Al Markaz al Islami, a South Sulawesi landmark
By Jupriadi
UJUNGPANDANG (JP): Jakarta has the Istiqlal, Banda Aceh its Baiturrahman and Ujungpandang its Al Markaz al Islami. Those are the three largest and most popular mosques in the country.
Al Markaz, which is what the Ujungpandang people usually call it, is indeed imposing. This mosque is now the symbol of Islamic revival in Indonesia's eastern regions and the landmark of the South Sulawesi people.
During Ramadhan nights the imposing quality of Al Markaz, the pride of the South Sulawesi community, becomes more and more charming as tens of thousands of Muslims chant their prayers and confession of faith in Allah.
Since the first day of Ramadhan, this mosque has always been crowded with people attending evening prayers. It is estimated that some 11,000 Muslims attend the occasion every night.
"They also come from places outside Ujungpandang such as Maros, Pangkep, Gowa and Takalar," said Darwis, secretary of the Education Division of the Islamic Center Foundation.
Just like any other mosques, Al Markaz also prepares dishes for the joint breaking of the fast dinner. "Some 3,000 people break their fast here every day," he added.
The grand mosque, inaugurated on Jan. 12, 1996, stands on a site in Baraya, which was formerly the campus of the Hasannudin University. It is decked with basic ornaments, such as the ceramics and crystal lights, from Europe as well as a sound system and computer equipment from Japan. In terms of architecture it is a blend of that of the Mosque of Haram in Mecca, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, and the oldest mosque in Gowa, South Sulawesi, a mosque built in the 16th century. As such, it is now one of the most imposing mosques in Southeast Asia.
It has three floors and occupies an area totaling 6,932 square meters. The first floor -- 2,916 square meters -- is used as offices, discussion rooms, a hall and a library. The second floor -- 2,916 square meters -- is devoted to the male Muslim congregation and the third floor -- 1,100 square meters -- is for the female Muslim congregation. The second and third floors are neatly arranged and lit with 800 electric bulbs. When you are there you will feel that they are spacious in the absence of central pillars. The mosque features the strength of civil architectural design.
On the walls of the front section there are dark blue ceramics originally imported from Italy. Rays from the lights will be beautifully reflected by the walls, all in natural colors. In front of the mihrab, a chamber indicating the direction of Mecca, there is a copper inscription of the syahadat, the profession of faith in Islam. Inside this room there is a crystal lamp fixture two meters in diameter with 150 bulbs.
"This arrangement will make everybody entering it feel small before Allah," said H. Yusuf Kalla, chairman of the executive board of Islamic Center Foundation.
Another interesting feature of Al Markaz al Islami, which literally means Islamic Center, is the absence of air conditioners. The mosque is designed in such a way that it resembles a traditional house in which the room temperature will range between 28 and 31 degrees Celsius only. To facilitate the entry of people to the rooms on the second and third floors, an escalator is fixed in the middle section with two flights of stairs on either side. This escalator is specially imported from Japan. These three entry doors symbolize faith, knowledge and charity.
The place for wudhu, Islamic ritual ablution before prayers, at Al Markaz is also luxurious. There are two wudhu places on either side of the mosque. Each wudhu is 648 meters square and has 178 water taps. Each place is covered with white granite with tiny black spots. The water source is at a depth of 254 meters underground. To drill the well, a drilling machine was donated by Japan's Takafumi Hayashi Foundation. This well alone cost some Rp 500 million.
The most distinctive part of the mosque is its soaring tower. The main tower, 3m x 3m, resembles the tower of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina. At 85 meters tall, it is only 1 m shorter that the tower of the Prophet's Mosque. This tower is covered with Italian ceramics and is provided with 16 sound systems with a capacity to reach a radius of 5 kilometers. The foundation of the tower is connected to the 3-meter-wide and 564-meter-long connecting open veranda. There are 376 spaces underneath with a 25-watt bulb each.
The pearl-colored stone floor of the open veranda connecting the south and north plaza is 2,300 meters square while the northern and southern parks total 3,600 square meters in area, complete with twin blocks with fine grass in between.
To connect the wudhu places and the 2,460 meters square parking lot, there is a corridor with a copper roof. The way inside the mosque is 15 meters wide and 4,000 meters long.
The copper roof of this domeless mosque is sharp-pointed and has five stages with lattices of soldered glass and copper ends in the symbol of the moon. This room imitates that of the Katangka Mosque, Gowa, which was built by Sultan Alauddin, the father of the National Hero Sultan Hasanuddin of the Gowa Kingdom, South Sulawesi. The five-stage roof of the mosque symbolizes the five pillars of Islam while the square symbolizes Sullapa eppa', a Bugis expression meaning that man originally comes from earth, water, fire and wind.
A number of participants in the congress and gathering of the first International Muslim Conference held by the Indonesian Muslim University in Ujungpandang recently were apparently amazed when they paid a visit to the mosque.
"Good heavens, this is a really imposing mosque," Syekh Abdurrahman, a delegate representing the Philippines' Muslim Moro people, could not help mumbling.
"At first, I did not believe that there was such an imposing mosque in Ujungpandang. Now I have found that what I have heard is true," he told The Jakarta Post.
Idea
The idea of building the mosque came from General (ret) Mohammad Jusuf, former Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces Commander and chairman of the Supreme Audit Body, when he was on a haj pilgrimage in 1994. Returning home from Mecca, he expressed this idea to then Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher, who gave an enthusiastic response.
Jusuf then established the Islamic Center Foundation, headed by himself with members included his wife, Mar'ie Muhammad (then Minister of Finance), Tunky Ariwibowo (then Minister of Industry and Trade), Gen. (ret.) Edi Sudrajat (then Minister of Defense and Security), Moch. Yogi SM (then Minister of Home Affairs), Aburizal Bakri (president of Bakri group of companies), HZB Palaguna (then South Sulawesi Governor) and Yusuf Kalla (a noted local businessman).
According to Jusuf, Ujungpandang has been chosen as the location of the foundation because it is the center of Indonesia's eastern regions. "Not because I come from Ujungpandang," he said then.
On May 8, 1994, Edi Sudrajat and Yogi SM inaugurated the driving of the first piles of the tower of the mosque. Architect Mohammad Noe'man, assigned to design the mosque in a year, coordinated the construction, which began on July 10, 1994 and was completed on Jan. 12, 1996, under the banner of PT Adhi Karya.
The mosque took 17 months to build at a total cost of Rp 13 billion. The success in bringing the mosque construction to completion in quite a short time was attributable to the financial support extended by the community, including a number of Chinese Indonesian businessmen like Prayogo Pangestu, Hari Darmawan and James T. Riyadi.
The former rector of the Ujungpandang State Islamic Institute, Saleh Putuhena, has predicted that if the area of the Al Markaz Mosque acquires all the necessary facilities and infrastructure, it will be Indonesia's center for culture, science and technology. "God willing, it will be the center of Islamic culture, science and technology in Indonesia's eastern regions," he said.
According to the master plan, the Al Markaz area will have a number of educational institutes from kindergarten to university level with facilities and infrastructure on a par with those of the Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, and with Cordoba in Spain. "It is only a question of funds," said Yusuf Kalla.
Lately there have been reports that the mosque will be made a center for religious tourism activities. It is hoped that this idea may materialize and conform to the enhanced faith and piety of the people of South Sulawesi, a province recently also vulnerable to the outbreak of social unrest.