By Lauren Ashley
Despite Easter being the most important day in the liturgical calendar, people seem to more frequently associate Christianity with Christmas. Christmas is still very important, being a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, but it is Easter Sunday that is the centre of the Christian faith.
In fact, it is in many ways similar to the way that Hari Raya Aidilfitri is central to Islam. Here are some parallels.
It is the culmination of a period of fasting
Easter comes at the end of Lent, a period marked by the three pillars: prayer, sacrifice and fasting. Just like Aidilfiri, which is a celebration of the end of a month of fasting, the forty days of Lent are in preparation for Easter.
In addition to the traditional fasting from food, many choose to fast from specific vices like jealousy. Resisting the temptation of such things is a lesson in patience, and helps us to be in greater solidarity with the poor.
Pope Francis himself said that “No act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great.”
Prayer
Much like on Aidilfitri, Christians go to pray on this great day. It is a day of gratitude for Jesus’ sacrifice, and a day of celebration that he is alive.
Easter is the reason that Christians go to church on Sunday, with the firm belief that God has overcome death and paved a way for their own entry into heaven.
The Easter Vigil, which takes place on the night before Easter Sunday, is the longest mass in the Catholic church.
It can sometimes last longer than three hours – that is about three times the length of an average Sunday mass.
Other denominations hold service as well, and many hold them with a focus on families celebrating together. Baptisms are also traditionally held on Easter, and it is a celebration of an ever-increasing family of the saved.
A lot of food
Being the end of a fasting period, the obvious celebration is to begin feasting. While Hari Raya in Malaysia lasts the whole month of Shawal, the Easter season lasts 50 days and is marked by the (traditionally Jewish) feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was said to have come down on Jesus’ disciples.
Roast lamb, which is the main dish at the Jewish passover, is the traditional meat meal on Easter. It represents the Lamb of God (Jesus) who was slain, and whose blood saves us from our own death.
Easter eggs are also a staple of this feast, and represents new life. The hard shell of the egg is said to be symbolic of the sealed tomb that Jesus was buried in, and cracking it symbolises his resurrection and emergence from the tomb.
Eggs are central to the feast of Easter, and some parts of the world create giant omelettes using up to 7,500 eggs. Malaysians prefer to hard boil them and paint the shells, though.
Much like Hari Raya, Christians celebrate Easter with new clothes, with a preference for bright pastels. The new clothes here are also symbolic of new life that was given to us through Christ’s sacrifice.
Many donate clothes to the less fortunate, so that everyone can have something new to wear. It is, in fact, said to bring ill fortune if one can afford to buy new clothes and does not.
So now you know how Islam isn’t as far removed from Christianity as one might think.
Maybe this Easter, consider wishing a friend. You’ll probably make their week.
Lauren Ashley is an intern at FMT.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.