Two days ago, I got a meat pick-up coupon. For Muslims, Eid al-Adha is a big day. Livestock such as cows, goats, and sheep are slaughtered and the meat is distributed to anyone in need. Btw, I am not a Muslim, nor am I an Indonesian citizen.
Both of my parents are Buddhists, although I don't follow any particular faith, my friends and the neighbourhood where I live are predominantly Muslim. I am still a Malaysian citizen, I came to Indonesia only to complete my study program.
I rented a house near campus, one day before the Eid al-Adha celebration, someone called me from outside the house and gave me 1 coupon for meat pick up. At that time I was surprised and asked in my mind, why did I get it? Even though I am not a Muslim and not a native of Indonesia. Even during the Eid al-Adha celebration, I was also given two plastic wrappers of beef and mutton by my neighbour. Each pack of meat weighs 1 kg.
I don't know how to process meat, I'm not smart enough to cook let alone process meat into delicious dishes. In food preparation, I usually only saute and boil vegetables, fry eggs and make instant noodles. When I want to eat meat, I usually only buy ready-to-cook. Geez, how do I cook these meats? In the end, I gave these meats to my friends so that they could be made into delicious dishes. After all, she is very good at making dishes. Every time I visited her house, I was always given delicious food by her mother.
Here I can find out about the beauty of Muslims in terms of sharing. The Muslim religion has a view called "Rahmatan Lil'alamin" which is to give love to the universe. If explored more deeply, Muslims do not discriminate against anyone to get good. All races, all ethnicities, all religions have the same right to get blessings and goodness. So, even though the people in my environment know that I am a non-Muslim, I am also treated the same as other Muslims, namely being treated well as a human being. I am sure that not only does one religion teaches this kind of practice, other religions also teach to give love to all people. Even when I was a child I was also taught compassion towards the Buddha Dharma.
So, the essence of the discussion of this article is, Giving goodness and blessings is the obligation of all people. Both religious and non-religious. Help all people when they need help. Be it food, clothes, or whatever. Because giving will not make us poor, and stinginess will not make us rich. Hopefully, this short article is useful for friends here who read it. thank you.
All photos in this article are my own.