JAKARTA: Muslims in Indonesia are shopping for sweets and new clothes and taking part in traditional festivities as millions observe the holy month of Ramadan, which started on Saturday.
Celebrations in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country range from colorful nighttime parades and cleaning family graves to preparing food for predawn breakfasts and elaborate post-sundown meals known as “iftars.”
Each region in the vast archipelago nation of 17,000 islands has its own way to mark the start of Ramadan, when Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual intercourse from sunrise until sunset for the whole month.
Even a tiny sip of water or a puff of smoke is enough to invalidate the fast. At night, family and friends gather and feast in a festive atmosphere.
Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar announced on Friday that Ramadan will begin on Saturday, after the sighting of the crescent moon was confirmed by Islamic astronomy observers in Indonesia’s westernmost province of Aceh.
Shortly after the announcement, mosques flooded with devotees offering evening prayers known as “tarawih” on the first eve of Ramadan. In Jakarta’s Istiqlal Grand Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia, tens of thousands of worshippers crammed together shoulder-to-shoulder.
The daylong fasting is aimed at bringing the faithful closer to God and reminding them of the suffering of the poor. Muslims are expected to strictly observe daily prayers and engage in heightened religious contemplation. They are also urged to refrain from gossip, fighting or cursing during the holy month.
Flares, drums and tradition
Samsul Anwar, his wife and their 8-year-old nephew were among hundreds of people taking part in a torchlight parade along the streets of their neighborhood in Tangerang, a city just outside the capital of Jakarta, on Wednesday after evening prayers.
They carried torches, lit flares and played Islamic songs accompanied by the beat of rebana, the Arabic handheld percussion instrument, as they walked along the cramped streets of the densely populated neighborhood.
“Every year we welcome Ramadan with a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation,” said Anwar.
Chinese Indonesian communities also participated in the parade by performing the vibrant “barongsai” or “lion dance,” a prominent part of Chinese New Year celebration, to the sound of drums and trumpets.
The barongsai performance “was also held to show unity between the religious communities of Chinese and Muslim, aiming to increase religious tolerance,” Anwar said.
Cost of living anxieties
It’s also an exciting time for business. Hotels, restaurants and cafes all prepare special Ramadan promotions, and shoppers flock to shopping centers for new clothes and home decorations for the holiday of Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan. Children often receive new clothes and gifts.
However, some Muslims worry how they will cope financially during Ramadan this year amid soaring prices.
“Everything to do with cooking is rising (in cost) day by day,” said Asih Mulyawati, a mother of two who lives in Jakarta’s outskirt of Tangerang. “I worry this situation will impact Ramadan celebrations.”
Despite soaring food prices in the past month, popular markets such as Tanah Abang in Jakarta were teeming with shoppers buying clothes, shoes, cookies and sweets before the holiday.
Indonesia’s Trade Ministry has said prices of imported staple foods including wheat, sugar, beef and soybeans have increased sharply this year as a result of rising global commodity prices and supply chain disruptions.
But many people say the rise in prices not only impacts imported foods but also local commodities like rice, eggs, chili, palm oil and onions. Many also blame the government for rising gas and electricity prices.
“The current gloomy economic situation and extreme weather recently also contribute to the soaring prices and the weakening of people’s purchasing power,” said Heru Tatok, a trader in Jakarta’s Pasar Senen market.
Millions of Muslims in Indonesia mark the start of the holy month of Ramadan
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Millions of Muslims in Indonesia mark the start of the holy month of Ramadan
- Each region in the vast archipelago nation of 17,000 islands has its own way to mark the start of Ramadan
Tensions flare in Minnesota as protesters and federal agents repeatedly square off
- The Trump administration has repeatedly defended the immigration agent who shot Good, saying he acted in self-defense
- With the Department of Homeland Security pledging to send more than 2,000 immigration officers into Minnesota, the state, joined by Minneapolis and St. Paul, sued President Donald Trump’s administration Monday to halt or limit the surge
MINNEAPOLIS: Federal officers dropped tear gas and sprayed eye irritant at activists Tuesday during another day of confrontations in Minneapolis while students miles away walked out of a suburban school to protest the Trump administration’s bold immigration sweeps.
The government’s immigration crackdown is next headed to a federal court where Minnesota and two mayors are asking a judge to immediately suspend the operation. No hearing has been set on the request.
Gas clouds filled a Minneapolis street near where Renee Good was fatally shot in the head by an immigration agent last week. A man scrubbed his eyes with snow and screamed for help while agents in an unmarked Jeep sprayed an orange irritant and drove away.
It’s common for people to boo, taunt and blow orange whistles when they spot heavily armed agents passing through in unmarked vehicles or walking the streets, all part of a grassroots effort to warn the neighborhood and remind the government that they’re watching.
“Who doesn’t have a whistle?” a man with a bag of them yelled.
Brita Anderson, who lives nearby and came to support neighborhood friends, said she was “incensed” to see agents in tactical gear and gas masks, and wondered about their purpose.
“It felt like the only reason they’d come here is to harass people,” Anderson said.
Separately, a judge heard arguments and said she would rule by Thursday or Friday on a request to restrict the use of force, such as chemical irritants, on people who are observing and recording agents’ activities. Government attorneys argued that officers are acting within their authority and must protect themselves.
In Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, students protesting the immigration enforcement operation walked out of school, as students in other communities have done this week.
With the Department of Homeland Security pledging to send more than 2,000 immigration officers into Minnesota, the state, joined by Minneapolis and St. Paul, sued President Donald Trump’s administration Monday to halt or limit the surge.
The lawsuit says the Department of Homeland Security is violating the First Amendment and other constitutional protections by focusing on a progressive state that favors Democrats and welcomes immigrants.
“This is, in essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, and it must stop,” state Attorney General Keith Ellison said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said: “What we are seeing is thousands — plural — thousands of federal agents coming into our city. And, yeah, they’re having a tremendous impact on day-to-day life.”
Dozens of protests or vigils have taken place across the US to honor Good since the 37-year-old mother of three was killed.
Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and is vowing to not back down. Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, responding to the lawsuit, accused Minnesota officials of ignoring public safety.
“President Trump’s job is to protect the American people and enforce the law — no matter who your mayor, governor, or state attorney general is,” McLaughlin said.
The Trump administration has repeatedly defended the immigration agent who shot Good, saying he acted in self-defense. But that explanation has been widely panned by Frey, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and others based on videos of the confrontation.
Two Democratic lawmakers from Massachusetts announced Tuesday they are sponsoring a bill to make it easier for people to sue and overcome immunity protections for federal officers who are accused of violating civil rights. The bill stands little chance of passage in the Republican-controlled Congress.
In Wisconsin, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez is proposing that the state ban civil immigration enforcement around courthouses, hospitals, health clinics, schools, churches and other places. She is hoping to succeed Gov. Tony Evers, a fellow Democrat, who is not running for a third term.
“We can take a look at that, but I think banning things absolutely will ramp up the actions of our folks in Washington, D.C.,” Evers said, referring to the Trump administration. “They don’t tend to approach those things appropriately.”
