Prayer Recitations from an Emergency Mosque as Aceh Disaster Survivors Seek Divine Mercy

Sali takes the front position to lead the Quranic study session. His calm voice flows through the loudspeaker with deliberately enhanced echo, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of the recitations of imams in Masjidil Haram in Makkah. From this simple space, he guides the congregation through the evening in devotion.

This routine has become an inseparable part of the life of Sali, an imam and respected community leader in Tetingi Village, Pantan Cuaca District, Gayo Lues Regency, Aceh. That evening, the mountain air felt increasingly cold, seeping through the gaps in the wooden walls of the emergency mosque standing in the midst of the residential settlement.

From within the building, the 62-year-old man recites the holy verses of the Quran throughout the night during Ramadhan. His voice blends with the roar of the river current, a flow that has never truly left the residents’ memories since the flash flood devastated the village on 26 November 2025.

That memory transports Sali back to months earlier, when he still stood in the sturdy and spacious Al-Muhsinin Mosque. This mosque had been the centre of community life, a place of worship and also a space for social gathering. However, in a single night, the building was swept away by the fierce current from the mountain upstream along with dozens of residents’ homes.

The disaster left a deep wound, but it left no room for Sali to linger in sorrow. One day after the disaster, he and the residents began to resume the call to prayer from a makeshift building. From a simple community hall to eventually the establishment of an emergency mosque, he ensured that worship continued.