Moslems greet new year with prayers for end to crisis

SEMARANG (JP): Moslems in Central Java greeted the beginning of the 1419 Islamic year of Hijr on Monday by holding mass prayers for an end to the economic crisis.

In almost all mosques and small prayer houses, residents listened to sermons urging them to be patient. They chanted Allahuakbar (Allah is the Greatest), recited passages from the Koran, and ended their gatherings with prayers, many tearful, that God end the hardship they have faced since last year.

In several mosques, the gatherings were also used to present packages of new clothing, school supplies and cash for orphan students.

Chairman of the Central Java chapter of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas said his office had advised all ulemas and their congregations to pray together for an end to the crisis.

In several West Java towns, including Depok and Sawangan, groups of youths held torchlit processions around their kampongs and chanted Allahuakbar.

Yesterday marked the start of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar which begins with hijr, the flight of Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.

In the Islamic year coinciding with 579 AD, Prophet Muhammad led his followers out of Mecca, where growing numbers of Moslem converts were suffering persecution at the hands of unbelievers, and took them to Medina, where local Moslems opened their arms to the migrants, and Muhammad continued to spread the word of Islam.

In Jakarta, Minister of Religious Affairs Quraish Shihab greeted the new year by calling on all Indonesian Moslems to show even greater faith, to work harder, and to remain optimistic in the face of hardship.

"In light of the situation facing our nation, Moslems need to understand, and to follow the values contained in the hijr (flight of Prophet Muhammad)," Quraish said.

The hijr teaches Moslems the value of struggling to turn a bad situation into a better life.

"Just before the flight, Moslems were in a weak and persecuted position, but they continued to believe that some day their eternal victory would be delivered," Quraish said.

On Monday, when he opened the Muharram Week at the Istiqlal Grand Mosque, Quraish expressed his belief that Indonesia will see an Islamic revival, despite the crisis now facing it.

Indonesia is the largest Moslem nation on earth. Moslems make up 87 percent of the 202 million population.

"Moslems need to consolidate their forces and face the hardship together," the minister said, as quoted by Antara.

In Yogyakarta, around 10,000 residents marked the Islamic new year on Monday, which was also the start of the month of Suro on the Javanese calendar of Saka 1931.

Antara said that some residents greeted the new year by performing tapa bisu (silent meditation), circling the kraton (the Sultan of Yogyakarta's palace) in complete silence. The rite was undertaken by those seeking divine blessing.

Others sat and waited for the day to change.

"It is in this situation that we can reflect on what we have done in the past year, and resolve to do better in the future," Taryono, 43, from nearby Bantul, said. (swe/har)