Friday sermon<\/p>\n
It was Friday, June 21, 1996, at 11:45 a.m. when an Indonesian
\nfriend pulled up in a flashy car to give me a ride to the mosque
\nfor Friday prayers. After about 20-minute drive we arrived at a
\nhuge building (along Jl. Sudirman) called \"Gedung GKBI.\" In it I
\nfound a pretty international audience of various nationalities
\nready to listen to a sermon in English just before prayer time.<\/p>\n
After a short announcement, the imam, a law professor at the
\nUniversity of Indonesia, started to deliver his kotbah (sermon) in
\nEnglish. This took him about 20 minutes. After the kotbah, the
\nprayer took about 10 minutes, and then coffee was served.<\/p>\n
In a small news bulletin I learnt that the program was
\norganized by the \"Nahla Club\" mainly to assist expatriates who
\nmay not necessarily understand Friday prayers in Indonesian.<\/p>\n
As an expatriate, I found this idea really sweet. It bears
\ntestimony to the capacity of Indonesians to cater to the needs of
\nforeigners in all spheres of life -- a job well done.<\/p>\n
BUHARI ABDU<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/friday-sermon-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }