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Indonesian Muslims make sacrifices to celebrate Idul Adha amid pandemic
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illions of Muslims in Indonesia observed this year's Idul Adha (Day of Sacrifice) under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic as health protocols limited the scale of festivities. But those who took part in the celebration said they could still find solace in the holiday, either with or without their families.
Private sector employee Nadia Khairani works in Jakarta. She decided to travel to Bandung, West Java, to spend Idul Adha, which fell on Friday, with her family.
It was the first time she had returned to her hometown since COVID-19 cases were detected in the country in March. The central government and the Jakarta administration had lifted travel bans that were previously in place during the Idul Fitri holiday in May.
She left with her husband on Thursday night in a private car and spent three hours stuck in gridlock on the Jakarta-Cikampek elevated toll road during what authorities said was the peak of the holiday exodus.
Despite the heavy traffic, the 27-year-old said she enjoyed the small gathering she had with her family. "I did not attend the Idul Adha prayer in the morning. I ate lontong [rice cake] at my mom's house and went to my in-laws’ house to eat lamb satay. It's just as usual."
Like Nadia, 25-year-old Dyah Rahmatika decided to go home. She traveled to Yogyakarta from South Tangerang because she did not want to celebrate Idul Adha alone.
“I couldn’t make it home during Idul Fitri because of the mudik [exodus] ban. Now that flights have resumed and I can’t stand the lonely feeling anymore, I’ve decided to go home,” the private sector employee said on Friday.
Dyah did not attend Idul Adha mass prayers either. Her neighborhood had been declared a COVID-19 "red zone" – an area with a high risk of transmission – and she was in self-isolation after traveling, as a precautionary measure.
The Religious Affairs Ministry, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and major Muslim groups advised people living in areas at high risk of COVID-19 transmission to perform Idul Adha prayers at home. Those in safer areas were asked to comply with strict health protocols if they wanted to attend mass prayers at mosques.
In Jakarta, the city administration prevented mosques in 33 community units (RWs) categorized as red zones from hosting Idul Adha prayers.
As of Friday, at least 108,376 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in Indonesia and 5,131 had died of the virus, according to the government count.
Some mosques outside red zones, such as the Al Azhar Mosque in South Jakarta and the Sunda Kelapa Great Mosque in Central Jakarta, hosted mass prayers under strict health protocols. They required worshipers to wear masks, have their temperatures checked and maintain physical distance. They also cut the number of attendees to half of their normal capacities.
In Yogyakarta, the Kauman Great Mosque held an Idul Adha mass prayer for residents at 60 percent capacity, reducing attendance from 1,500 to 950 people, so that worshipers could keep a distance of 1.5 meters between each other, kompas.com reported.
The MUI recommended that residents who wished to perform qurban (animal sacrifices) for Idul Adha go to an abattoir to prevent crowding during the ritual and that they have a professional carry out the qurban.
Some mosques, including Sunda Kelapa Mosque, decided not to sacrifice animals in order to avoid large gatherings of people.
However, some mosques did not adhere to strict physical distancing protocols. Civil servant Herning Meiana, who lives in Kebayoran Baru district in South Jakarta, said she canceled her plans to attend the nearby Idul Adha mass prayer because the mosque in her neighborhood was not enforcing health policies properly.
“This year’s Idul Adha is different because I am not celebrating it with my family due to the pandemic. Normally, I return to my hometown in Surakarta, Central Java, but in this COVID-19 situation, I prefer not to,” the 24-year-old woman said.
Herning said she was not as sad as she had been while celebrating Idul Fitri this year.
“I think this time I have accepted the situation. Besides, I’m happy because the Idul Adha holiday gives me time to relax. Since I have been working from home, often I still have work to do on the weekend,” she told the Post.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo attended an Idul Adha prayer with his family and a few aides in front of his official residence in the Bayurini Pavilion of Bogor Palace in West Java. The group abided by health protocols.
“Idul Adha 2020 comes as we are enduring a global pandemic," Jokowi tweeted on Friday, "We make sacrifices by reducing travel and physical encounters while at the same time, we are required to take care of each other and get closer to our families."
"Hopefully, this pandemic will pass soon,” he wrote.
