Editorial: Moments of joy, forgiving

Ramadhan is coming to an end and Muslims in Indonesia and across the world will celebrate Idul Fitri — a festival that marks the completion of the month-long fasting and its associated prayers and rituals.

Although the starting point for the post-Ramadhan celebration may vary from one group to another, such differences should not reduce enjoyment of the festivities, let alone trigger disunity and disharmony.

Muslims deserve to celebrate the festivities as they have obediently taken a break from the routine, including refraining from food, drink and sex from sunrise till dusk; exercising restraint, particularly controlling their temper, and performing prayers and rituals with a greater frequency and quantity than in any other month in the Islamic calendar.

However, joy and hardship are like two sides of the same coin. Apart from enjoying the Idul Fitri celebration that complements every individual’s religious achievement during Ramadhan, Idul Fitri will also mean hardship for almost every household here, including non-Muslims, as the dreaded time of the year has come: no maids. Year in, year out, millions of families face the chaos of doing household chores in the absence of their domestic helpers.

Every Idul Fitri holiday, or Lebaran, people try to take on the stress of doing these jobs. And yet daily spending goes up, by at least three times, as soon as there is no one to do the washing or cooking at home, not to mention the mental and physical energy involved as millions suddenly juggle household and work responsibilities.

Every Idul Fitri also means extra expenditure. With mudik (homecoming), for decades it has been a tradition for most Indonesian families to reunite with friends and loved ones, and the joy of Idul Fitri celebration has always been connected with appearance and new clothes. Therefore, more money will be spent on the seasonal home-bound travel and the purchase of personal goods and clothes.

Above all these seasonal festivities and the homecoming tradition, Idul Fitri is the perfect time for Muslims to forgive and forget any differences or animosities that may have occurred with others during the past year. It comes as no surprise if here in Indonesia the popular Idul Fitri greeting minal aidin wal faizin is widely associated with the act of forgiving and seeking forgiveness, although it literally means happy returns of the feast. It does not matter anyway, as Idul Fitri marks a return to human nature as God’s most distinguished creature after one month of purification.

We hope that all holiday revelers arrive home safely to enjoy Idul Fitri with their loved ones. Meanwhile, for those who opt to stay in the capital city, this is a good opportunity to relish congestion-free traffic, at least for a week.

Happy Idul Fitri everyone.