My Aidiladha 2009.

It started on the eve. Immediate after Maghreb, Sabirin and I went to collect the pre ordered the two stick of “lemang”. We went back to the Mosque and joined the takbir and tahlil. After Isyakh we had a program of visiting several houses for communal takbir.

The first house was Haji Talib but we skipped. We straight away went to Wahab house and waited for their arrival from Haji Talib house. I just took a few scoop of keuh tiow goreng as there were several houses more to go. Imam Khairuddin and Imam Mat Jebah joined us and the third was Haji Dollah house. I had a plate of Singapore lontong. Nearby, we hopped over to Haji Kemat house and I served myself with only two sticks of chicken satay. The floor was spread with food. We then adjourned to Ali Termizi house. I just took a small cup of fruit cocktail pudding. Next the whole group came to my house. Imam Khairuddin went missing as he had something urgent to do. By this time everybody was full and no more interested with the lemang, ketupat pulut and the rendang that was served to them. They only addressed to the fruits, grapes and tembikai china. Imam Mat Jebah performed the doa selamat. The last house was Haji Sabaruddin and I only took a glass of kopi O and most of us were sitting leaning to the wall. Every house we went we recited the takbir and the recitation of doa selamat. There were about thirty of us in the entourage and I really felt the communal bond between us. Surprisingly, not even one of them was the Kampong PAS followers. The atmosphere was harmonious and warm.

While I was away, my wife niece came and brought three lemang, some rendang and ayam masak merah, contributions from the kampong folks. If I knew I would not have ordered the lemang. Now we have plenty of lemang and rendang. She also brought some cempedak from the family kebun.

The solat sunat Aidiladha started at 0815 hours. Everybody was anxiously waiting for the Nazir to deliver his speech and repeating the same unnecessary remark as what he did during solat sunat Aidilfitri. Few of the kampong sons was sitting at center 3rd saf waiting like a hungry lions. The moment something controversial, they were going to pounch on him. Fortunately, the Nazir did not deliver any speech; instead the Secretary who is equally unfavourable gave a five minute briefing on the sacrificing of cows at the following day. He looked and sounded nervous as he address the Jemaah, as hadirin hadirat instead of Muslimin Muslimat di Rahmati Allah. Nothing was mention about the status and developemnet of the New Mosque which is under construction. During the sunat solat Aidilfitri, a few months ago, they were very cocky elaborating the status and character assisination.

After the prayer, Imam Khairuddin and a few of my Mosque colleague came to my house and my wife prepared lontong as the main menu. We sat for breakfast and talked about several current issues pertaining to the Mosque current event and development. The number of cows to be sacrifice the following day had drop tremendously compared to the tenure of the previous Mosque Committee. That clearly indicated the Kampong residents are not responsive and cooperating towards the management of the current Mosque Committee.

After the zohor prayer, an old Rohingya lady came door to door selling for a living rang the door bell and we invited her into the house for Aidiladha feast. Food was plenty and during this auspicious day we should also consider the poor. She enjoyed the ketupat pulut and the rending. I was touched when she put up her hands in doa that the House owner would be bless by Allah with abundance and prosperous rezeki. We packed some food for her to take away and a few ringgits as sedekah. I told the family that perhaps Allah was testing our heart for our generosity towards the poor.

After Isyakh those friends who could not make it during the morning visit, came and we still have the lontong to serve them. It was about 2300 hours the last guest left.

I was about to doze off when I received an sms from someone that the Mosque Committee had fell and tied up the cows to be slaughtered in the morning. He thought that the job was too premature and cruelty to the animals. I thought so but what could I do? I forward the message to someone I knew. An hour later, another sms came from the same person and he sighed with relief that the cows were back to normal after intervention and reprimanded by several kampong residents. My perception of the whole episode – the Mosque Committee is a stupid bunch of morons. They lack the Islamic knowledge how to address the sacrifice rituals (ibadah korban). We must minimize the sufferings of the animals that we are going to sacrifice. What they did was extending the sufferings by prematurely felling and tying the cows for several hours before slaughtering. These people wanted to change everything what the previous Mosque Committee did. As I said before, if they could change the kiblat, they would not hesitate to do that even. I replied the sms by telling the person who sends me the sms to catch the particular Mosque Committee Member concern and throw him or them into the tiger den at Zoo Negara.

I finally have peace of mind and went to sleep.









The early morning tragedy can be summarise by the following Malay proverb:
”Bodoh tak boleh di ajar, cerdik tak boleh di ikut”. In simple term, what they do is right and they would not take guidance from anyone.

