Comments on Hning's Asia: Death Rites

Stuck? O yeah, totally. sis. Can't agree more. It'...

2009-11-08T21:48:35.572+07:00

Stuck? O yeah, totally. sis. Can't agree more. It's hard, if I can't say impossible, to avoid the old custom in the ocean full of people practicing it. Salmon can easily swim against the strongest stream, but very few men can do the same. The stream is sometimes too overwhelming that we already perish even before beholding the destination.
Haulan? Well, here in Kudus (grab your GPS now to locate it, haha) we call it 'kajatan' (in Indonesian, 'hajatan'). Every eldest male in household around the neighborhood always gets invited. But there times when some lazy or busy dads relinquish the invite to their sons. I'm the eldest son, so when my dad starts complaining about how tired he feels, I'm supposed to replace him. I said "supposed to" because most of the time I hate coming to kajatan. There're usually flocks of living chimneys (smoking men) there.It is normal for them to smoke after praying for the deceased, but for me it's not normal at all. I hate smoking and I choke there.ughh..I wonder why those men don't fear deteriorating health, esp. premature ejaculation. The answer is, they already have a cupboard stuffed with Viagra..^_^
"Haulan" or "Haul", I suppose, is another term for celebrating a prominent figure's birthday, yeah...so to speak. For example, "Haul Kyai Bla Bla Bla yang ke 100".
Yeah, you're right. Here women usually bring some staple food (tea, rice, refined sugar) for the bereaved family in the afternoon after the corpse is properly buried before. At night, normally after Maghrib or Isya, men gather to pray for the dead spirit.

Akhlis, The Timekeeper has a saying about inconsis...

2009-11-08T19:37:59.672+07:00

Akhlis,
The Timekeeper has a saying about inconsistent Muhammadiyyin; "When you're stuck, you'll believe in anything."

Nowadays, instead offering the remembrance(Haulan, in Javanese, no?) individually, Javanese villagers celebrate collectively: All the living in all the families of so-and-so village chip in and gather monies to pray for the dead and eat together on their behalf.

And thank you for reminding me about Muharram 1st. Totally slipped my Wahhabi mind. (─‿─)

Hi, t'was nice to know how human beings are always...

2009-11-07T22:39:28.446+07:00

Hi, t'was nice to know how human beings are always so curious about death. They dread it but keep talking about it.
I'm a native Javanese and you're right about Javanese custom on death. Some say it's because the spirit of the dead is still somewhere near where s/he used to live.On the 1000th day, the spirit is said to be fully free.
But nowadays less Javanese people practice this because either they're too lazy (it's not cheap to treat the whole neighborhood, the money they use to buy the food can feed themselves for months) or they consider this bid'ah.This is based on Muhammadiyah's belief.
Oddly enough, my parents are 'confirmed' Muhammadiyah-ers (they even sent me to Muhammadiyah elementary school) yet they still practice that. Hypocrites? (no offense, dad mom..)
As far as I know we only pay the graves a visit every Muharram 1, the first day of Islamic new year, and on Iedul Fitri.

Hehe, Hning, even if I follow my dad's religion, t...

2009-10-30T12:27:10.619+07:00

Hehe, Hning, even if I follow my dad's religion, the people on my mother's side of the family mean a great deal to me. I don't see them for years and All Saint's Day (Nov. 1) is the only time i could really reach out to them who are already dead!

Maybe I could do a post on that!

Coral, Your comment is filled with religious aweso...

2009-10-29T19:20:31.797+07:00

Coral,
Your comment is filled with religious awesomeness. Dude, I'm fazed!

Oh dear, it's that time of the year again! your p...

2009-10-29T12:30:16.173+07:00

Oh dear, it's that time of the year again! your post reminds me that I have to send money orders to my Catholic side of the family so they could buy candles and wreaths to place on the family graves in my behalf...

Chiara, My short answer is "Yes." You should recei...

2009-10-29T12:09:55.749+07:00

Chiara,
My short answer is "Yes." You should receive the long answer tonight or tomorrow morning, Inshallah, from that missing/absent email you couldn't find.

Cheers,
H/A

Hning/Alia--I am sorry to make my first comment on...

2009-10-29T09:50:13.392+07:00

Hning/Alia--I am sorry to make my first comment on your blog (where I often blurk, but I didn't see an email address and was wanting to ask you 3 things: to please share your thoughts on blogging and ethics on my recent post on Tara's blog; if you would be willing to translate from English to Indonesian on the Marriage Permission process; and if you would be willing to do an interview/share your personal story on her blog. Please send me an email to chiaraazlinquestion AT yahoo.com about the personal story/interview, and the translating.

The Blogging & Ethics post is at:
http://taraummomar.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogging-ethics-part-i-fhws-elsi.html

Thanks.