The Malaysian Insight

NORMALLY, more than 30,000 Malaysians would make their way to Mecca for Aidiladha to perform their haj, while those at home would celebrate by performing qurban (sacrifice) and preparing festive cuisine.

However, this year, only 263 Malaysians are allowed to perform their haj, while Malaysians at home are stuck in perpetual lockdowns and thus prevented from celebrating at all, making it not very festive for many Muslims who look forward to this time.

Muslims celebrate Aidiladha every year to commemorate one of their prophet’s willingness to sacrifice his son as a sign of devotion to their God. However, their God had offered a lamb as a replacement and thus, beginning the tradition of qurban.

Aidiladha and Aidilfitri are considered the two most important festivals in the Muslim calendar.

For newlyweds Daniel Teoh, 30, and Nur Hafizah, 30, who got married a few months ago, their first Aidiladha together would have been celebrated in a village in Rantau Panjang, Kelantan, if not for the pandemic.

Instead, the two will be spending their first Aidiladha at their home in Shah Alam, Selangor.

“We will go to a supermarket to buy some beef and make rendang. To add some festive mood, we bought new baju Melayu and baju kurung,” he said.

“This year’s colour theme is black so we will be eating rendang in our new black outfit. This is something to look forward to as we only wore our wedding attire for Hari Raya Aidilfitri,” he added.

Teoh said if it wasn’t for the pandemic’s travel restrictions, they would have been able to witness the qurban event in Rantau Panjang where villages would save throughout the year for it.

“The entire week would see the villagers eating beef from the same cow, while also sharing the meat with the underprivileged,” he said.

“But none of these this year. Therefore, the only qurban is that we are doing our part by not returning to Kelantan and staying at home,” he said.

However, Teoh said the two remain thankful for having each other and for their health given the circumstances.

Since the outbreak occurred in the country last year, Malaysia has recorded more than 900,000 Covid-19 infections and 7,000 deaths.

However, it is now seeing a greater increase in hospital admissions and deaths despite various lockdowns implemented.

For Hadi Azmi, 33, and Fateha Hasan, 33, the pandemic has made festive seasons like Aidiladha rather hazy for them.

“Had you not asked me about this, I wouldn’t have thought about Aidiladha to be honest,” said Hadi, who is a reporter living in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Compared with last year, where he had a small gathering with his family to celebrate it, this year Hadi said he and his wife will only be conducting Eid prayers and stay at home.

“My wife and I will just pray in the morning and that’s it. We are getting our vaccine jabs around the date so we are going to just use the break to rest at home and relax,” he said.

Hadi said he is mostly sad for his parents as it would be another holiday away from their grandkids.

“They just live nearby but my family is not taking any chances given how bad this Delta variant is.”

“I sure hope that, unlike Hari Raya, no one tries to illegally cross borders. We all have to sacrifice. We can’t afford to be selfish. So mine will be just like any other one of these lockdown days.”

Meanwhile, Nadia Amir, 29, told The Malaysian Insight last year she and her family managed to travel to their grandmother’s house in Shah Alam during the recovery movement-control order to celebrate Aidiladha.

“I vividly remember being able to carry out my family’s annual tradition of sleeping over at my grandmother’s in Shah Alam,” said Nadia, who works as an e-commerce manager.

“Although not every single member could be there at a single time (there was a 20-person limit per household), my family was one of the lucky ones to be able to sleep over at my grandmother’s,” she said, recounting the memories of her family praying together as well as having breakfast on that day.

“We prepared an array of rendang, nasi impit, ketupat, and serunding where my cousins, siblings, aunties and uncles sat down together and indulged in this gotong-royong-style for breakfast.”

“We even managed to pray Aidiladha together where my uncle led the sermon that morning holding my late grandfather’s tongkat in memory of him,” she said.

This year, however, Nadia will be spending her Aidiladha at home in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, with her parents and siblings.

She said since the families are unable to gather physically, a family member has set up a virtual meet for them on the day of the celebration.

“My uncle has planned a Zoom meeting instead where we’ll be reciting prayers and have a general catch-up in our baju raya, virtually,” she said.

She said that while it is a let-down that the lockdown has kept her family away from each other especially on Aidiladha, which is meant to tighten familial bonds, the safety and health of everyone is still the top priority.

“In the meantime, we’ll be planning virtual meetings and delivering our home-cooked rendang to each other,” she said.

Azielia Anne, a 28-year-old banker living in Subang Jaya, said she reckons that this year’s Aidiladha will be a quiet one at home.

She said her family will be spending Aidiladha with some home-cooked food and Zoom calls with family members.

“It hasn’t really been discussed but I guess they’re so used to staying home now that maybe we’ll end up making a day of it by watching Netflix together as a family or something,” she said.

“We live in the same house but my siblings and I are on separate floors, so we’ll try to make an effort to be more present during the celebration,” she said.

She said last year, her family managed to spend their Aidiladha in a shopping mall, but with most shopping malls closed in Selangor now, it is unlikely that she and her family would be able to venture out. – July 19, 2021.