In the spirit of sharing and caring, followers of Islam in the capital are competing to do good deeds during the holy month of Ramadhan, including by providing snacks, locally known as takjil, to people breaking their fasts in mosques and to motorists on the streets.

Muslims believe that Ramadhan is a special month when every good deed earns multiple rewards from God, especially when they provide food to those who observe Ramadhan fasting.

Therefore, most residents delight in bringing snacks to nearby mosques that are open for people who want to break their fasts.

An hour before the adzan maghrib (call of prayer), which marks the fast-breaking time, echoed throughout her neighborhood on Tuesday, Yuanita Indah Sari, a 38-year-old resident of Kemanggisan in West Jakarta, rushed to the nearby Al-Abrar mosque and handed over gorengan (fried snacks), lontong (rice cakes) and es blewah (cantaloupe ice) to the mosque attendant.

“Today is my family’s turn to donate free takjil to the devotees,” she said.

Yuanita said residents around the mosque took turns to provide free takjil every day during Ramadhan.

“Before they made a schedule, the mosque was sometimes oversupplied with food as many people donated it at the same time. However, there could be no takjil at all on another day,” she said.

She said the schedule ensured that the mosque would always have takjil for everyone, both locals and travelers, to break their fasts.

“I provide around 30 portions. However, other residents also donate other food as well,” she said.

Besides snacks provided by Yuanita, mung bean porridge and kolak (sweet pumpkin and banana stew) are on the menu at the mosque.

Bisri, a 42-year-old worker from Blok M in South Jakarta, was one of the travelers who enjoyed the free takjil at Al-Abrar.

“I am going home to Tangerang and I was stuck in the traffic, so I decided to stop by at the mosque to break my fast and pray,” he said while munching on a rice cake.

Bisri said as an employee whose office hours ended at 5 p.m., he often got caught in the traffic during fast-breaking time. “The mosques providing free takjil will be really helpful. I can eat in peace, instead of stopping at random sidewalk food vendors,” he said.

He added that he usually also bought some light meals in case the mosque did not provide any takjil.

Like Al-Abrar, big mosques like Istiqlal or Sunda Kelapa in the capital city also have a tradition of providing free takjil.

Sunda Kelapa management staffer Heri Saliman said the mosque provided 1,000 dinner boxes to Muslims who prefer staying and praying in the mosque.

“Rather than providing snacks, we give them dinner boxes,” he said, adding that most of the visitors came at 5 p.m. for a mass Quran reading, known as a tadarus.

Heri said the food on the menu for Monday’s fast breaking was fried chicken and on Tuesday it would be fish. “We order the food from our partner catering agency,” he said.

Heri said giving dinner boxes would be helpful for those who wanted to stay until the tarawih prayer (a special prayer observed during Ramadhan) so they no longer needed to go outside. “As for snacks, they can easily buy them around the mosque,” he said.

He said in order to provide the meal for one month, the management usually asked for donations before Ramadhan. “Most of them [donors] are institutions. However, we also have individual donors,” he said, adding that the budget for the takjil was about Rp 525 million (US$39,375) a month.

Besides mosques, many private institutions like companies and restaurants also provide free takjil for their employees or customers.

Sonora radio, for example, distributed free takjil to motorists stuck at toll gates when Monday’s adzan magrib started. The location of toll gates the radio station employees visit changes every day.

Those who travel by plane also need to worry during Ramadhan. Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, for example, daily provides 4,300 boxes of takjil containing water, dates and bread to be distributed to passengers in the airport during Ramadhan.

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