Night At The Mosque

A neighbourhood mosque in Yogyakarta | 2000 words | Translated from Bahasa Indonesia by Lise Isles

‘Bro – what are the rules on using witchcraft to make an out-of-favour mosque more popular?’

This question – a joke, yes, but encapsulating something serious, too – I heard on a video with the tongue-in-cheek name ‘Lost Youth Short Talks’. It was presided over by the famous Indonesian preacher and YouTuber Habib Husein Ja’far Al-Hadar, who is 33 years old and known for wearing distinctly-millennial clothing, most notably hoodies.

On his YouTube channel, The Comic Council of Indonesia, Habib Husein regularly answers questions from a group called ‘Muslims Without Mosques’ – in other words, the new generation of Muslims, born in the late 20th or early 21st centuries, whose knowledge of religion comes not from conventional Islamic institutions like mosques, pesantrens or madrasahs but from magazines, radio, television, DVDs, and most of all now, the internet. These things, instead of formal institutions, are their main sources as they interpret and embrace their religion.

You might not suspect it, but this question comes from a very real place – from a very tangible sense of disquiet.

Well, look, it at least represents my discomfort as a member of the global Islamic ummat who – my apologies – rarely spends much time at mosques. It’s not because I’m anti-mosque, but because I can’t be bothered enduring there imams who are too egotistical.

One day, late-afternoon, heavy rain was inundating Yogyakarta. By coincidence I was on Jalan Kaliurang – a major north-south thoroughfare – en route to meet up with somebody. Rather than getting drenched, I concluded that taking shelter was the wiser choice.

Soon, though, it was time for Maghrib, the sunset prayer. All Muslims ought now to find a place to pray. Since I was out and about, that meant doing so in a mosque. 

© Anwar Kurniawan

English translation © Lise Isles