Since Thursday evening, tens of thousands of people from Greater Jakarta and other cities gathered at the Central Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque to prepare for the rally, which is expected to see around 100,000 people from multiple Islamic organizations swarm Jakarta’s streets.

(Read also: Protesters brace for the worst, leave last will)

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Mochamad Iriawan said 21,000 personnel from the National Police, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the Jakarta Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) had been deployed to protect various venues across the city, including government offices and shopping malls, in anticipation of the rally.

Iriawan said he had met with the rally coordinators, including Rizieq Shihab, leader of the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).

"They promised that they would start [the rally] from Istiqlal and deliver orations in front of the State Palace [in Central Jakarta],” he said.

He also said on-duty police personnel would not be allowed to bring firearms or bayonets. Five groups of police personnel had also been prepared to chant the Asmaul Husna [the 99 names of God] to calm the crowd should they become violent.

(Read also: Unarmed personnel, police in hijab to calm anti-Ahok crowd)

Separately, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Awi Setiyono said hundreds of female officers wearing hijabs would also stand guard in front of the palace in hopes of calming protesters.

Ahok, a Christian and Indonesian of Chinese descent in the Muslim-majority country, sparked uproar among Islamic groups and communities after he made a comment on verses in the Quran during his visit to Thousand Islands regency in late September. The police have received around a dozen reports regarding the case.

Ahok risks losing his candidacy in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election should he be named a suspect in the case.

A number of leading Muslim figures have accused law enforcers of protecting Ahok in the case. Ahok, who previously served as deputy Jakarta governor, replaced President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo after the latter won the presidential election in 2014.

As of Friday noon, Ahok and his campaign team, however, had yet to inform reporters about his whereabouts.

The crowd from Istiqlal and other venues started to move to the State Palace after the end of Friday prayer at around 12:30 p.m.

In his Friday prayer sermon, Istiqlal grand imam Nasaruddin Umar called on Muslims not to be excessive in venting their frustrations toward those perceived to have insulted the Quran.

"It is understandable for Muslims to feel offended if someone insults the Quran. But in expressing the anger, the Quran has clearly stated that it should not be done by crossing the line or in excessive ways," said Nasaruddin in front of tens of thousands of people at the country’s biggest mosque.

In a possible move to anticipate security tensions, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo left the State Palace compound on Friday afternoon to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, which the Palace claimed as a working visit.

“The President is visiting Soekarno-Hatta to inspect the progress of transportation infrastructure development, in particular the airport train [project],” Presidential spokesman Johan Budi said.

Protesters, meanwhile, said they are already well-prepared to support the rally.

“Even if someone made fun of the Quran from the moon, I would go there and demand that he be prosecuted,” Muhammad Ilyas, a 20-something student from Medan, North Sumatra, told The Jakarta Post.

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