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Weekly 5: Old, unforgotten mosques in Jakarta
Cut Meutia Mosque: (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)Jakarta, known as Batavia in past centuries, was one of the first areas of the dissemination of Islam in Indonesia
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Cut Meutia Mosque: (JP/Ricky Yudhistira) (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)
Cut Meutia Mosque: (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)
Jakarta, known as Batavia in past centuries, was one of the first areas of the dissemination of Islam in Indonesia. The large number of Muslim-Arab traders sailed their ships into Batavia's famous port, Sunda Kelapa, in the 14th century and grew their businesses as well as spreading Islam to the whole city.
The capital hosts many historical mosques that are still alive with a lot of activities, especially during the holy month of Ramadhan. Here are some of them:
As-Salafiyah Mosque
This mosque is located on Jl. Jatinegara Kaum, East Jakarta. It was built by Prince Jayakarta from Banten Kingdom in 1620 when he camped in East Jakarta. Besides being a place for praying, the mosque was also a place where the prince arranged war strategies to fight the colonial Dutch.
The prince, who was also known as Prince Akhmed Jakerta, passed away in 1640 and he was buried in the compound of the mosque.
Until now, many people, not only Jakartans but those from other regions, always visit his grave to pay their respects to a hero of Jakarta. During Ramadhan, Muslims visit the 7,000-square-meter mosque and the prince's grave as part of their pilgrimage.
Cut Meutia Mosque
Located on Jl. Cut Meutia, Menteng, Central Jakarta, Cut Meutia Mosque was formerly the office of Dutch architect Pieter Adriaan Jacobus Moojen in 1879. The two-floor building, which was named 'De Bouwploeg', has the Netherlands' architecture style with a square-roof and a ventilation tower in the center of the building to regulate the temperature inside.
In 1987, former Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin ordered the city government to convert the building into a mosque. Now, with a width of 4,616 square meters, the mosque can accommodate 3,000 people.
This Ramadhan the mosque is holding its third Ramadhan Jazz Festival, an annual musical event that aims to spread the values of Islam through jazz music. In this event, musicians perform Islamic religious songs with jazz arrangements, in order to attract middle class people who live in the Menteng area and young Muslims.
Istiqlal Grand Mosque
Istiqlal Grand Mosque is the largest mosque in Southeast Asia. The mosque, which was inaugurated in 1978, occupies 2.5 hectares of a total 9.3 hectare-plot of land on Jl. Taman Wijaya Kusuma and can accommodate up to 120,000 people. A Christian architect, Friedrich Silaban, won a competition to design the mosque in 1955 and its construction started in 1961.
The mosque has been in the media spotlight in various Islamic religious events and prayers, such as Idul Fitri prayers, because the Indonesian president usually prays at the mosque at this time.
During this Ramadhan, the mosque prepares iftar (break of the fast) meals for around 3,000 visitors per day and the number of sahur (pre-dawn meal) boxes is around 1,000 to 1,500, said the mosque's committee chairman, Mubarok.
Sunda Kelapa Mosque
This mosque was built in 1960 and is located in Menteng, Central Jakarta. Unlike common mosques, it has no dome or star-crescent symbol. The building looks like a boat, which its architect explains is a symbol of Sunda Kelapa Port in North Jakarta, where the first Arab-Muslim traders came and spread Islam.
The 9,920 square meter building can accommodate 4,427 people.
During Ramadhan, Jakartans can enjoy breaking the fast in the mosque area, as the mosque's entrance is jam-packed with food sellers.
'The mosque has prepares 1,500 boxes of break-fasting meals and 500 boxes of predawn meals per day,' said mosque spokesmen Ahmad Izzudin.
Jami' Kebon Jeruk Mosque
Located on Jl. Hayam Wuruk, West Jakarta, Jami' Kebun Jeruk Mosque is the first Chinese-Muslim mosque in the capital. The mosque was built in 1718 by Chinese-Muslim Chan Tsin Hwa and his wife Fatima Hwu, who left their country because the majority of Buddhist people there rejected their presence. ' JP
