Visitors come to Ampel for devotional visit and shopping

SURABAYA (JP): If you are given a souvenir by a relative who has just returned from haj pilgrimage to Mecca, do not immediately assume it is from Saudi Arabia. Whether it is a prayer rug, beautiful veil, jewelry or even dates, they might come from Ampel, a unique area in Surabaya.

Ibu Cholis, a mother of five who went for pilgrimage two years ago, admitted that she bought a lot of souvenirs at Ampel. "It would have been too expensive and complicated to buy all those things in Saudi Arabia and bring them here. Many of the souvenirs sold in Saudi Arabia are made in Indonesia anyway," she said last week.

After coming back from the haj pilgrimage rather empty-handed except for some jewelry and zam-zam water (spring water at the Grand Mosque in Mecca), she shopped for souvenirs at Ampel and gave them to relatives and neighbors who came to visit her. She even served dates and raisins which she bought from Ampel.

Patrons of Ampel have been telling this type of "white lie" for a long time. People know that they are served and given things from Ampel, yet they pretend as if everything came from Saudi Arabia. Everybody is happy that way.

Ampel is a kampong in North Surabaya which is dominated by Arab families. It has a Great Mosque (locally called Masjid Agung, which was built in 1421), the grave of Sunan Ampel and a souvenir market. According to Haji Hafid, whose family has been living in the area since the 17th century, many people come to Ampel to visit the above-mentioned attractions.

The mosque, occupying about 1.5 hectares, is under renovation with a total budget of Rp 5.5 billion (US$2.3 million). The grave is visited by domestic tourists every day, but the busiest time is during the fasting month of Ramadhan. The peak is on the nights of the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th and 29th of Ramadhan, when visitors are expecting to obtain the benefits of worship during Lailatul Qadar, a night when worshipers are promised to receive the merits of worshiping for 1,000 nights.

"At least 10,000 people will come to this place in one night," said Hafid.

There are about 40 vendors along an alley in Ampel, which starts on Jl. Sasak and leads to the mosque. They sell Islamic clothing and various kinds of accessories and jewelry. Most of them live in the area. They were born there and their families have lived there for hundreds of years.

Among them is Ahmad Helmy, 51, who owned a shop in the alley. "I don't know when this area began to look like this, but as far as I remember, it was always like this," he said.

But according to his parents, there were only a few houses near the mosque in the beginning. It grew into an alley and many more Arab families moved into the area.

Hafid said it was part of the Dutch colonial government's policy to surround the Great Mosque with houses "so the houses would obscure the mosque and Islam would not spread fast".

The houses surrounding the mosque have become a big problem for those planning to expand and renovate the mosque. The area is crowded enough without visitors, yet they keep pouring in, along with people wishing to settle there. Since the number of visitors is growing, the demand for shops is increasing. Now, almost every house also functions as a shop.

What is interesting is the fact that each of the shop owners doesn't concern themselves with capitalization or obtaining loans from banks. Their businesses have remained sound for years. Perhaps their way of trading has a religious significance. "We don't want to take credit from banks. Our luck is barokah (blessedness), not much, but not small either -- good enough for our lives," said Helmy, a father of eight children.

Ramadhan is a good marketing time for them, especially because many people from villages and small towns in East Java come to visit the mosque and the grave site. They are definitely potential buyers. During a high season like this, sometimes there are 50 to 100 buses coming to Ampel and creating traffic jams in the already crowded area.

The area has been a tourist attraction for about 10 years. There are foreign tourists, especially from the Netherlands, Britain and Italy, but they usually come during the year-end holidays.

Because the market is good here, it has attracted many merchants to the area. Recently, the government drove about 30 merchants away from the mosque area because they were disturbing worshiping activities and didn't have legitimate permits for trading.

Almost every vendor or shop in the alley also sells dates "because eating dates to the break the fast is sunnah (suggested)," said Helmy, while recalling the habit of Prophet Muhammad.

At first, the traders sold dates only during Ramadhan and after Idul Fitri. But now dates can be found almost anytime. "People coming from haj or umrah pilgrimage need to buy dates here. They later claim they bought them in Saudi Arabia. So dates are always available," explained Hafid.

On Jl. Sasak and K.H. Mansyur, there are about 20 vendors selling dates. "We could sell 100 kilograms per day," she said. The dates come from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Egypt. The most famous are the big, yellowish and meaty dates from Medina, Saudi Arabia. They are priced at Rp 15,000 per kilogram. Egyptian dates sell for Rp 5,000 to Rp 6,000 per kilogram.