Selasa, 07 Oktober 2014

What a Wonderful Event: Matswapati!

My school, SMAN 3 Bandung, held a cultural event titled Matswapati. Matswapati is the name of a wayang (Indonesian traditional puppet). The event took place in Lapangan Bali (Bali Field) on 27th of September. Its tagline was "Know your culture, love your country".

I was the event's decorating committee. Our works were to make concepts and decorate the whole field into a nice place for such a big event. I myself didn't think it was possible, as Lapangan Bali is usually used for SMAN 3 (and 5) Bandung's sport lessons, so there is a running track there which is full of sand. But we made it, the decorating committee. There were 66 people in the team, and by working until night, we successfully converted the field into a really nice place. It was tiring, but seeing the result made us forget about that.

My classmates during the parade. Peye is the one
who wore hijab rather than usual jilbab.
I wasn't able to go to the event, sadly, as I needed to go somewhere else on the date. One of my classmates, Annisa Permata Yudiani or Peye, said it was absolutely amazing. In the morning, there was a parade. Every class in my high school must join this. Peye was the mascot of my class' parade, she wore a costume that is usually used to dance Jaipong, a traditional dance from West Java, Indonesia.

The classes also had to set up stands in the festival from morning to evening. There was a theme for the stands, which is like the theme of the whole festival, West Java's culture. Our class, together with X IPS, XI IPS and XI Acceleration decided to put some wayangs, traditional masks and fans. My friends said they were meant to be sold but as our stand's location wasn't really strategist, no one bought any of them...

In the afternoon until evening, the event became more interesting and fascinating; it was the time for guest stars performances! There were many guest stars; some of them, of course, are cultural artists. But there were also Barsena and Glenn Fredly, popular artists of Indonesian music industry. I guess they were what made the event attractive for the visitors; as the day turned night, the event became more and more crowded.

My friends experienced a pathetic yet funny thing during the event. They bought a lot of gorengans (it's a kind of food) to be eaten, but then the food was taken by the event committees. The visitors weren't allowed to bring food or drink from outside. The food that was taken could be taken back when the visitors went out, though. So my friends took it again at the end of the event... but it was already spoiled.

Thanks for all committees for the hard work! The event was really nice, I'm looking forward for another events held by the best school in the country. Thanks for those who came that day, that was really nice of you all. We would like to see you again in our next events ;)

Minggu, 05 Oktober 2014

Ka'bah, the House of Allah SWT.

(Image source: islamic-awareness.org)
Every year more than a million people come here. (Wikipedia)
If someone asked me what country I would like to visit, I would shout the answer out loud "Saudi Arabia! Mecca!". The city has a really beautiful building, so beautiful until even a castle made of gold couldn't make people forget it. I am really sure you already know what building I'm describing is, it's Ka'bah. It is located in the center of Masjidil Haram, the most sacred masjid of Islam. It is the holiest site in Islam, we Muslims often referred to it as the House of Allah.

Muslims from all around the world visit Ka'bah every year during Dzulhijjah, the last month of Hijri calendar to do a part of hajj, tawaf (the act of walking around the Ka'bah for seven times). Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam. It has to be done for at least once a lifetime, if one is able. The Ka'bah is also where Muslims face when performing shalat (prayers). The direction facing the Ka'bah is called the qibla.

The Ka'bah was firstly built by Adam a.s., the first person on Earth. But then it was destroyed by a flood during Nuh a.s' era. Ibrahim a.s. together with Ismail a.s., his son, was then ordered by Allah SWT. to build it again.

Kabah is a bricked cuboid structure which is made of granite quarried from nearby hills. Standing upon a 250 cm  marble base that projects outwards about 35 cm, and is approximately 13.1 m (some claim 12.03 m high, with sides measuring 11.03 m by 12.86 m. Inside the Ka'bah, the floor is made of marble and limestone. The interior walls, measuring 13 m by 9 m, are clad with tiled, white marble halfway to the roof, with darker trimmings along the floor. The floor of the interior stands about 2.2 m above the ground area where tawaf is performed. (Wikipedia)

There is one stone placed at the Ka'bah that is said to be fallen from the Heaven. It is called as Hajar Aswad, or if translated "black stone". Kissing the stone during tawaf is a sunnah. A hadist (Rasulullah’s saying) states that the colour was actually white, but people’s sins make it black.

There is a unique rumor about Ka'bah; it is said to be releasing everlasting radiation. The rumor writer claims that it is based on NASA astronauts' experience. Many Muslim scientists believe that it is a connector between Ka'bah in the Earth and the one in Heaven.

I don’t know whether the rumor is true or not, but I don't think it matters. It is Allah’s house, after all. We need to love it, to miss it, to desperately want to see it with our own eyes.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaaba
http://edukasi.kompasiana.com/2013/10/19/asal-muasal-hajar-aswad-602019.html
http://10507276.blog.unikom.ac.id/inilah-rahasia.5cf