Mosques stand alone amid Indonesia tsunami destruction, devout
\nsee divine help[ Eds: RETRANSMITTING to ADD photo numbers[ AP
\nPhotos XEH106, PDJ107, BM109-110[ By EDWARD HARRIS= Associated
\nPress Writer=
\nBANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) -<\/p>\n
Devout see divine help as mosques remain standing<\/p>\n
Edward Harris
\nAssociated Press\/Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
The white Ulee Lheu mosque gleams defiantly on the tide line of
\nthe worst-hit stretch of Indonesia's devastated coast, nearly
\npristine despite a buffeting by last month's tsunami that turned
\nvillages behind it into a dead zone of corpses and splintered
\nwood.<\/p>\n
The building suffered only one ruined wall, a sandy floor and
\na wave-tossed boat trailer crumpled on a second-story verandah.<\/p>\n
It is a feat of survival replicated across the region that
\nlocal Muslims call extraordinary and divinely inspired, though
\nthe more scientifically inclined would note the rickety, timber-
\nand-tin buildings many people lived in didn't stand a chance
\nagainst the massive waves.<\/p>\n
\"It's because it's the house of Allah. It's protected. Most of
\nthe buildings that were saved are mosques,\" says Fitria, 26, of
\nthe brick-built, onion-domed mosques left standing after the Dec.
\n26 disaster.<\/p>\n
\"People noticed -- and they're talking about it,\" said Fitria.<\/p>\n
Around Banda Aceh, capital of worst-hit Aceh province where
\n106,000 Indonesians died, mosques stand alone amid vast
\nwastelands of upended towns reeking of rotting bodies more than
\ntwo weeks after an undersea earthquake near the region sparked
\nthe tsunami.<\/p>\n
Along the road to Banda Aceh's beach, debris is piled high
\nagainst a mosque's outside gate, but the building is otherwise
\nuntouched. Nearby, a multistory mansion sits like a stack of
\npancakes, but a similarly proportioned house of worship next door
\nis unmoved.<\/p>\n
Survivors believe divine protection, rather than sturdy
\nconstruction, prevented their destruction.<\/p>\n
\"When the earthquake hit, the houses were fine. But when the
\nwaves came, they were all gone,\" says Munjarab Raif, a 45-year-
\nold builder.<\/p>\n
\"But the imams built the mosques hundreds of years ago, so
\nthey made them carefully. Of course, they're protected by Allah,\"
\nhe said. \"Houses belong to humans, but mosques belong to Allah.\"<\/p>\n
From behind the Ulee Lheu mosque, the most seaward building
\nstill standing, the waves rushed inland for kilometers, slamming
\ninto the center of town where the main Baiturrahman Mosque became
\na safe haven for hundreds.<\/p>\n
Dramatic amateur video footage aired on Indonesian television
\nshowed the torrents of water charging through streets outside the
\nmosque's wrought-iron gates, carrying away cars and people.<\/p>\n
Screaming survivors clambered onto the second story of the
\ncity's grandiose, multi-minareted complex, clinging to ramparts
\nto escape the raging waters below.<\/p>\n
Only a few centimeters of sea water invaded the mosque's main
\nprayer space, leaving no serious damage after the waters receded,
\nsaid one of the city's top religious leaders.<\/p>\n
\"Whenever there's disaster, people run to the mosque.
\nEverybody who escaped to this mosque, about 1,000 people, was
\nsaved,\" said Johan, 39, the mosque's deputy imam. \"This is a
\nhouse of Allah. He couldn't kill them here.\"<\/p>\n
The waters did claim 150,000 lives in 11 countries in Asia and
\nAfrica and left millions of others homeless.<\/p>\n
Devout Muslims in Banda Aceh say the catastrophe that spared
\nmosques while killing people may have been a test of the
\nfaithful.<\/p>\n
\"It's Allah's secret,\" Fitria said. \"Maybe he wanted to show
\nthe people that they're infidel, because they don't pray. It's a
\nwarning.\"<\/p>\n
Johan said he was amazed that so many mosques survived, but
\nadded that he believed countless other mosques were surely
\ndestroyed.<\/p>\n
\"All the mosques built by imams are saved. The ones ruined
\nwere built by regular people,\" said Johan. \"Those built by the
\nimams are graced with strong foundations.\"<\/p>\n
GetAP 1.00 -- JAN 12, 2005 15:46:41<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/mosques-stand-alone-amid-indonesia-tsunami-destruction-devout-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }