Amun Jadid: Of prayers and hope

Assalamu alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

- AMENAH F. PANGANDAMAN

Yesterday, I joined my Muslim brothers and sisters in observing Amun Jadid, the beginning of the Islamic New Year. For many Filipino Muslims, it is an occasion that arrives not with fanfare but with quiet significance. Families gather, prayers are offered, and conversations often turn to the year that has passed and the one that is beginning. Yet outside Muslim communities, Amun Jadid remains one of the country's least understood religious observances.

That has always struck me as a little unfortunate because Amun Jadid is part of the lived experience of countless Filipino families, particularly in Mindanao. Whenever the occasion comes around, I find myself thinking about home.

I remember relatives arriving early in the day, exchanging greetings that seemed warmer and more deliberate than those on ordinary visits. The adults would settle into long conversations over coffee while the children greeted relatives and played. There was always laughter somewhere in the house. Someone would inevitably bring up a memory from years before, and before long, another story would follow.

As children, we did not think much about why the day mattered. We just knew it was different.