About Hari Raya Puasa
Hari Raya Puasa is the Malay name — used across Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei — for what Indonesia calls Idul Fitri and the Arab world calls Eid al-Fitr. Although the underlying observance is the same, the Malay-Indonesian expression of the holiday has its own rich tradition: green and gold rather than the global teal-and-gold, the ketupat (a diamond-shaped rice cake woven from young palm leaves) as the festival's signature food, and an extended week of open houses (rumah terbuka) where neighbours of every faith are welcomed in.
For a deeper historical treatment, see Hari Raya Aidilfitri — Wikipedia.
A defining ritual is the salam, when younger family members kneel before elders to ask forgiveness for the year's wrongs — meminta maaf zahir dan batin, asking forgiveness for outward and inward faults. Cards exchanged for Hari Raya almost always include this exact line. Children receive duit raya, small money packets in green envelopes (a Malay innovation; Arab Eid envelopes are traditionally white).
Traditional greetings
The phrases below are the ones most often used to mark Hari Raya Puasa in person, by phone, and on cards. The native-script column shows the greeting as a recipient would read it; the transliteration is for those who would like to say it aloud; the English column is a literal rather than a poetic translation.
| Language | Greeting | Transliteration | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malay | Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri | Happy Eid al-Fitr | |
| Malay | Maaf zahir dan batin | Forgive my outward and inward faults | |
| Indonesian | Selamat Idul Fitri, mohon maaf lahir dan batin | Happy Eid — please forgive my outward and inward faults | |
| Arabic | تقبل الله منا ومنكم | Taqabbal Allahu minna wa minkum | May Allah accept it from us and from you |
Design tips for printable Hari Raya Puasa cards
Hand-printed cards for Hari Raya Puasa reward restraint and specific reference. The notes below distil what the most thoughtful cards in the tradition tend to do — and what the most commercial ones tend to get wrong.
- Ketupat woven palm leaves are the most beloved Malay-Indonesian Eid motif — instantly recognisable across the region.
- Use deep emerald green and warm gold rather than teal-and-gold — the regional palette is distinctly its own.
- Pelita (small oil lamps placed at the doorway during the last ten nights of Ramadan) make a warm motif for cards arriving early.
- Songket-pattern endpapers reference traditional Malay textile.
- A duit raya pocket inside is essentially expected — leave space for a green envelope.
A starting palette:
Five verses for Hari Raya Puasa cards
Each verse below is short enough to copy onto a folded card by hand. They progress from formal to intimate; pick the one that best fits the relationship and the year you are writing into.
- Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Maaf zahir dan batin — for anything I have done, said, or failed to do.
- May the open house be full this year, the ketupat well-woven, and the rendang remembered.
- From our family to yours, on the first morning of Shawwal — a week of feasting, a year of forgiveness.
- Selamat Idul Fitri, mohon maaf lahir dan batin. May every guest find a chair, every plate find a hand, and every old wound find peace.
- After thirty days of patience, a week of doors flung open. Selamat Hari Raya.
Related cultural holidays
Other holidays observed in the East Asia & Pacific family of traditions: