Could you imagine if all of the Christian churches in the south had loud speakers pointing in every direction and blasted them out loud 5 times a day, every Sunday? I mean that would be some serious praising. And a lot of noise. So replace Christian with Islam, church with mosque, the south with Jakarta, every Sunday with every DAY and you've got yourself what's considered just another ordinary day. Or, what Brian and I like to call, "epic prayer 'battles'".
Mosques or "Musholas" are as abundant here as 7-11's and McDonald's are in the US. They are everywhere. Every office has one, every mall has one. They're even at many gas stations and rest stops along the roads. This makes sense of course, because one of the pillars of Islam is prayer 5 times a day so having a mosque close-by at no matter where you are in Jakarta is not an issue. In fact, there are nearly 9000 mosques in Jakarta alone.
If you think 5 prayers a day shows devotion consider this: prior to prayer, there is the wudu, which is the ritual of cleansing head, hands, feet, and face. It is a rule that this cleansing must be done before touching the Quran, and if a male purposely touches a woman before prayer, he will need to wash again. Ah, I see. So that's why all the men in the elevator had their hands and arms pinned down so tightly to their bodies. And again, this happens 5 times a day, every day and no one even blinks.
It's incredibly interesting to be living in a Muslim majority country* and just as so much of Christianity forms the basis of many practices in the US, so does Islam influence the day to day life of everyone in Indonesia. People do their best to schedule meetings and participation around prayer and it seems that it's a respectful understanding. People don't ask for it, but it is provided and expected. Particularly on Friday, which is the holy day, it is good practice to ensure that any male that you work with has the opportunity to pray at the appropriate time to participate in the lengthier prayers for the day.
So Brian and I are slowly getting use to the daily prayers rising from the city below. Sometimes we even go out on to the balcony to listen. In fact, here's a little Friday prayer (3- 4 Mosques as heard from the 18th floor) that through the magic of iPhones and youtube, we would like to share with you:
*Super asterisk lesson time!
The difference between a country such as Indonesia, which is a Muslim Majority, versus Saudi Arabia, which is a Muslim Country, is that Muslim countries are run by Islam government and rules. Indonesia, is a republic though heavily influenced by Muslim practices due to the largest Islamic population in the world being here.
~dear Muslim friends - if I've gotten any part of my descriptions wrong, please feel free to correct me!
If you think 5 prayers a day shows devotion consider this: prior to prayer, there is the wudu, which is the ritual of cleansing head, hands, feet, and face. It is a rule that this cleansing must be done before touching the Quran, and if a male purposely touches a woman before prayer, he will need to wash again. Ah, I see. So that's why all the men in the elevator had their hands and arms pinned down so tightly to their bodies. And again, this happens 5 times a day, every day and no one even blinks.
It's incredibly interesting to be living in a Muslim majority country* and just as so much of Christianity forms the basis of many practices in the US, so does Islam influence the day to day life of everyone in Indonesia. People do their best to schedule meetings and participation around prayer and it seems that it's a respectful understanding. People don't ask for it, but it is provided and expected. Particularly on Friday, which is the holy day, it is good practice to ensure that any male that you work with has the opportunity to pray at the appropriate time to participate in the lengthier prayers for the day.
It's such a stark difference from what we are used to hearing in the states, where there is such a fear of showing any kind of "preferential treatment" towards any religion or even enabling folks the freedom of facility to practice in the way they want to practice (I am sure it is much easier to do so in a country that has such a HUGE majority of one religion).
So Brian and I are slowly getting use to the daily prayers rising from the city below. Sometimes we even go out on to the balcony to listen. In fact, here's a little Friday prayer (3- 4 Mosques as heard from the 18th floor) that through the magic of iPhones and youtube, we would like to share with you:
*Super asterisk lesson time!
The difference between a country such as Indonesia, which is a Muslim Majority, versus Saudi Arabia, which is a Muslim Country, is that Muslim countries are run by Islam government and rules. Indonesia, is a republic though heavily influenced by Muslim practices due to the largest Islamic population in the world being here.
~dear Muslim friends - if I've gotten any part of my descriptions wrong, please feel free to correct me!
What time of day is that video? It looks like the middle of the night! I'm enjoying the blog...please keep it up!
ReplyDeleteThe video was shot at something like 6 or 7 PM. It looks much darker than it was.
ReplyDelete