Friday, September 3, 2010

THE THING ABOUT US : MAAF ZAHIR BATIN

What is Aidilfitri without asking for forgiveness for past our sins and mistakes, realized or unrealized from someone?

Grown ups, men and women alike, sobbed and cried when they performed the solemn age old tradition of salam mintak maaf zahir batin in the morning of Aidilfitri from their aging parents. Some slowly wiped their tears of regret with hujung tudung or selendang. Wife and husbands berlinang air mata, asked forgiveness from each other. Friends hugged their closest brother/ sister friends while shutting their eyes tight, feeling remorseful, begging and hoping their friends would have that compassion and a gracious heart to forgive them.

This same sombre ritual will be repeated year after year during Aidilfitri, by millions of us, in every house and mosque. The least a person would do during this time is to utter the 3 hopeful words of Maaf Zahir Batin while greeting the other person they met, while some others would simply say "kosong-kosong aaa", indicating they had forgiven the other persons sin and hope for a reciprocating gestures at the same time. Forgive and forget is the feeling of the moment.

It is an act of redemption, an attempt to purify one's soul. And hopefully these kind deeds will be rewarded in the afterlife.

With kepala ditunduk, jari disusun, tangan dihulur.............

I humbly seek forgiveness from those I have wronged.

MAAF ZAHIR BATIN

4 comments:

  1. Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to you and yours, and of course, maaf zahir batin.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to you and family..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jordan: Thanks, and Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lady Of Leisure: Selamat Menyambut Aidilfitri to you and family too.

    ReplyDelete