One million Moslems expected to participate in mass prayer

JAKARTA (JP): Some one million Moslems from Greater Jakarta are expected to join a special service to pray to Allah at Senayan sports complex eastern parking lot in Central Jakarta on July 5, the organizers said Wednesday.

The chairman of the event's organizing committee, Manarul Hidayat, said President B.J. Habibie and other government officials would be invited to attend the service on the Sunday morning.

The service is to remind people that they should draw closer to Allah through pray and encourage Moslems to repent their past mistakes, Manarul told a news conference at Al-Mahbubiah Islamic boarding school in South Jakarta here.

"There will be no speech at all. The service will be purely about reciting the Koran and prays to be led by nine kyai (Moslem elders)," he explained.

Four kyai have so far confirmed their participation at the mass service, which will be held for three hours beginning at 7 a.m., he said.

Manarul was quoted by Antara as saying that the service was at the initiative of members, not executives, of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslem organization in Jakarta and its surrounding areas, such as Tangerang, Bogor and Bekasi.

NU leader Abdurrahman Wahid is also expected to attend the service along with other respected senior Moslem scholars, including Idham Khalid, Ilyas Ruhiyat, Alie Yafie, Ma'ruf Amin, Syukron Ma'mun and Suryani Tohir, he said.

When asked whether chairman of the Muhammadiyah, another strong Moslem organization in the country, Amien Rais, would also attend the service, Munaral replied: "Everybody is welcome."

The organizers, he said, had been informed that Moslems from Cirebon also plan to attend the service.

In an attempt to properly manage the event, the organizers have prepared a number of buses, including military buses, to transport devotees back and forth from their departure points, Munaral said.

"Even the Jakarta Military commander (Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin) has issued a permit for the service and has guaranteed the security of the event," he said. (bsr)