“To Mr. Gilang whose boy is separated, your son is near the podium, his age is around four years, he came from Kapuk, West Java,” a staff at Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta, announced after an Eid Al-Fitr prayer.
The child, wearing a striped short-sleeved shirt, brown trousers, and a white kopiah cap, was seen resigned to the situation as he held both of his hands.
The boy, Asraf, was sweaty, either from running to look for his parents or to explore the rooms in Southeast Asia’s largest mosque.
“Once again, to the parent, Gilang, who may still be looking for his child, your son is on the podium now,” the officer said.
With so many congregational prayers passing by after Eid prayers, it was quite difficult to find children separated from their families or groups without the help of loudspeakers.
The crowd of prayers also owing to the policy implemented by the Istiqlal Mosque, which allowed 150 thousand people or about 75 percent of the total capacity to perform Eid prayer. Congregational prayers or known as jamaah were seen to fill up to the 4th floor of the mosque.
Although Asraf’s parents had not shown up, there was already a new search request.
“Putri Prapinda, 19 years old, is awaited by her mom in the earlier prayer place. Thank you,” the officer said.
Next, an order of search or call requests was announced.
“There was a father who was separated from his son named Baco, but his father went away for searching. Once again, Baco was separated from his father named Andri,” the officer said.
The verbal announcement for requests for searching people continued to be heard for about 30 minutes.
Starting with Muhammad Raul from Bekasi who was being waited for by his brother in front of the minbar, Uhriyah’s mother from Tangerang being expected by her family at the Sriwijaya Hotel, and Muhammad Adam from Pangkalan Jati who was being sought by his family in the main floor area, Ikro from Mangga Dua who was awaited by his parents at the Al Fattah Door and many more.
After about 15 minutes of waiting, Asraf’s father hurriedly came to his child.
“I was performing shalat (prayer) on the third floor. After that, I went to the toilet, but when returning, he had gone,” Gilang said.
Asraf L Sabiq, apparently five years old, had run downstairs during the Eid al-Fitr lecture led by Khatib Noor Achmad with the theme “The Spirit of National and State Harmony”.
“I searched downstairs and had reported and waited in front for about an hour. I also walked around but did not find (him), then someone told me that my name was mentioned here,” Gilang said.
Gilang and his wife named Uti explained that they routinely performed Eid prayers at the Istiqlal Mosque before the COVID-19 pandemic. The three of them rode a motorcycle from the Kapuk area to get here, but this was the first time for Asraf at the Istiqlal Mosque.
A premiere prayer
The implementation of Eid prayers at the Istiqlal Mosque in 2022 was the first after the COVID-19 pandemic and after it has been renovated.
“This Eid joint prayer is the first time and also held without any restrictions; We must be grateful because two years ago, we could not celebrate Eid al-Fitr freely,” Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs, Zainut Tauhid Sa’adi, who participated in the prayer, stated.
Besides Sa’adi, Vice President Ma’ruf Amin also performed the Eid prayer at Istiqlal. Amin even had chanted Takbir for about 10 minutes before the prayer began.
The vice president who was wearing a black sarong, black suit, black kopiah, and white scarf, stood in the front row next to the Grand Imam of Istiqlal Mosque, Nasaruddin Umar.
In the front row, there was the Deputy Chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR RI), Fadel Muhammad.
“This is the first time after two years, it is good momentum, but we had no communication with the president. Many were disappointed, the ministers were also absent, only a few figures, like the vice president,” Muhammad said.
Only a few state officials performed Eid prayer at Istiqlal, including Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy. Some ambassadors of friendly countries, and heads of state high institutions also joined the Eid prayer.
Although there were only a few state officials, people seemed enthusiastic to visit the Istiqlal Mosque in the morning. The place of prayer was full up to the 4th floor for both men and women.
In his sermon, Khatib Noor Achmad said that Eid al-Fitr became the momentum of Islah, or to improve relationships between groups, religious groups, and ethnic groups.
“Eid al-Fitr must be a common momentum to raise the awareness that we come from the same creation, the same fitra, and one ummah created by Allah SWT,” Achmad said.
Moreover, according to Achmad, fasting teaches about the unity of orientation, equality of perspectives, and togetherness in devotion.
“Fasting that only resists hunger and thirst is meaningless if one is not able to control themselves verbally and do bad things, such as ghibah (gossiping), spreading hoaxes and other acts that are prohibited by religion,” Achmad pointed out.
Istiqlal as a national pride
After finishing Eid prayers, most people did not immediately go home but took the time to take pictures inside and outside the mosque as it was newly renovated.
President Joko Widodo himself inaugurated the completion of the renovation on January 7, 2021. The mosque renovation was the first time since it was built 42 years ago.
“It (the mosque) is not only the pride of Muslims but also the pride of all Indonesian people, the pride of our nation, Indonesia,” he remarked.
With a budget of Rp511 billion, the renovation of Istiqlal Mosque began in May 2019 and lasted for 14 months which included structuring, architecture work, mechanical electrical plumbing (MEP), air and lighting design, interior work, and signage.
The Istiqlal Mosque has become the first mosque in the world to receive an Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) certificate, as a green place of worship, from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Source: Antara News