admit I had never heard of this holiday before we started seeing the signs, but after googling I discovered that Qurban literally means an act performed to seek Allah’s pleasure. That act is the sacrificing of an animal slaughtered for Allah's sake. Muslims are expected to buy one of these rams and sacrifice it approximately 70 days after the end of the month of Ramadan (Eid-ul-Fitr).

Forgive me while I plagiarize a bit but according to the Quran "the archangel Jebrail, having appeared in Ibrahim's dream, gave him a commandment of Allah who wanted to strengthen the faith through a sacrifice of his firstborn Ishmael. The prophet obeyed, but at the last moment, when he drew a knife over his son, the baby was replaced with a lamb."

Hmm....the story sounds familiar, but with several critical differences - the biggest one being the son's name. This explains a lot!

grazing peacefully

Anyway, Qurban (also sometimes called the Festival of Sacrifice) is an important holiday for the Muslims. The meat from the slaughtered animal is supposed to be divided into 3 parts. The family retains one third of the share. Another third is given to relatives, friends and neighbors, and the other third is given to the poor. That's the idea anyway.

hmm...am I a sapi or a domba?

Neither our driver nor our cleaning lady can afford to purchase a ram. So rather than sacrificing an animal and sharing it, I suspect that they will both be on the receiving end.

I was happy when I realized we would be in Singapore this weekend. It was nice not having to hear the constant and loud prayers associated with this holiday. Our friends who were here and in Jakarta reported that the calls/singing were nonstop and LOUD, so much so that they got very little sleep. My understanding is that they will go on for 2-3 days. I'm sure they are similar to the ones during Ramadan that almost drove us batty! With no AC, it's impossible NOT to hear them but now that we are in rainy season, the rain helps to muffle the sounds a bit - that and closing the windows. After hours of hearing the horrible moaning/droaning sounds, it's enough to make you want to jump off the nearest bridge.

On the way back from the airport, we saw a lot of men under a tent near our apartment and asked our driver what was going on. Dadang explained that the sacrifices were being carried out. We were glad we missed that.

they have no idea what's up