Messages of peace, love dominates this year's Idul Fitri sermons
Messages of peace, love dominates this year's Idul Fitri sermons
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Peace and returning to God's path will be two of the central Idul
Fitri messages in sermons at large mosques across the capital
Thursday.
Noted Muslim cleric Quraish Shihab, in his prepared sermon to
be delivered at Sunda Kelapa Mosque in Menteng, Central Jakarta,
will remind people of the importance of peace in all parts of
life.
"If you cannot help other people, then make sure you do not
cause them harm," Quraish's sermon obtained by The Jakarta Post
on Tuesday, says.
Indonesia, the world's most-populous Muslim country, has been
plagued by religious conflicts in the past few years in which
thousands of people have died.
In Poso, Central Sulawesi, where religious conflicts between
Muslims and Christians have killed over 2,000 people in the past
five years, three Christian girls were brutally beheaded last
week.
Dozens of Christian houses of worship in West Java, Central
Java and Greater Jakarta have also been closed down by Muslim
hard-liners, raising fears of bloody conflicts among followers.
The highlight of the Ramadhan fasting month for Indonesians is
the mass prayer on lebaran morning -- which this year falls on
Thursday -- when according to Muslim beliefs one is cleansed
again, a process known as Idul Fitri.
The sermons following the prayers are an integral and
important part of this cleansing, when Muslims are reminded to
return to God's path.
Bandung Islamic University (Unisba) lecturer Hassanoeddin is
scheduled to give an Idul Fitri sermon at Cut Meutia Mosque in
Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta.
"He will lecture on the merits of fasting for devotion to
God," an employee at the Cut Meutia Mosque, Heri Hermawan, told
the Post on Tuesday.
He said the mass prayer on Thursday would be conducted at 7
a.m. led by Mahfud Mustofa.
Speaking at the Baitul Ihsan Bank Indonesia Mosque on Jl. Budi
Kemuliaan in Central Jakarta will be Abdul Munir Mulkhan, the
rector of Sunan Kalijaga Islamic University in Yogyakarta.
The theme of Abdul Munir's sermon would be "Idul Fitri's human
angels", Baitul Ihsan Mosque secretariat head Sutarno Madiman
said.
"The mass prayer will be held at 7 a.m. on the grounds of the
Flag Ceremony Plaza at Bank Indonesia," he said.
A mass Idul Fitri prayer at the Istiqlal Grand Mosque -- where
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla
are to pray -- will be led by Nasrullah Jamaluddin, with a sermon
by Malang State Islamic University rector Imam Suprayogo.
Meanwhile, Al Azhar Mosque and Pondok Indah Mosque, both in
South Jakarta, will invite Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic
University lecturers Shobahussurur and Mustofa Yaqub
respectively.