After Breakfast
– A talk at University if Brandeis, to a symposium of the Brandeis International Fellowship Program, October 14, 2004.
During this honored opportunity, I will be speaking about ‘forgiveness’ or ‘forgiving’, an issue intimately related to the theme of the symposium today. It is a happy coincidence that as of tomorrow, Muslims all over the world will start their month of fasting, or Ramadhan. Both Ramadhan and its closing are important moments for a Muslim – since, at least in my country, Indonesia, people traditionally regard them as moments of self-purification, to be followed by an act of giving and forgiving.
As the religious law dictates, on the last evening of the fast, all Muslims save the very poor will have to allot at least 2,5 kilograms of staple food for people who are hungry, needy, or ensnared by debt. There is also an additional norm in our local tradition: we are expected to prepare special dishes –plenty of meat, and a wide variety of delicious spices — for relatives, friends, neighbors, and other guests.
In the village I grew up, I remember doors would be open even to total strangers. In the afternoon, a kind of fiesta would be organized, involving an elaborate costumed parade and a boat race. They were never made into a competition; no jury would announce a winner, no prize would be awarded. Needless to say, the whole celebration was very costly, but the people in the village of my childhood, who were not particularly rich, seemed to expect nothing in return.
