The Dragon Mosque: Place for ex-thugs to reflect

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

The Dragon Mosque in the Istighfar Islamic Boarding School, Perbalan, Semarang is unusual in that its entrance way features two carved stone dragon's heads.

Why is the mosque decorated with carvings of dragons, which commonly decorate Confucian temples?

"The dragon symbolizes strength and the absence of fear. The dragon also symbolizes the ego of humans, who are unwilling to listen to God's call. Having seen the carvings, one will always be reminded to worship God," said Gus Tanto, the owner of the boarding school.

In fact, many students at the school are former gang members who had once been reliant on their brute strength for survival.

The Jakarta Post observed, as many of the young men were washing their bodies before prayer, that they were covered in tattoos.

The former gang members came from areas across Semarang. Some came from Barutikung, which is dubbed "Semarang's Brooklyn", while others had been a familiar presence at bus terminals and train stations or were drug addicts. They have come to the boarding school to study the Koran and praise God.

From being men who would not hesitate to use violence to get money, they are now more disciplined both physically and morally.

Sugiyarto, 28, one of the men, said he had been imprisoned twice for assault. He had joined a gang as a senior high school student, but had repented to God when he married recently.

"After I married, I wanted my life to be calm and happy," said Sugiyarto, who is currently a debt collector for an electronics firm in Semarang.

Powerfully built with tattoos all over his body, Sugiyarto looks like a debt collector who would get results. But, when he was met by the Post at the boarding school, he was polite, calm and ready to smile. He prayed solemnly on the first day of Ramadhan.

"Let the past be the past. I want to enjoy a stable life with my family. I have been studying the Koran for two months now and I feel comfortable," he said.

The Islamic boarding school has dozens of students, half of whom are ex-thugs who come to study the Koran. Most of the young men have abandoned their old habits of taking drugs, stealing money and sleeping around. They visit the mosque several times a week and early on Friday morning they pray together and recite the Koran.

Gus Tanto said his childhood experiences had caused him to ask the ex-gang members to study the Koran. He said he spent his childhood in Perbalan, where thugs ruled the streets.

"They glorified violence and, later, I learned that it was not right. They had to change their way of life, and I am helping them to change it," he said.