DMI calls for repentance and Istisqa prayer amid forest fire threat
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Mosque Council (DMI) has called on Muslims to perform the Istisqa prayer, or prayer for rain, in response to a prolonged dry season that has caused drought and triggered forest and land fires (karhutla).
In a letter dated 21 August 2026 received in Jakarta on Sunday, DMI Central Board Chairman Jusuf Kalla urged DMI officials, mosque administrators, and worshippers throughout Indonesia to carry out the Istisqa prayer.
“The prolonged dry season has resulted in rising environmental temperatures, causing drought, triggering a water crisis and sparking widespread forest fires in several regions of Indonesia,” Jusuf Kalla wrote in the letter.
The appeal was addressed to DMI regional, district, branch and sub-branch leaders, as well as mosque prosperity councils (DKM), takmir, and mosque congregations across Indonesia.
In addition to performing the Istisqa prayer, DMI urged preachers to call on the faithful to repent, increase istighfar (seeking forgiveness) and pray to be spared from disasters and calamities.
DMI recommended that the Istisqa prayer be held in all mosques in Indonesia from August until early September 2026. The prayer for rain may also be performed in open fields or mosque courtyards.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) has confirmed that the government is accelerating integrated operations to control forest and land fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra.
Head of the Public Relations and Foreign Cooperation Bureau at the Ministry of Forestry, Ristianto Pribadi, said in a statement received in Jakarta on Sunday that the government has mobilised 12,880 joint personnel to handle forest and land fires.
According to Ministry of Forestry data, the 12,880 joint personnel have been deployed in forest and land fire control operations in Kalimantan, particularly in West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan.
The operations are being carried out through hotspot monitoring, patrols, ground and aerial firefighting, wetting, cooling, and weather modification operations.