This Ramadhan, I decided to jump directly on a purpose to restore our local masjid as the epicenter of civilizations.
Before Ramadhan came, most of my Twitter timeline talked about how one of the university mosques on the biggest Indonesian campus was not as alive as it used to be. 4 years ago, it was the mosque that sparked joy in the surrounding community, not only for their academics but also for people lives nearby. Back then, the mosque held routine lectures (not only in Friday prayer), free iftar, and even a place for their college students to hang out, do homework, or have all-day discussion spots. In short, that masjid was alive.
This is supported by an opinion from Herri Cahyadi on his Twitter. Students held unstoppable Islamic lectures during Herri's active time in the university da’wah movement (LDK) for almost a decade. The discussion varied from a broad spectrum of thoughts, a book club and students who created an amil zakat organization (LAZ), and even a forum affiliated to HTI (Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia), which was recently disbanded (Republika, 2023)
That controversy sparked my curiosity to find a way to empower my local masjid back to its origin purpose. Masjid was meant to build the ummah, not just the building itself. Without its people and awareness of how powerful a masjid could be, it will be the sole place to pray. When praying time is done, it goes back being another building in the complex. We knew exactly how a masjid became the epicenter of civilizations back in the time of Rasulullah ﷺ and sahabah. We see how Baghdad have a grand mosque at the center of its city during the ‘Abbasiyah Caliphate. We were told the story of Fatimah al-Fihria built a mosque in 859 using her father's inheritance, and now its become the oldest university in the world: Al-Qarawiyyin.
It confuses me, why most of the masjids I knew throughout my life never served any other purpose than a place to prostrate or elderly women’s group doing routine lectures. I did not say it was useless or had no impact at all, but deep down, I knew a masjid could do more than that. It was not until I grew up, married, and re-learning about Islam deeper than my ignorant thoughts on reality actually hindered me from seeing the bigger picture. I found a social media post that shows Masjid Jogokariyan in Jogjakarta literally debunks the myth of narrowed functions of the masjid in my mind.
You can visit their website, but in short, they have various programs that benefit their jamaat. The masjid monthly infaq is not focused on building or renovating the masjid, but also as an act of charity towards their surrounding. They have shar’i and affordable housing in the masjid complex, they created a rice grains shadaqoh (ATM Beras), not to mention they occupied a tiny bit of land on the mosque’s rooftop as a hydroponics site so they can farm catfish and fresh veggies catering their other programs. It’s systemic management that made it possible.
Looking at my local masjid, I knew I had to initiate my visions regarding awakening the masjid’s potential. I lived in a neighborhood of densely populated area in Jelambar. Surrounding our neighborhood, we actually have three masjids: Masji Jami’ Al-Huda, Masjid Nurul Iman, and Masjid Al Jihad. Since my in-law’s house is closer to Masjid Jami’ Al-Huda, I recently joined as a jamaah there.
At first, I had no idea where to start this mission. Following my gut, I decided to join their tarawih on the first night of Ramadhan to observe the situation. My local masjid has no Youth mosque movement, so all the caretakers are mainly gentlemen in their 50s or older. During my observations, I found that this masjid is actually so alive! There are a lot of kids (around elementary ages), and their parents perform 5 times prayers here. But, aside to cater the need for praying, they do not have any other program. As I talked through my neighborhood leader (Pak RW) they have a daily Quran recitation class for kids, but that’s all. This masjid was recently renovated in 2022. With its better building, they still have no programs except the obvious ones such as Id al-Fitri or Id al-Adha prayers, Friday prayer, and Quran recitations class.
Qadarullah, it seems that Allah ﷻ opened up a way for me. In the middle of the tarawih session, the leader of that Masjid announce in the mimbar, “Is there any advice on how to empower this masjid?”. I raised my hand, with no hesitation, and I said, “I do!”. Without thinking twice, I spoke in front of all jamaah who came that night about my intentions to create a free English Class, twice a week during Ramadhan for children in that Masjid. Alhamdulillah, the masjid’s leader agreed and asked me to prepare the proposal. I returned home that night, opened my laptop, and created the proposal for this program with the speed of light.
You might ask me (or actually, this is what jamaah asked me the following night):
“Why did you create an English class program rather than Iqra’ or Quran learning in the masjid?”
“Why is it only twice a week?”
“Why is it only for elementary students? Why not both for adults and kids?”
The answers are:
- English is the easiest way for me to penetrate into a baby-steps program that I know I can handle alone (during this introduction phase with all jamaah). Since I have no volunteers yet, I tried to make an applicable program with realistic results I knew it could be done within this Ramadhan month. And, yes, I experienced teaching English, especially to elementary students.
- Twice a week, Wednesday and Sunday are the only days I have as my day off from the office
- For now, because there are a lot of elementary students in the Masjid, I’d love to cater to their needs first and pre-testing is it the program useful or not for them.
As an action-oriented person, this program (even if it is not yet finished) already gave me a better perspective of those people working tirelessly for Ummah. My respect grew fonder since I experienced all by myself that this journey to awakening the local masjid is not an easy job. I learned how to communicate my goodwill in a manner that won’t hurt masjid caretakers. I learned how to communicate effectively and synergize with Pak RW, which I knew won’t be there all the time during this program. Moreover, it opened my eyes to how structural poverty is rooted in the mindset of jamaah, thinking that English learning is unimportant while in reality, the future for their kids requires English as a basic must-have skill. Not to mention my findings on friction between Islamic community organizations existed and how to address this problem.
Those life-worthy lessons made me realize that I have lived in my academic bubbles for way too long. I am getting used to and comfortable with speaking out in academic settings, which is slowly detaching me from the grassroots realities coherent in my daily life. And I understand now, “well, it is not that easy, pals!”
Finally, I humbly ask for your prayers and support so this program will end perfectly, stick to its true mission, and open other opportunities for me to be part of this masjid movement. I hope in the future, we not only have an abundant number of masjid exists in our community but also be directly impacted by its positive and empowering programs daily. If you want to spare some of your money and donate to our program, you can find your spots in the following needs:
- Office supplies or children's stationery (colored pencil, A4 paper, spidol)
- English-text story books (Usborne classic or anything)
- Children's English dictionaries (preferably picture books)
- Iftar or snack package for students
- Subscription for a premium learning apps
The donation could be transferred to BCA a.n. Indah Febryyani 5280413404
📝 Program Proposal: https://bit.ly/proposal_IG
☎️ More info: https://wa.me/6285893539352
Wassalamuallaikum warahmatullahi wabarokatuh 😄
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#BelajardiMasjid
#MasjidPusatPeradaban
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