Muslim Bidayuh village rejoices in multicultural Raya once more

At a longhouse in Padawan, about 70km southwest of Sarawak’s capital Kuching, a small community gears up for Hari Raya celebrations after two years of pandemic restrictions.

For the residents of Kampung Darul Islam Belimbing, the celebration is doubly meaningful as it bears witness to their strong interfaith relations with the larger community around them.

Tucked in the heart of a Christian-majority area, they are the only Muslim Bidayuh group in Sarawak that celebrates Hari Raya.

They normally begin their festivities by making their way to the village mosque to perform their Eid prayers.

After that, they gather at the village ceremonial house, known as the baruk. This marks the start of the “marhaban”, the highlight of the day in which they go from door to door, visiting friends and relatives in the 150-door longhouse.

“When performing the marhaban, we seek forgiveness from our relatives,” villager Nur Ashah Hussein told MalaysiaNow.

For the past two years, this festive procession lived only in memory as Covid-19 restrictions kept visits and gatherings out of bounds.

This year, though, the villagers are looking forward to celebrating once more, albeit on a smaller scale and in keeping with the SOPs.

Some 600 families live in the village which was founded in 1968 as a resettlement area for Muslim residents from the nearby Kampung Kawa Belimbing.

While it began as a 40-door longhouse to accommodate seven families, it gradually expanded to 150 doors.

Each year, the villagers would invite their non-Muslim relatives and friends to visit their longhouse during festive seasons including Christmas and Gawai Dayak.

This year, they hope to revive what they can of their collaborative celebrations, welcoming family and friends to the longhouse once more.

They have planned a moderate gathering and a football tournament to welcome their relatives who are expected to come from other parts of Sarawak such as Kuching, Sri Aman, Sibu, Miri and Bintulu, and even as far off as Johor and Kuala Lumpur.

“We are excited to celebrate it with our families and close friends, but still adhering to the SOPs,” Nur Ashah said.

“For my family, we will celebrate it moderately,” she said, adding that she was glad to be able to celebrate Hari Raya once more.

Village chief Durrani Bahrum meanwhile said that they still maintain their Bidayuh culture even as they observe Ramadan and Hari Raya.

“We are still Bidayuh,” he told MalaysiaNow.

“When our relatives visit us during festive seasons, we do not need to worry because they understand us.”