Aidiladha.

Aidiladha…..what it mean to me? It reminds me of the Aidiladha I spent in 1999 when I performed the Haj. I was in Mina, holding up in a tent, air cooled and cramped with the other Jemaah. I just had enough space to lie down and sleep. There was no comfortable mattress and pillow. My pillow was a cushion cover stuffed with my extra set of ihram. I was prepared for it. The carpet was my mattress and the space was so very limited that I could not even turn to my sides. I slept like a mummy. Sacrifice was the theme and be grateful what Allah had bestowed upon thee.

I arrived in Mina from the Desert of Arafat at the break of dawn before subuh. In the tent of about sixty Pilgrims was eight of my Mekah roommates and the other eight were accommodated in the neighboring tent. My first rite was throwing of the seven pebbles at the Al Aqabah jamrah. Once completed, I scissor off some strain of my hair and I could redress in my normal attire. Mina was packed with about three million Pilgrims. It was Haji Akbar where the ukuf fell on Friday.

For the next three days I hibernated in Mina. I dare not take the risk of entering Mekah early to complete my Haj rituals due to the over populated city and adhering to the advice of Tabung Haji. Transportation was limited and if I wanted to do it, I must walk about eight kilometers under the blazing desert sun back and forth. I was still obligated to complete the three days pebble throwing of the Satans at the three Jamrah in Mina. Living in the tent complex was chaotic, however tolerable and the highest degree of tolerance and patience required. Hundreds of Pilgrims have to make do with about twenty toilets. The shower and the toilet hole were in the same cubicle. You dropped an object it was impossible to retrieve as the drain ran through all the toilet cubicles. Pilgrims queued to enter the toilet and if at extreme emergency, no one could assist. One has to find the best hidden alternative somewhere to release. To pee, some Pilgrims make do with a bottle somewhere hidden. I had to sacrifice and very particular with the food I consumed. I avoided hot chilly stuff and eggs. To shower off, I normally chose around three or four in the morning where the crowd was at its minimal.

The moment I arrived back in the Hotel in Mekah, I enjoyed the bathroom cold shower and the comfort of the porcelain throne. I forgot it was mid afternoon and I was showering gleefully. After I came out from the shower, disaster struck. I was chilled to the bones and immediately I felt so cold that my roommates covered my near frozen body with seven blankets to warm me up. My roommates thought my time had come. I thought so. They wanted to summon the Medic but I was still at conscious stage. By Asar, I was up and about. Alhamdullilah. My roommates laughed at the stricken hero. That was the craziest thing I ever did in Mekah. Never have a cold shower during midday. The centralized air condition contributed to my misery. My wife was unaware what was happening as she was staying in a different suite and when I told her after Asar about my misadventure to the North Pole she reprimanded me for being too careless.

I accompanied my wife to perform the last Haj rite, the Haj tawaf and saie the following morning and we completed at 0845 hours. Those who complete the last Haj rituals were congratulated by fellow roommates and me too, now a Haji and my wife a Hajjah.

That’s the Aidiladha that I would never forget.

Note: With my description of Mina, those who have not perform the Haj, please don’t deter you. Without any sacrifice and hardship, the Haj is meaningless. You can have all the comfort in the world but you have to pay through your nose. Whatever, I still recommend Tabung Haji. Your well being would be taken care; insyaalah with the grace of Allah provided the nawaitu is sincere for the sake of the Almighty the Holy Creator.

Summon to attend.

Half an hour to Maghreb, I was just relaxing when the door bell rang. My junior cousin Lat with his wife made a house call on a Monday evening. To me it’s rather peculiar, something important and was anxious about the motive.

Comfortably sat, he issued a white envelope containing a wedding invitation to his daughter’s wedding on 12 December 2009. He insisted that he came all the way from Petaling to my house to hand the card and conveyed the invitation personally as a respect to the elder. I thanked him for his courtesy and I commented that this should be the right way to uphold the "adat" as a Malay. Some even have discarded the adat, wedding invitation by sms or not at all. If we are "beradat", it also reflect the upbringing and the understanding of the social culture. We discussed about the wedding and all are prepared and well placed. About the wedding, insyaalah I would be there.

My wife was fasting and they were just in time to share the “meehoon” goreng. They also got to taste the ajwa dates I brought back from Mekah and the zam zam water as well. They certainly deserved the small gift from Allah that was brought back from the homeland of the Holy Prophet Mohammad (pbuh).

They left just after Isyakh.